I connected with few of the recruiters over LinkedIn and asked them what they look for in a resume at the first glance. My purpose was to get an idea of the main areas they look for – what makes a good first impression!!

So, majority of them focused on the below areas, that they see in first 30 seconds:

Recent role.

Company recognition.

Overall experience.

Keywords.

Gaps.

Based on these, if they feel that the person is a good match – they flag that person for a follow-up and later on read their resume in-depth and connect on phone or via email.

Education and Personal Details were something that they put less attention to. But yes, certifications are considered to be important and have to be highlighted properly – preferably in Summary section.

List of what they want to see more in the resume:

Strong summary.

Use of numbers in achievements.

Action verbs.

Correct spelling and grammar.

Also check:

One of the most important thing, one recruiter quoted was to add LinkedIn URL (a personalized one) only when your profile is complete i.e ‘All Star.’ Incomplete LinkedIn profile makes a negative impression.

Then came something interesting… Some of them said highlighted few things that recruiters normally wished candidates would stop doing:

Using online resume templates.

Writing resumes in first person.

Trying to make an impression with a 4+ page resume.

Mixing up present tense and past tense.

Listing an objective at the top of the resume.

Mixing different fonts and font sizes.

So now you know – while applying for your dream job, make sure that you have mentioned all the relevant information that will definitely make your resume worth the time and hassle.

Always remember RESUME is the first representation of you.

Who knows! You might have got selected for an interview 🙂

Cheers!

Pallavi