Elements of Your Resume Recruiters Notice a

Elements of Your Resume Recruiters Notice at First Glance What recruiters and hiring managers look for in a resume varies from one employer to the next, and even from one person to the next within the same organization. Some employers consider a well-written cover letter essential, while others think cover letters are a waste of time. Some go straight to the education section of an applicant’s resume, while others say they rarely look at an applicant’s educational background, focusing instead on experience and skillset.

So, what do recruiters look for? Much effort has been put into understanding how recruiters spend the six seconds on average they devote to each resume (you read that right: just six (6) seconds). One online job search company even used tracking software to follow recruiters’ eye movements while they scanned resumes.1 The results of the experiment revealed that the recruiters looked at the person’s name, current title and company, the dates of their current position, previous title(s) and company(s), and education. But what does this really tell us?

You may be scratching your head at this point and wondering how you can ever possibly compete, given the subjective nature of what matters on a resume. Don’t give up just yet. There are some universal factors that grab the attention of recruiters and hiring managers, which are highlighted below.

Formatting & Layout It’s essential that you make your resume easy to scan, both for human eyes and for the advanced recruiting software that busy recruiters are increasingly using today. This means bolded headings, bullet points, and relevant keywords that match the skills, software programs, and experience highlighted in the job description. Tailoring your resume to the job you’re applying for will increase the chances of your resume making it to the “follow-up” bin.

Skills & Achievements Indicating on your resume that that you are “proficient with MS Word and Excel” is not the same as saying you have “Four years of extensive, advanced use of MS Word and Excel.” Similarly, saying that you “wrote grant proposals” for your former non-profit employer is not the same as saying that you “brought in more than $100K in grant money” during your tenure with the organization. Employers want to see the results of your efforts on the job. When considering your achievements over the years, think about how you: Increased sales or otherwise brought in revenue Reduced costs Increased productivity Conceived or launched new products Took on responsibilities that were not part of your job Highlighting skills and achievements in a stand-out way will help you get noticed during the impossibly small window of time you have to grab the recruiter’s attention.

Dates of Employment

It may seem unnecessary to include the month along with the year you held a position, but not including this information could be the red flag that lands your resume in the “not a chance” bin.

Indicating that you held a position from 2012-2013 could mean you were employed there for as little as two months, or as long as 24 months. Did you work there from December 2012 to January 2013, or from January 2012 through December 2013? The employer won’t know without the months listed. Don’t try to cover up gaps in employment by excluding this information. If you were laid off during the recession, and it took you six months to find another job, be honest. Don’t try to cover it up.

A Word about Grammar and Spelling It goes without saying that typos and grammatical errors on a resume are pretty much unforgivable. Double and triple check your resume, and have at least one other person review it for errors before you send it out.

When all is said and done, finding a job sometimes comes down to being in the right place at the right time; however, you’ll undoubtedly improve your chances and speed up the process by putting your best effort into building a resume that is easy to scan and which strategically highlights your accomplishments, skills, and experience.