Pemo TheodoreDespite operating in the toughest hiring environment in decades, many recruiters are still skimming resumes for details—with the average initial screen clocking in at just 7.4 seconds in 2018.
In the present environment, with unemployment at unprecedented
lows, this new finding underlines the extent to which resume skimming
behaviors impact not only a job seeker’s chances of being noticed, but
also a company’s ability to spot qualified candidates.
Top-performing resumes—those where recruiters spent most time and focus—tended to have several elements in common.
With these resumes, note that recruiters did not spend significant amounts of time on any one element. Rather, they scanned the left side of the resume evenly, picking out titles and reading supplementary information as necessary.
- Clear, simple layouts with clearly marked section and title headers. Recruiters in our study spent more time focusing on job titles than on any other element.
- Layouts that took advantage of F-pattern and E-pattern reading tendencies (e.g. bold job titles supported by bulleted lists of accomplishments)
- An overview or mission statement at the top of the first page of the resume.
- Clear fonts Read more via TheLadders
