What recruiters look for on your CV

Recruiters spend an average of just six seconds scanning a CV before deciding if the candidate is worth calling in for an interview, according to research from TheLadders, a mobile career network for professionals.

“Recruiters are often inundated with job applications to popular listings, so it’s no surprise that they don’t spend a lot of time carefully reviewing each resume,” says Amanda Augustine, a career expert at TheLadders. “However, none of us expected it to only take only six seconds.”

TheLadders used a scientific technique called “eye tracking” on 30 professional recruiters and examined their eye movements during a 10-week period to “record and analyze where and how long someone focuses when digesting a piece of information or completing a task.”

In the short time that they spend on your CV, recruiters look at your name, current title and company, current position start and end dates, previous title and company, previous position start and end dates, and education.

The two CVs below include a heat map of recruiters’ eye movements. The one on the right was examined more thoroughly than the one on the left because of its clear and concise format:

“You only get six seconds to make the right impression, so you have to make them count,” Augustine says.

“Use a clean-looking layout that recruiters can easily scan and locate the information that matters most to them,” she suggests. “Avoid dense blocks of text for the same reason, and save your bullet points to call attention to your most noteworthy and relevant accomplishments. List your experience in chronological order, starting with your current job.”

Published in collaboration with Business Insider

Author: Jacquelyn Smith joined Business Insider as the Careers Editor in February 2014.

Image: Motorized mannequins hold signs that read “Hire Me” in Toronto May 23, 2014. REUTERS/Mark Blinch