The 10 Second Review – Does Your Resume Pass?

Take another look at your resume, but this time, count to ten. In 10 seconds – what did you see? Probably not a fair “test”, so pass your resume to someone else (preferably someone who hasn’t been helping you with your resume thus far) and then you time 10 seconds. Ask them what they saw. Was it the essential facts that will get you a job? Was it even pertinent to the job you’re seeking?

10 seconds may be all you have to gain enough interest to merit a second look, a phone screen or move on to the next step in the process. Most hiring managers or recruiters will only take 10 to 25 seconds to peruse your resume – and that is after your resume makes it through the keyword search software.

How do you make your resume stand out in 10 seconds?

I read well over 100 resumes a week. Well, not really read them, but rather glance at most, read sections of others, and really read a handful. The ones that get read are written so that 10-20 seconds of “reading” brings out all the right skills I’m searching for.

Resumes are, of course, essential to my success in this business. And, if you are in a job search – either passive or active – your resume is the most important tool to the success of your search (right next to any networking tools and skills you are deploying in your search). It is worth putting in time and effort on the task of writing your resume, and be prepared to spend a significant amount of time revising and creating different versions.

There are dozens of resources – articles, books, consultants, that can give you suggestions on writing or improving your resume. Many of these resources contain sound advice, and I would suggest allocating time in your schedule to read these, and then determine and follow the tips that make the most sense to you and the type of search you are conducting. In a previous (and future) blog entries are links to a handful of articles that you might find useful, or at least humorous.

I’ll throw my comments in the mix. This post will contain what I currently feel would be the top three ways you can immediately improve your resume. Additional posts will focus on “finer” details.

If you haven’t already, be sure to visit some of the links in our previous posts, and watch for future Round-Up posts for more comments on putting together a great resume.

Tip #1: One page – Two pages at most
Cut that resume down in length! Those initial 10 or 20 seconds won’t get people to the second page anyway. If you can’t get everything on the first page, then two pages at the most.

To help accomplish this, try less narrative paragraphs and more bullets. Don’t put your job description in – stay focused on your accomplishments, what you did to make that job yours, what you did to better the role, further the company, save money and affect the bottom line. If you’re a Plant Manager – we know what Plant Managers do as a general rule. Besides, that’s what the phone interview is for – more details. Your resume is not for those task details.

Tip #2: Have a strong opening statement
If you do include an opening “objective”, your comments should include a powerful, concise, and bottom line focused summary of your career and skills, and state your objective in one to a few sentences. Make sure it’s a summary of your overall career, rather than breaking it up by employer or job title. This is especially important if you’ve held a few different jobs in the last years.

Highlight accomplishments and consider using bullets rather than the often used narrative style of “career objective.” Above all, avoid the use of standard or generic terms or adjectives that are meaningless and do not set you apart from any other candidate. Phrases like “seasoned professional” or “industry leader” simply take up valuable space on your first page.


Tip #3: Keywords – use them
In most situations, your resume must first pass through a software or application that will conduct the initial “screening”, and this application will be driven by keywords. To give your resume a fighting chance, spend some time reading and collecting job ads, and descriptions for the types of positions you are searching for. Highlight the common skills, software, and technical terms that you see. Rank them based on the frequency used, and then do the same with your resume. Without compromising your writing, incorporate as many of these keywords in your resume, and for certain words, try working them in your verbiage more than once.

It may be best for you to have a few different versions of your resume ready. One version can be general and another more focused on a specific job, or a more technical version of your resume. When applying for a specific job, pull from your different versions based on the keywords you see in the ad / description.