The job search is on. You find a few that you are interested in, then you begin tailoring a resume for those jobs. After you spend time creating and editing your resume, what happens next? You send it in, it gets placed in a pile, and then when a recruiter finds the time, he or she will spend an average of six seconds looking it over.
True story according to TheLadders, an online job-matching service. Six seconds is all the time you have for your resume to stand out and make a great and lasting first impression. You probably want to make those seconds count.
And that is assuming that it's a person looking at your resume in the first place. More and more companies are using first-pass resume checkers, some including AI functionality, in order to make their jobs easier.
What Are Recruiters Looking For?
Will Evans, TheLadders’ head of UX said this about recruiters: “they’re looking for job hoppers, minimum education requirements, and a candidate’s steady career progression.” And according to Forbes.com, most recruiters spend those six seconds looking over these things:
- name
- current job title/company
- previous title/company
- previous position start and end dates
- current position, start and end dates
- education
Recruiters are busy and need to be able to look over your resume and quickly find the information they need. Which means it is vital to keep your resume clear, crisp, clean, and concise. Avoid wasting your potential employer’s time by making relevant information easy to find and read.
This is doubly-true if your resume is being seen first by an AI. AI, as of today, is a selection of large language models (LLMs), and they can and do make mistakes. The clearer your content is, the less the chance that an AI or a person is going to make a mistake that sees you on the "we wish you the best of luck" pile.
1 | Design – make it work for you
You do not have to reinvent the wheel and design a resume from scratch if you do not want to. But the design can go a long way to getting you a job. If you decide to add your resume text to a template – make sure you choose one with great design or add your own touches to the template. You want your resume aesthetically pleasing and eye-catching so that the first impression of your resume is a good one. Here are some design tips you can implement into your resume:
Color
Most of your resume should be black and white. That's professional, visually pleasing, and makes your text easier to read (and potentially to process with software). If you are applying for a job with some creativity, you can afford to add a little color to your resume. Don’t overdo it; a little will go a long way.
Margins
So many people want to cram as much information as they can into a resume, thinking this will look better to a potential employer. The truth is that recruiters need some white space on the page for their eyes to take a break. It helps if there are margins on the resume, giving space for notes about thoughts or questions they may have for you.
2 | Hierarchy
A hierarchy is needed with the most important information of the resume goes first, toward the top, and lesser information last, toward the bottom. Your most important information includes; your name, your current/most recent job information, your education, and your skills and expertise. What will you bring to a new company? That is what the recruiter wants to know, so make sure those skills and assets are clear and visible near the top.
3 | Devilish details
The devil is in the details is a cliché for a reason, it is the small details that can make or break a resume. Good design is shattered by poor grammar, and excellent word usage is hidden by unorganized information. Here are some small details to be aware of when creating a resume:
Fonts
Your resume is not the place to be experimenting with a myriad of font styles. Stick to one for the best readability. Use serif fonts like Open Sans, Times New Roman, Georgie, Bell MT, and Garamond as they have the best readability.
Text size
You do not need to use different text sizes to establish important information from non-important – your name being the only exception. For the bulk of your resume use size 12 points. Your name can be larger than the rest of the text.
4 | Readability
Your resume readability does not have to be determined by you and a trusted colleague anymore. You can measure your resumes’ readability using Readable's readability tools. We can help you calculate things like your resume's readability scores, keyword densities, syllable counts, passive voice, and it can even spot unwanted clichés for you.
For example, this blog post has:
- A readability rating of A
- Its tone leans more towards formal than conversational
- 2 Clichés
- And a 6.2 Flesch-Kincaid grade level. It is encouraged to score below an eighth-grade reading level to ensure the content is readable for about 80% of Americans.
Try it out with your resume and see what your readability looks like.
Edit and edit some more
Using spell check is a simple but often overlooked step to finishing a resume. Remember to edit. Edit yourself multiple times, use spell check, use tools like readable.io, and use your friends and trusted advisors. Use the tools that are available to you in order to really make your resume shine.
Take some time to create a great resume and others will take the time to hire you for it. Good luck with the job hunt, and remember, you only have six seconds to impress. That's very little time to say “here I am and this is why you should hire me” in the cleanest and clearest way possible. Make those six seconds count with a well-crafted resume.
