When crafting a resume, it is essential that you create a document that will appeal to a hiring manager. But what does a hiring manager look at and what do these professionals want to see? That’s the big question, and as resume company professionals, we’ve learned a thing or two about what recruiters want. Before you send out a resume, take a look at our inside look into the mind of hiring managers and recruitment professionals.
1. Grab Their Attention
Did you know that the average hiring manager only spends about 10 seconds scanning each resume? In that short amount of time, you must grab the attention of this professional and encourage them to take a second look. This is one of the biggest benefits of using a professional resume company to create your resume. Professional resume writers know how to create resumes that captivate the reader and persuade them to read the document more thoroughly.
2. Know What Omit
As a hiring manager skims over each resume, there are a few items that immediately attract negative attention and will ensure that your resume doesn’t make it past the skimming over stage. For instance, if you include a photograph, more than 80% of hiring managers will toss out the resume. So, while you do want to put a photo on your LinkedIn profile, it’s something that you almost always should omit on a resume. If your email address appears unprofessional, this is another issue that will cause your resume to end up in the trash pile. If you don’t already have a professional email, be sure to create one immediately. Your personal email should never be used for business-related correspondence.
When it comes to work experience, be sure to list your jobs chronologically, beginning with your most current job. If you are fresh out of college, you can list part-time jobs you’ve held in the recent past, but if you are a professional with a few years of work experience, this info is not relevant. You also want to exclude your age and personal information such as marital status, etc. This is not relevant, and hiring managers typically are not allowed to even ask about these personal issues.
3. Know What To Include
If you were to poll hiring managers and recruiters, they would tell you that there are a few universal skills that they wish to see highlighted on your resume. These skills include your ability to communicate, both on paper as well as verbally, leadership skills, analytical skills, planning and strategic thinking skills and your ability to work as part of a team. Hiring managers want to see flexible employees that can work independently and can collaborate with others. Be sure that your resume demonstrates that you possess these top skills.
Obviously, there are many technical skills that you will need to possess in order to accomplish your various job-related tasks, but these universal skills are helpful in any industry. It doesn’t matter if you are applying for a teaching position, an IT position, an engineering job or something else. Leadership, communication, analytical thinking and collaboration always will be appreciated. Be sure to quantify these characteristics with real-life examples.
4. Errors Are Resume Killers
If your resume features even just one misspelled word, you can rest assured that your document will end up in the trash pile. Grammar, syntax and style errors also make your resume appear sloppy and unprofessional. Likewise, if you include incorrect email addresses or phone numbers, you make it impossible for a hiring manager to contact you or any references you might have listed.
Hiring a professional resume company can ensure that your resume is stellar and error-free, but it is imperative that you personally check all phone numbers and emails. After all, a resume writer might be able to provide you with an amazing resume, but they won’t know if phone numbers, email addresses or website URLs are correct, so be sure to proof these items yourself.
Rather than your valuable time searching for the best resume companies, take a look at our short list of top resume writers. Choose one of our top picks and, not only will you be able to score a killer resume, you also can take advantage of some other services these resume companies provide. This includes cover letter writing, LinkedIn profile writing and even career coaching.
