Employers only spend 7 to 12 seconds reviewing your resume

    What do most effective resumes have in common?
    If you’re looking for work these days, you’ll notice that most employers want to see your resume. Just a few years ago, many employers just wanted you to come in and complete one of their applications. Today, there are so many people looking for work that employers are using resumes more and more to help them distinguish between applicants with similar knowledge, skills and abilities.    The other thing you want to keep in mind is that employers receive so many resumes for so few jobs that they very often will not spend much time scanning your resume to find out how strong a candidate you really are.
    On average and here’s the kicker, employers will spend between 7 to 12 seconds, that’s seconds, of time reviewing your resume. If your resume doesn’t identify you, within seconds, as someone they should be interested in, then your resume is not doing its job.
    With that in mind, how do you stand out from the pack? One way is to develop what’s known as a ‘Targeted Resume’, geared to a specific position with a specific company. You would need to review what the employer looking for in their ideal candidate by carefully reading the job listing or posting. Very often, this gives you direct clues on exactly what the employer expects or at least hopes to find in job seekers who apply for their open position.
    Once you’ve identified and matched up the qualities you possess with what the employer is looking for, then its time to market those qualities on your resume. The best place to do that is at the beginning of your resume immediately after your objective in a section you would entitle as ‘Summary of Qualifications’. This is your chance to really shine and show the employer just how strong a candidate you really are.
    By incorporating this section into your resume, you are placing yourself in the top 5 percent of job seekers and if you’re a strong candidate the employer will know within those precious seconds just how well matched you really are and how well your might fit in with the organization and that they should invite you for an interview.
    Robin Ryan, considered one of America’s top career coaches, stated that in a “national survey of 600 hiring managers, the overwhelming majority said the most important part of your résumé is your “Summary of Qualifications” section. Adding this, triples your impact, and employers reported that this was one of the very first areas they read.” She also reported that “Hiring managers also reported only about 5 percent of resumes contained this key section …”.
    So, basically, your resume should have these sections in this order:
1 — Personal identifying information at the top which is nothing more than who you are and how to contact you;
2 – Objective which identifies the specific position you’re interested in. For example: ‘Objective: To secure a position as a Receptionist’;
3 – Your Summary of Qualifications. Again, this section is crucial to a targeted resume;
4 – Employment History; and
5 – Education
    The bottom line is if 95 percent of employers really like a targeted ‘Summary of Qualifications’ section, but only 5 percent of job seekers have one in their resume, what will your resume do for you?
    Steve Gagnon has over 11 years of state government experience having worked with the Unemployment Office, the Reemployment Eligibility Assessment Program as well as providing services as a CareerCenter Consultant. His military background includes four years as an aircraft hydraulics mechanic and 20 years as a personnel specialist having retired from the U..S Air Force as an E-7, Master Sergeant.