What You Shouldn't Do On Your Resume

Majority of recruiters scan your resume for less than 6 seconds to verify if you are suitable for a position. This can sound quite daunting as it means that all the hard work you put in at school and the experiences you have will be judged in under a minute.

To capture the reader’s attention you need to think of your Resume as a billboard e.g. When driving on the highway at 100km/hr advertisers know that you will only see their boards for a few seconds and only highlight the information that they know will make you curious to find out more about their product.

You must make it easy for recruiters to select your resume and so it is important that you highlight the information that they will want to see. We often craft our resumes thinking recruiters need to know everything in great detail but sometimes the required qualifications can get lost in the details so it’s important to know how to prioritize and display information.

Below are 6 ways to get past the 6 second screening.

1.) Identify the most important things the employer wants - Every job description will contain clues on what the most valued qualifications and experiences are. If you can’t find the traits in the job description then consider going on linked in and finding individuals with that same job description ideally within the same organization.

2.) The top third of the page is the important so ensure that you highlight all the qualifications the employer is seeking in the first third of the page. You must also emphasize those qualifications by using the right buzzwords at the beginning of your sentences and highlighting them where appropriate.

3.) Do a test run on a friend - When you are done crafting the Resume you want to try and simulate how it will look to a pair of fresh eyes. Give it to a friend for 6 seconds and no longer than that.

4.) What stands out? Ask your friend what they remember in your resume, if you have done a good job highlighting the right skills and qualifications they should recall at least three of the core qualifications and skillsets you were trying to emphasize.

5.) Make changes if necessary - If a friend can’t pick up on what you are trying to emphasize there is a strong chance that a recruiter that has gone through 100’s of resumes may not have the patience to read your entire resume to find their key criteria.

Once you are satisfied that your resume highlights the most important skillsets you can focus on perfecting your wording and managing everything else.

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