In the olden days (ten years ago), we were shocked to hear that our resumes were given a 2 minute skim. Then it became 90 seconds.
Today, our resumes are given a 6 second scan by professional recruiters.
How do we know this?
Recently, thirty professional recruiters took part in a 10 week study. The study used an advanced scientific technique called “eye tracking” – which in this case, recorded the eye movements of a professional recruiter as they scanned your resume.
Below, the resume on the right conveys a lot more relevant information in 6 seconds than the one on the left which means it will make it to the ‘consider this candidate’ pile.
The study showed that recruiters spend almost 80% of their time on the following data points:
- Name
- Current title / organization
- Previous title / organization
- Previous position start and end dates
- Current position start and end dates
- Education
To make every second count you must follow a consistent and well structured format and only include the most relevant and telling information about your work history.
Time is the scarce resource today – and so is attention. If you are putting your resume out there, you need to make every second count if you want to get noticed.
Here is the 5 page TheLadders Eye Tracking Recruiter Resume Study