Careers Slideshow: How to Fail in Your Job Search

How tough is it out there for job candidates? The competition is stiff as unemployment remains high, and hiring managers are so swamped with resumes they have little time to review them. In fact, 40% of HR executives say they spend less than a minute reading an application, according to recent survey findings from CareerBuilder. Many are dismissed outright due to sloppy presentation; 61 percent of survey participants say they automatically eliminate resumes with typos, and 41 percent will do the same for resumes with large amounts of text that was copied and pasted direct from the job posting. Yet even the most polished applicant can find themselves on the chopping block if they don't find ways to make themselves stand out. Some job-seekers are better than others at making their personalities shine and winning jobs and interviews. Here are a few of the not-so-clever efforts that didn't pay off and a handful of winning ideas from CareerBuilder. Nearly 2,300 hiring managers in the U.S. took part in the research.