How To Get The Interview In 6 Seconds Or Less

Through our years of working with thousands of job seekers at Visium Resources, we have learned that ‘resume anxiety’ is something that many job seekers experience, regardless of their qualifications or experience. Not everyone has the confidence to stand behind their resume 100% and say, “I think my resume is terrific – it sums up my qualifications perfectly and is in great shape to send out to potential employers.” For those who are not feeling this way, it may be useful to know that according to a recent study, the decision to interview any given candidate is usually based on a mere six seconds of resume scanning.?

The study that this information is based on also has a helpful tool which highlights the elements of a resume that are most important, showing colorful heat maps that tracked eye moments of 30 recruiting professionals who were asked to review two sample resumes.

Here’s an article outlining the full study, in case you missed it:

Business Insider Article: How Recruiters See Your Resume ?(paid)

This article could be an important piece of reading for those who are struggling with resume anxiety. So, what are the real takeaways from an article like this??What useful tips might an earnest job hunter derive from this study on how resumes are reviewed?

One of the most important pieces of information to remember is this:

“In the short time that they spend with your resume, the study showed recruiters will look at your?name, current title and company, current position start and end dates, previous title and company, previous position start and end dates,?and education.”

Now, to some this statement may be of little interest, but at Visium, it validates something we’ve been pointing out to candidates for years.?Your resume’s ability to land you interviews is going to be based primarily on where you’ve worked, what titles you’ve held, and for how long. These important facts are much more important when compared to the “copywriting” or “formatting” elements of the resume that so many people tend to get focused on.

In other words, while you should absolutely focus on including important keywords, and it can certainly help to make sure your resume is clean and legible enough to get through ATS scanners, these approaches aren’t usually going to fully overcome a lack of directly comparable work history to the target job in question.?

Resumes remain a critical piece of the job searching toolkit. If you are struggling with how best to capture your credentials on paper, check out our?resume guide , and perhaps even solicit professional help.?Above all, be sure to focus on highlighting your most applicable experience according to the roles you are interested in. Working with a talented recruiting team like ours here at Visium Resources can help you focus more on your talents, while we focus on how to best show those to the clients.

Check out our?open jobs ?today, to see how Visium can help you land the opportunity of your dreams.