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Articles for Candidates |
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10 Second Resume Test
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Will your resume pass the 10-second test?
Ready for a new resume now?
Your resume has about 10 seconds to make an impression on a hiring authority or executive recruiter. If you want your resume to stand out and be truly competitive, take some notes from the advertising industry.
Like a resume, advertisements must make an impact in a limited space. Flip through some magazine ads and notice where your eye goes and what kind of information piques your interest. You'll note that what the ads don't do is talk about the company's revenues, its long-range goals, or its successes last year. What they do is sell benefits, both positive and negative.
The challenge for the resume writer is then twofold. You must sell benefits and your ability to reduce their pain, while make your resume visually striking and easy to read. To increase your chances of your resume landing in the "yes" pile, be sure that you create a resume that has (1) strong visual appeal (2) persuasive copy.
Find the visual center
Positioning your title, profile, and key information in the visual center is key. When you design your resume, picture folding it into thirds and place your most critical information just above the fold that marks the top third of the page. This is the visual center. Use the top of the page for your name and contact information, but keep your marketing information in the visual center of the page. Then start your work history below that.
What you do
Hiring authorities are trained to match your background with their open position. So, give yourself a title that matches that open position. If an ad says "Senior Project Manager," that bolded title at the top or your resume will surely catch their eye.
If your recent titles don't exactly match the advertised position, list a title that's more general. For instance, if the job is for an Operations Manager and you have been a General Manager, you might use Senior Management Executive -- Operations. This is also your chance to target the industry. If the job calls for a high-tech executive, make it clear that your background is in technology.
Why they should call you
What does the reader really want to know? Isn't it that you're a good match for the open position, that you can solve the problems the company's experiencing, that you can spur financial growth or that you can create something that will benefit the company? What are the absolute requirements of the position?
Make sure you respond to these points in the visual center. If you think about your career in terms of the benefits (including pain avoidance) you've created for your employers, you can articulate them loud and clear in the top third of the page. Under your work history, you can then prove your value proposition by detailing your quantifiable accomplishments.
That takes care of your message, but what about how it looks?
Use headings and visual elements
Headings, subheadings, bulleted lists, and tables can all be used to break up paragraphs and draw attention to key information. Use a bolded, larger-sized font for all of your major headings, such as "Professional Experience and Education" and "Certification and Training". Then use this same style for the title you're aiming for.
Blank space can be just as effective as fancy stylings. Be sure to leave plenty of white space, in the margins and between sections to make your resume easier to read. As you look at your left-hand margin, see how many different indents you have. Select a maximum of two indents and be consistent in your use of them.
Once you're done, step back and review your pages for visual balance, keeping roughly the same amount of space on the top as on the bottom, and making sure that the overall impression is pleasing.
Choose the appropriate font
Your font selection leaves an immediate impression at an unconscious level, so you must make sure your font matches your profession. If you're an attorney, for example, you may want a more formal look using a business font like Times New Roman. If you're a technology executive, you'd do best with a clean, sans serif font like Arial or Tahoma. Advertising execs, on the other hand, may to go for something with a little pizzazz.
You also want your resume to be easy to read, so avoid using too small a font. You can change the size of the font you use to strategically highlight important information, but don't get carried away -- stick to two or three sizes at most.
The most important thing to remember is that, above the fold, you're an advertiser.
Make an impact. Be succinct. Pass the 10-second test and convince the hiring authority to dig deeper.
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