Resume Isn’t Getting Read:

Do you feel your resume isn’t getting read? Are you not getting responses to your submissions? Do you wonder if anyone is actually reviewing your applications? 

We often hear job seekers complain that their resumes and applications are going into a black hole. Either they receive an immediate automatic rejection or no response at all. While this doesn’t necessarily mean the job seeker isn’t qualified (although it may), it could mean you overlooked something quite simple to fix.

You Didn’t Include Relevant Keywords

Undercover Recruiter estimates that 95-98% of large organizations use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS or ‘Bot’ systems) to scan resumes.  These ‘bots’ eliminate about 75-85% of applicants because their resumes don’t include relevant keywords.

Want to beat these resume-scanning systems?  We have a couple of articles that may help you to have a ‘robot-friendly’ resume. In the meantime, let’s address another reason your resume may not be soliciting a response.

You Didn’t Accommodate Short Attention Spans

Indeed conducted a survey that showed recruiters and hiring managers look at resumes for six to seven seconds.

Were you able to communicate your strengths and expertise to the Hiring Manager within six or seven seconds? You want to be thoughtful in how you outline the content of your resume. Think carefully about the order in which you’ve listed skills and experiences on your resume. You should start with the most relevant skills and expertise so the hiring manager can see those traits first. 

Hiring managers are less impressed by big words and fancy job titles. Instead, they are looking for content, achievements, and accomplishments.

Tips to Consider

To make sure that your resume gets read, keep these tips in mind when crafting and submitting your resume and application:

Consider what traits should be first.

When writing your resume, consider the following two questions: what is the hiring manager for this particular position looking for, what do you want the hiring manager to see first?

The answer to these two questions lies in a combination of the job description and your hot skills. Review the responsibilities and requirements to outline the hard and soft skills needed, and make sure qualities that align with those needs are quickly and easily found in your resume.

Ensure your resume is easy to read.

Make sure your resume is clean, organized, and visually appealing. Recruiters and hiring managers scare easily…so be careful when it comes to how you lay out your resume. 

Stylistic and formatting errors are likely to keep your resume from being scanned or viewed properly. And layout inconsistencies will show the hiring manager that you aren’t able to navigate basic word processing software.

Once you have your resume formatted the way you want it, save it as a PDF so the formatting and fonts do not change when the Hiring Manager opens the document or views it through a viewer program.

Ditch the objective.

It is no longer necessary to include an “objective” on your resume; in fact, a written objective may be the death of your candidacy.

Why?

Because the chances of your written objective matching the position are slim. I just had someone apply for an Administrative Assistant position who stated her objective was to obtain a position with the Board of Education.

Clearly, she didn’t really want the Admin position…her real message to me was that she would settle for it and then bolt as soon as the Board of Education made her an offer. Did you see what just happened? Because of her ‘objective error’, she just made me use my imagination. Never put a recruiter in the position to use her imagination as it will not work in your favor. 

Instead, consider adding a professional summary so the Hiring Manager can quickly see what you bring to the table and how your experience will benefit the company.

Tailor your resume to the position, not the industry.

Every hiring manager will have different priorities and will therefore be searching for different keywords. Investigate the position and job description to identify the qualities you possess that align with the position. Then make those attributes stand out on your resume by echoing relevant tasks from the job description.

You don’t have to use a traditional resume layout.

If you have changed industries or shifted your career trajectory, consider using a “functional” resume format instead of the standard “chronological” format. For example, if you are applying for an IT position, list the positions you’ve held that have most directly impacted your knowledge and skill sets in the relevant field and/or role first, and then detail the positions you’ve held that may not have as significant an impact.

Use real and tangible examples of accomplishments.

Hiring Managers are not as impressed by the use of verbs as they used to be. The trend in today’s job market is numbers. Readers want to see quantitative data regarding experience and accomplishments, not simply that you’ve done it but what you accomplished while doing it.

Be concise.

Hiring managers go through thousands of applications to find the best candidate for the job. As a result, they have limited time to spend on each resume.

Don’t repeat information. If you have held several positions with similar responsibilities, focus more on what you accomplished or achieved so the verbiage is meaningful instead of repetitive.

Additionally, hiring managers will not read paragraphs so don’t waste space by writing an essay about your prior experience. Instead, write a brief summary of your experience on your resume and use bullets to concisely outline your responsibilities and accomplishments for each position.  

Proofread your resume.

And before you roll your eyes at me….I mean you too. The reason every recruiter and hiring manager tells every candidate to proofread their resume is because about 70% of the resumes we receive have errors in them.

Stupid and silly errors. I just had someone apply for an Admin position with ADMNISTRATIVE in several job titles. It was misspelled 5 times. Why? Because she used all caps and words in all caps aren’t checked by spell check.

Be smart and diligent when it comes to proofreading your resume.

Make Your Resume Unique

Crafting a unique resume is more than just inserting your personality onto the page or emphasizing your unique qualifications. Do not use gimmicks to draw attention to your resume.  That means no pictures of yourself, no zippy graphics (unless you are applying to be a graphic designer), and no crazy formatting or table layout. What matters when creating an attention-grabbing resume is tailoring the information contained within your resume to the job description for which you are applying. 

Depending on where you are within your career, chances are you have more experience and qualifications than what can fit on a typical one-page resume. And this is okay because limiting your resume to a single page is a myth! If you are more tenured, be sure to tailor your experience by providing enough content to show the hiring manager you are competitive for the position you want. 

Why is it Important?

Hiring managers can tell if an applicant has given the same resume to hundreds of different positions. Taking a cookie-cutter approach by having one generic resume is a mistake. Your resume should tell a story that aligns previous experience with future goals.  Tailoring your resume for each position will significantly increase your chances of winning an interview, thus likely saving you valuable time in your job search.

Finding a job in today’s market can be tough. Chances are you have spent your entire adult life building an impressive skill set and an arsenal of experience. Articulating these things on your resume in an appropriate manner is going to be the key to getting noticed and contacted for those positions you’ve been applying for.