I analyzed 50 resumes in r/EngineeringResumes this month. Here are the 7 mistakes I saw in almost every single one
Spent the last month going through resumes posted here and giving feedback. After ~50 of them, the same problems kept showing up. Sharing in case it saves someone the trouble.
1. Bullets describe tasks, not outcomes. ~90% of bullets I read started with "Responsible for…" or "Worked on…" Neither tells a recruiter anything. The fix: every bullet needs a result, ideally with a number. "Worked on the checkout flow" → "Redesigned checkout flow, reducing cart abandonment by 22% over Q3."
2. The skills section is a junk drawer. 25+ skills listed, no prioritization, half of them are things like "Microsoft Office" that signal nothing in 2026. Cut to your top 8, ordered by what the target job asks for.
3. Two-column layouts that break ATS parsing. Looks pretty in a PDF, becomes scrambled garbage when the ATS reads it. Your "Skills" column gets jammed into the middle of your work history. Use single column.
4. The summary is generic filler. "Detail-oriented professional with strong communication skills" appears verbatim on ~15 resumes I read. Replace with a one-line specific claim: "Backend engineer with 6 years building distributed systems at scale (handled 12M+ daily requests at [previous role])."
5. Dates are inconsistent or missing. Some bullets had "2023-Present," others "Jan 2022 – Dec 2023," others just years. Pick one format, use it everywhere. Recruiters notice sloppiness.
6. Buzzwords with no substance. "Synergized cross-functional initiatives" — what did you actually do? If a sentence sounds impressive but conveys no information, delete it.
7. No keyword matching to the job description. If the ad says "stakeholder management" and your resume says "client relations," the ATS scores you lower. Mirror the ad's language. Boring but it works.
Happy to look at any specific resumes in comments — drop a redacted version and I'll give feedback.
(Side note for transparency: I built a free ATS-scanning tool out of frustration with this stuff — risenresume.com if anyone wants to try it, free tier no signup needed. But everything above is fixable by hand.)