Is that Recruiter Scaring You Out of Your Job Search?

When we talk to candidates, they quite often complain about never hearing back from company recruiters and HR departments.  They get the feeling that if they are screened out, they are forgotten.  If you stop to think about all the different and urgent activities that internal recruiters and HR people have on their plate, is it any wonder why candidates don’t hear back or get a “form letter” thank you for applying response.

As a candidate applying for a job, you can do many things to assist yourself to first get noticed and second to capture the attention of those reading and screening your resume.  In a recent article titled 3 Tips for Speed Reading Resumes by KAZIM LADIMEJI, the article points out that in an eye-tracking study research project, it was noted that there are six data points that a recruiter looks at as they screen a resume.  “They found that the recruiters spent 80% of their time looking at 6 data points, which were: Name, Current title/company, Previous title/company. Previous position start and end dates. Current Position start and end dates, Education.”   They also noted that during this eye scan research, “that these recruiters took an average of 6 seconds to make their initial fit/no fit decision based on these data points.”  

So, what should you do to improve your chances of getting noticed, of not going into that “black hole”?  Since you know those six items are a recruiter’s hot buttons, start there.  Make sure your information in these sections are clear, concise and spelled correctly (really!).  You would not believe how many misspelled words we find on resumes.  Resumes that have been sent out to companies with misspelled words and bad grammar, and the sender wonders why they didn’t hear any reply.  Make sure your education section is clear and complete.  Note: if you started working toward a degree and didn’t finish it, don’t say you did.  If you don’t have a degree or didn’t go to that school, don’t make it up (really!!)  Even if you get hired, you won’t stay there long once they find out you used “creative writing” on your resume.

Call me and I will talk you through this process so you don’t look like a scarecrow

David (Mac) McElhaney

Managing Partner
Global Recruiters of Huntsville

Phone: 256-533-1444 Ext 201

Mobile: 407-341-4462

dmcelhaney@grnhuntsville.com

www.grnhuntsville.com