How to Pass the 6-Second Resume Test

How to Pass the 6-Second Resume TestHow to Pass the 6-Second Resume TestHow to Pass the 6-Second Resume TestMake aya your resume is catching the recruiters attention for all the right reasons. Well show you how.Studies have shown that the average recruiter scans a resume for six seconds before deciding if the applicant is a good fit for the role. In other words, to pass the resume test, your resume only has six seconds to make the right impression with a prospective employer.As a result, its important to make it as easy as possible for the reader to skim and identify your most important selling points. Consider the top third of your resume to be a snapshot in this section, include everything the reader needs to know and understand about your job goals, qualifications, and how to reach out to you if theyre interested in your candidacy.Below Ive listed a number of elements every professional should consider when crafting their resumeand telling their career story. These critical elemen ts can help you pass the six-second resume test.Your anthroponymInclude your name at the very top of your resume, as it appears on your LinkedIn profile and other job-search materials. Whether you like to go by Bob or Robert, thats your prerogative just make koranvers youre consistent. If you have a very common name, you may want to include your middle initial in your professional name to help distinguish you from the several other Sarah Johnsons in the greater New York City area.CertificationsIf you have a certification or advanced degree thats considered valuable in your career, such as an RN, MBA, or PMP, include it after your name. For instance, I tend to use Amanda Augustine, CPCC CPRW on my personal branding materials because these certifications demonstrate my expertise in career coaching and resume writing. Theres no reason to include the initials for your undergraduate degree or a certification thats not relevant to your current job goals.You may be asking why include thi s information at the top? How will this help my resume pass the resume test? Wont the recruiter read about my education in that section of my resume? Yes and no. While recruiters are on the lookout for details about your credentials in fact, its one of the top six items they focus on during their initial review they also tend to scan the resume very quickly. By leading off with the acronyms at the top of the resume, youre ensuring the recruiter doesnt accidentally overlook one of your selling points.Contact informationInclude your mobile phone number and an email address youve designated for your job search. If you havent tischset up your phone to receive voicemails or recorded a voicemail greeting, add this to your list of to-do items. When selecting your email address, I recommend creating one on a platform like Gmail that incorporates your professional name and is dedicated to job-search and networking activities. This will help you keep your job search organized and avoid and any age discrimination sentiments that often are associated with outdated emails such as a comcast.net or optonline.net.Its no longer necessary to include your full mailing address at the top of your resume. Instead, share the city, state, and zip code if youre searching for a job close to home, or remove location information entirely if youre interested in relocating for work.Supporting mediaWhile the resume tends to be a very cut-and-dry schriftart of document, there are ways to give employers a better sense of your personality, creativity, and subject-matter expertise. This is where the magic of hyperlinks begins.Below or adjacent to the contact information in your header, include links to websites that shed some light on these areas of your professional brand. For instance, its now commonplace to include the URL to your LinkedIn profile (Hint If you havent created one yet, nows the time.)If youre applying for a position that involves working with social media, you may include li nks to your personal social media accounts as well. This is also a great place to share the link to your online portfolio (for those in creative fields) or your personal blog (for writers and subject-matter experts). A word of caution, though If you intend to include a link to any of these resources, make sure youre regularly updating the information and that the content supports your professional brand and current job goals. For example, theres no need to include a link to your blog about basketball if youre applying for corporate finance positions.HeadersAll the sections I mentioned above should be included in the top portion of your resume. However, dont insert this information into the actual header portion of the da sagst du was document. This can get scrambled by the applicant tracking systems (ATS for short) and cause confusion for the recruiter. It may even cause your resume to not pass the ATS resume test. Instead, decrease your top margin on the document to 0.5 inches and place your name, contact information, and hyperlinks at the top of the page.If your resume is more than one page long, make sure your contact information is repeated at the top of the subsequent pages. You dont want the recruiter to have to hunt for your phone number or email address if theyre ready to speak with you.Professional titleWhen someone takes a look at your resume to see if you pass the test, there should be no question as to the type of role youre targeting in your job search. All too often I hear clients complain that they arent receiving the type of job leads that they want, whether theyve been individual contributors for many years and are currently seeking a management position, or they want to return to a field they worked in several years ago but only receive offers for work that correlates with their most recent experience.To help remedy this situation, and ensure your resume passes the resume test, make your job goals crystal clear, starting with the top third of your resume. Include a professional title that states your intent. For instance, you may put Senior Financial Planning Analysis Professional, Global Business Development Executive, or Entry-Level Marketing Professional, depending on your level of experience and target role. Please note that these sample titles indicate the professionals job goals without getting too specific. This makes it easier if youre applying to a few different types of roles within the same field. If your job goals are very precise, you can take it a step further and include additional information.Sample resume professional titleHeres an example of a resume professional title for a client who works in communications and specializes in a particular sector of the marketSENIOR COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALHealthcare Pharmaceuticals OTC HealthTheres no doubt that this professional is looking for a communications role within the healthcare sector. Take a second look at the top of your resume and make sure theres a professional title at the top that states your job goals.Professional summaryAfter listing your professional title, in order to pass the resume test, you need to back it up with supporting information. Consider this section to be the elevator pitch of your resume. In a short paragraph (3-5 lines), answer the following questionsWhy are you qualified for this type of position?What about your experience, education, and skills make you a good candidate for this type of role?Most importantly, how have you used these qualifications to provide value to your previous employers?This paragraph is usually referred to as your resumes professional or executive summary.Core competenciesYoud assume that the person reviewing your job application must have a good understanding of your field and the position theyre helping to fill, right?Wrong. Unfortunately, the first few reviews of your resume will most likely be conducted by a piece of machinery, known as an applicant tracking system (ATS), and a junior-level sourcer or HR coordinator. To help get past these initial gatekeepers and pass the ATS resume test, its important that your resume incorporate a number of key phrases and terms that summarize your expertise. Thats where the core competencies section comes into play.Just below your professional summary, include a few columns or rows of terms that give the reader a good sense of your areas of expertise. An easy way to uncover this information is by reviewing job descriptions that interest you and taking note of the terms that routinely pop up on these job listings. You can also copy and paste a number of job descriptions into a Word Cloud generator, such as Wordle, to identify the most frequently mentioned terms.Highlighted achievementsIf youve been in the workforce for 15 or more years, you may want to include a highlighted achievements section. This segment is usually placed just below the core competencies section and above your professional history. In it, you list three to five bullets that highlight achievements you consider to be especially noteworthy and relevant to your target job. If some of your best accolades fall on the second page of your resume, this is a good way to give them special attention within your resume snapshot.The friend testWhen you glance at the top of your resume, are your job goals and qualifications obvious? If youre unsure, hand your resume over to a friend. It actually helps if this person is not in your line of work. Ask them to quickly scan your resume for no more than 30 seconds this is longer than the average recruiter takes. If they cant easily identify your job goals and qualifications, then you know it wont pass a resume test and theres still work to be done.Not sure if your resume is in shape to beat the 6-second test? TopResume can help your resume pass with flying colors. Learn more.Recommended ReadingThe Top 10 Resume Mistakes That Could Cost You the JobCareer Quiz Is Your Resume Ready to Beat the Bots ?11 Stepsto Writing the Perfect Resume