There is a disconnect when it comes to what gets read versus what gets looked at in résumés. Résumés
amount to flash ads for a commodity. Think of yourself as the commodity, and your résumé as the ad portion for that commodity.
Let’s say a well-known company announces an
opening. Okay, the employer probably has dozens of openings. Depending upon its
reputation and locations, résumés pour in—sometimes several hundred in a day.
Most
jobseekers assume their résumé will be read: In reality, that’s not the case. Only
a handful gets that far. The others are glanced at. The résumés that arrive
after the selection process starts often get discarded.
The résumé
ads receiving attention are the ones that satisfied five overriding conditions.
The process takes 7 to 11 seconds per résumé. The conditions most often
considered are:
1. Location: Where is the applicant from?
If you are more than a 45-minute commute, and
the position is non-management, chances run high the screener stops there. If
the opening involves a management position, this carries less weight, but can
be important, as a cost-to-interview decision needs to be made. Even at the
executive level, where one lives carries consideration. (This portion takes between 1 and 2 seconds.)
2. Appearance: The instant the reviewer determines
a résumé is going to be tedious or difficult to read, those get passed over.
This is especially the case whenever the reviewer has identified four or five
decent candidates already. (This process occurs
in 2 to 3 seconds.)
3. Experience: Do the companies and
positions held by applicant appear relevant? Too many employers and/or short
periods of employment also constitute red flags. Also, there is no point in
reading a programmer’s résumé when you are looking for an IT manager? The
screener need scan no further. (This
process takes between 3 and 4 seconds.)
4. Education: Once the reader gets past
the first three items, this is where most screeners stop cold. If the position
requires specific educational level, or collegiate pedigrees and the résumé
fails to contain that information, the process ends. (This takes 1 or 2 seconds.) Add up the seconds and you have the
average 7-to-11 scan rate.
5. Gut reaction: Candidates who receive
acceptable nods on the first four conditions, still encounter gut instinct. The screener has not
actually read the details, but rather glanced at it in 7-to-11 seconds. If the
reviewer’s gut says the candidate appears qualified, the résumé gets placed in
the small, to-be-read or reviewed pile.
Many large
employers use automated AI screening software. It can be programmed to perform
the same operations in steps one-through-four. While this speeds up the
screening process, it leaves much to be desired. Software glitches abound, and
are void of human instinct.
Trust
me on this: Most résumés do not get read. In half the cases, the reading
portion does not occur until the day of the interview. If you are receiving
invitations to interview, invest your time honing your interviewing skills. You
may assume your résumé ad is working.
Copyrighted ©
2013 by Robert James