5 Things Recruiters Immediately Notice in Your Resume (and What You Shouldn’t Include)

A well-written resume is a key element for an applicant to win the recruiters and get the opportunity to be called back for an interview. However, according to recent study, recruiters only take an average of ten seconds to review each resume from the pile on their desks. This means making a resume letter concise, structured and specific is crucial to keep the recruiters interested.

In this post, we will share with you how you can make your resumes impressive by putting the things that immediately hook the recruiters to your resume and the other details that you can actually skip.

Recruiters immediately notice:

1. Career experience

Make sure you indicate only relevant job details to the position you are applying for. Recruiters are not impressed by the number of jobs you’ve had, it takes too much space and it may seem that you can’t stick to one job long enough, which can come off as a negative trait. Your resume also gets an edge if you note recognitions pertinent to the position you are applying for such as “Consistent Top Sales Agent” if it is a Sales post or noting your career progression like promotion in career position or job responsibility.

 2. Keyword search

Most recruiters use keyword search to scan resumes in the shortest amount of time. Some even incorporate an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to do this. If you indicated keywords that are relevant to the job post being filled, then it is highly likely that your resume gets through to the hiring manager.

 3. Format and Wording

Recruiters see your organizational skills at first glance, with how you layout and proofread your CV writing. A clean layout with neat typography is an advantage because it brings relief to the recruiter viewing it. And don’t get caught with a grammar error or a misspelled word (worse, a weak sentence construction!), because it shows poor attention to detail that can be reflective of your work habit. Make sure your resume is polished all throughout.

4. Significant URLs

In this day and age, having web presence is a plus, especially if the job post you are applying for is mostly done online. Include your personal website, social media accounts like Twitter or LinkedIn so that recruiters may have additional references to you. You may also add links to content you have written; designs you made; and photos you took be that may be relevant to the job position.

5. Core competencies

Highlight your strengths in a concise manner or list it in bullets. Recruiters scan resumes and look for competencies that are applicable to the position and add to the overall improvement of the company. Indicating your core competencies display your assets and can entice recruiters to look further into your resume.

And to making a resume sleeker, you can forget about adding these details onto your CVs because they barely matter:

• Career objective
• Photo
• Unrelated personal details (marital status, religious background, age)
• Hobbies or interests
• Reference
• Educational or Extra-curricular recognitions (if you are a fresh graduate, this can serve as a recruiter’s reference in place for work experience)
• Current business contact information
• Salary information
• Cover letter (except if it is required by the recruiter/employer)
• Elaborate layouts and fancy fonts (unless you are applying for a creative job post that showcases your design skills)

Forget about using MS Word resume templates and create a more personalized yet professional CV that recruiters will find it hard to pass up on. Make that resume with these tips from us and impress your way into the recruiter’s list.

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