How Resumes attract HR? | Aparna Sharma | Senior HR Professional & Certified Corporate Director I Editor’s Collection
Resume writing is both a Science & much more an Art. Infact, these days, it has become a business, where professionals help you write out Resumes in different formats based on your seniority & type of role you are keen on.
Howsoever sincere you may be in preparing a CV & a comprehensive covering letter, what happens to it once you’ve applied for a job/role, is anybody’s guess.
As an Applicant, you would like to believe that when you send your Resume to an employer, someone (usually HR) at the receiving end reads the entire document, word for word.
In reality, your covering letter & resume may not be seen & most likely, will never be read in its entirety. The real thought process crossing the recipient’s mind is more of reasons for elimination from further consideration while screening.
In today’s job market, employers are overwhelmed with the number of applicants they get for each job, most of whom are not remotely qualified.
In the simple point-and-click world of online applications, many people apply to hundreds of jobs whether they are qualified or not, in the hopes that they might get lucky.
We all know that successful applications are not a random match—luck has less to do with being selected than carefully choosing job opportunities and clearly matching the job requirements.
An employer’s only hope of finding the qualified candidates in the hundreds of resumes is to reject as many as possible, as quickly as they can. If they don’t see the connection between background and experience and the job requirements immediately, they move on.
If your resume uses good grammar & has no spelling mistakes, the recruiter will park it in the “Maybe” stack. This step usually separates the “maybe” candidates into two groups — those who are rejected and those who will move forward, likely invited to interview for the job.
Here are a few tips to make your resume stand out –
- Make sure your resume portrays “I’m a fit!’ in that initial scan.
- Customize your resume for each opportunity.
- Your relevant work history must be clearly highlighted.
- Appropriate skills, experience and certifications must jump out (bold face font).
- Use appropriate terminology from the employer’s job description, not your own.
- Be brief. Write concise (easily digested in a quick scan) phrases, not long sentences or paragraphs.
- Resume should not be very long.
- Be very very careful with spelling and grammar. Typos can end opportunities very quickly! Carefully proofread your resume, and, if possible, have someone else proofread it, too.
Understanding the typical process on the employer’s end when reviewing resumes can help you be more strategic in crafting your resume so that it has the best possible chance of being selected.
The Bottom Line
Always consider the process form the employer’s point of view! What do they want?