Will You Pass the Seven Second Test?
A resume is a very important piece in any job search. It won’t get you a job–ultimately only you can sell yourself to the Hiring Manager. But it can play a great supporting role in your search by setting you apart from other job seekers.
Basically you have about 7 seconds to introduce yourself through your proxy. On the average that’s how long a busy hiring manager will take to glance at your resume and decide whether or not it’s a keeper. That means she or he may not even scan the entire thing before deciding what to do with it. In many ways the HM is looking more for ways to eliminate rather than consider you for an interview. An interview is a major commitment of time and that equals money in any company. Plus, much can be quickly gleaned about you through this writing sample. A resume with poor formatting and glaring grammatical errors loudly broadcasts a lack of commitment to quality. And what company wants to hire someone who doesn’t take pride in his or her workmanship! You may not be a graphic designer or a spelling champion, but there is no excuse for a resume with obvious shortcomings, given spell checker and the variety of resume templates included with most word processing software.
Now is your resume’s appearance alone going to get you an interview? No, but it will keep you in the running. And there’s something else that you can do to make those 7 seconds pay off for you. This is something that many resumes lack and including it will give you an edge. What is it? Stay tuned for my next post.
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