When looking to expand the team and hire a new person into the company, hiring managers spend just a couple of seconds on a resume. Consequently, as hiring managers aren’t computer programs (yet), that means they won’t read every little detail on your resume.
Instead, hiring managers will only look for specific details on a resume, and if they don’t find them, they will be moving on. In this article, we will discuss what is the first thing an employer looks for on a resume, and how to improve your resume to land more interviews, by making sure you’re providing the right information, in the right format, on all the right places.
How Much Time Do Hiring Manages Really Spend Reading My Resume?
What do we really mean, when we say hiring managers will only spend ‘a couple of seconds’ on a resume? We mean literally, a couple of seconds – up to ten, if you’re lucky. Now, look at your resume and count to ten while you do it. See? No chance hiring managers will be reading all of it.
That doesn’t mean everything you’ve written on your resume is irrelevant, quite the opposite. The point is – if hiring managers don’t find what they’re looking for in the first ten seconds, they won’t bother reading the rest. Only if you spark their interest with the first few things will they read the rest. We’ll show you what those ‘first things’ are, and how to properly present them.
First Thing Hiring Managers Read On A Resume Is The Job Titles
The very first thing hiring managers read on the resume is the “job titles” that you should have written at the very top of your resume. You should list one to three job titles in order of job preference.
So how do you create a well-written title? It needs to be keyword-optimized, and keyword-heavy. For example, if you’re applying for a sales job, at the top of the resume in big bold letters it might say "Sales Account Manager | Territory Sales Manager | Account Development".
Here are some great examples of professionally written resumes that were created by a reputable and local resume writing company in Arizona, DoMyResume.NET.
Second Thing Hiring Managers Look At On A Resume: Career Summary
The second, and in many cases the last thing a hiring manager will read on your resume will be the career summary. It is placed just under the job titles and is a summary of all the skills and experience you possess. That way hiring managers can get a vision of you at a glance, and will be able to see if your expertise would fit nicely in the team, or not. It is important to notice that not even the entire summary will be read – instead, hiring managers will just focus on the one or two sentences. What you need to do is make sure that first sentence is filled with actionable keywords which will:
Pass the ATS
Best describe your abilities
Here are a few examples:
“Highly accomplished sales leader with extensive background in driving sales and business development for diverse companies.” “Results-focused and innovative Automotive Account Manager providing exemplary skills as a trainer and operations manager, effectively increasing team performance and increasing revenue.” “Accomplished professional with extensive experience in assessing and resolving key issues related to financial trading activities.”
Notice how all three sentences have actionable keywords: accomplished, extensive background, business development, innovative, Automotive Account Manager, operations manager, financial trading, those are all things hiring managers will look for as they glance through the resume. Make sure they see them! Keywords are essential to a good resume. If there is one thing employers hate to see in a resume – it’s generic content.
Make A Smart Investment And Hire A Professional Resume Service
Some people really don’t feel at home writing resumes themselves. As ‘nailing the interviews’ is essential at this stage, it is best to invest in a certified professional resume writing company in Phoenix AZ. These writers will know exactly how much time a hiring manager will spend on a resume, what they’ll look for during that time, which keywords are crucial for a specific industry, and how to present your biggest strengths in a coherent manner.
Remember – you only get a few seconds. With a well-crafted resume, you’ll make sure those few seconds count.
Do you feel you need professional resume writing help?
Or, do you just need to have a free review of your resume by a professional resume service in Arizona?