Stop Letting Resume Mistakes Keep You From the Front Desk
Identify and correct the most common clerk resume errors in minutes with Resumly’s proven fixes.
Common Mistakes That Kill Your Chances
Each mistake includes why it hurts, how to fix it, and before/after examples
- Provides no value to the recruiter
- Fails to include keywords that ATS look for
- Makes the candidate appear unfocused
- Replace the objective with a concise professional summary
- Highlight 2‑3 key clerk competencies (e.g., data entry, customer service)
- Insert relevant keywords such as "office administration" and "record keeping"
Objective: Seeking a position where I can utilize my skills and grow professionally.
Professional Summary: Detail‑oriented clerk with 3 years of experience managing high‑volume data entry, scheduling, and customer inquiries. Proven ability to improve filing efficiency by 15 % while maintaining 99 % accuracy.
- Leaves hiring manager guessing about impact
- Reduces keyword density for action verbs
- Makes the resume look like a task list rather than a performance record
- Start each bullet with a strong action verb
- Quantify results (e.g., "processed 200 invoices daily")
- Show how you improved a process or saved time/money
- Answered phone calls - Filed documents - Handled mail distribution
- Managed a multi‑line phone system, resolving 95 % of inquiries on first call - Streamlined filing system, reducing document retrieval time by 20 % - Coordinated inbound/outbound mail for a 50‑person office, ensuring 100 % on‑time delivery
- Confuses ATS parsers, causing data loss
- Creates a sloppy visual impression for recruiters
- Makes it harder to scan key information quickly
- Choose one professional font (e.g., Calibri 11 pt) for the entire document
- Use consistent heading styles and bullet symbols
- Align dates and locations uniformly (e.g., right‑aligned dates)
Experience: Clerk – ABC Corp Jan 2020 – Present - Performed data entry. Skills: • MS Office • Customer Service
EXPERIENCE Clerk – ABC Corp Jan 2020 – Present - Performed data entry for 1,200+ records weekly, maintaining 99.8 % accuracy. SKILLS - Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook) - Customer Service & Front‑Desk Support
- Misses critical keywords for clerical ATS filters
- Leaves a gap that hiring managers expect to see
- Reduces perceived technical competence
- Create a dedicated "Technical Skills" section
- List software names exactly as they appear in the job ad (e.g., "Microsoft Excel", "QuickBooks")
- Include proficiency level if appropriate
Skills: Organization, Communication, Time Management
TECHNICAL SKILLS - Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook) – Advanced - QuickBooks – Intermediate - Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Calendar) – Proficient
- Use a professional email address
- Include a headline with the word "Clerk"
- Quantify at least three achievements
- Use action verbs at the start of each bullet
- Keep margins between 0.5‑1 inch
- Save as PDF with a clear file name
- Replace generic objective with a summary
- Add numbers to every duty bullet
- Standardize font to Calibri 11 pt
- Insert a Technical Skills section with top clerical tools
