8 seconds isn't very long unless you're on a bull.
7 seconds isn't very long when you're trying to land that dream job.
People look at your resume for 6-7 seconds and you have to capture their attention during that timespan.
Capture their attention? They continue reading OR make the decision to contact you.
You don't? Hello trash can.
How do you capture their attention?
- A resume is a living document - you've done a lot of different things in your career and even at one job - get the relevant information to the front of the line. Yes this means you may have to change your resume. If that's to much commitment maybe it's you, not me.
- Consistent - if I get a resume that has periods after some sentences and doesn't have periods after others - you better be the Michael Jordan of your field or I'm not contacting you. God forbid your dates are all over the place. It's our first introduction and you send this slop? What will your work product look like once my client hires you?!?! I can't have that keeping me up at night.
- Ease of reading - if you worked at Ford for 23 years - next to Ford it might say 2000-2023 and then next to each position you held there - say you were a VP Supply Chain (where's my Bronco?!?!, and why is it leaking on my head) - put the dates that you were in that position next to that position - it helps people understand (on paper anyway) what your subject matter expertise might be. Point is, I want to know before I contact you that you were in that VP role for 6 years and not 52 days (see Bronco comments).
- Formatting - please don't reinvent the structure of a Microsoft Word document - when I open the resume and am overwhelmed because there is stuff everywhere - it doesn't help. Personally I'm thinking about a Coke can here - simple.
If you aren't having any luck with your job search, shoot us a note. I'll send you a resume template that we've had a lot of success with.
