What mistakes do graduates make most often in their resume summary?

The most common mistakes are being too vague, too long and not matching the rest of the resume. Each one is easy to fix once you know to look for it.

Watch out for:

• Generic wording that could describe any graduate ("motivated, hard-working team player").
• Claims with no proof elsewhere on the page, such as "expert in data analysis" with no data project listed.
• A target role that does not match the job you are applying for, often left over from a previous application.
• The wrong company name, copied from an earlier version.
• Long paragraphs of five lines or more that push your education down the page.
• Spelling or grammar errors in the first lines a recruiter reads.

Fix them by reading your summary next to the job advert before every application. Check that each claim is backed up lower down the page and that the role named is the one you are applying for. Then read it aloud: if it sounds like a template, add one specific detail that only you could write.