5 Things Recruiters Notice First on Your Resume

When you start looking for a job, it is important to start by putting some extra time and effort on your improving CV. Why? It is because when creating a CV, you have the power to customize your professional profile to attract recruiters and employers. In this article, you will find some tips on what you should focus on and put on your priority list when creating your CV because recruiters and employers do not spend hours reading every single word on your profile. It only takes them less than a minute to digest your CV and there’re several parts on CVs that recruiters tend to notice first. With the right adjustments to your profile, you will own the power to appeal to those recruiters and earn yourself the right career move.

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1. Recent work experience

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Experience tends to be the very first thing that recruiters pay attention to when they’re looking for a potential candidate. When they’re reading your CV, they will look for your most recent position within an organization and also the work that you’ve already done. By focusing on work experience, the recruiters are trying to figure out what this person’s current status is, how long has this person been working in the current company, and whether or not this person will be interested in a new role. Moreover, this will help recruiters figure out on a candidate’s direction in his/her career path and will show if the most recent experience is relevant to the position for which they’re hiring. They also will be interested in people you interact with. Achievements are also really important because they want to see how ambitious you really are, and this can show your progression and levels of responsibilities as well.

2. Job-hopping

Another thing that catches recruiters’ eyes is a list of too many jobs in too short a period, especially recent ones. This is not a thing recruiter want to see on a CV as it appears unpleasant to them. Job-hopping can show a candidate’s reluctant or even unsuccessful status in his/her career path. It tends to make recruiters doubted whether or not this person is moving forward towards a new role’s direction and whether or not the person they’re choosing will stick to the new company for a long time, not hop again.

3. Gaps

A candidate should also be aware that recruiters are also looking for those small mistakes or unexplained gaps in your CV. Normally recruiters do not mind gaps as long as there’s a sufficient explanation. It could be a period that a candidate took for a master’s degree, raise a child, or run their own business. On the other hand, the absence of an explanation will make recruiters doubt and the candidate will appear negatively suspicious.

4. Brand names

Another thing that catches recruiters’ attention is the names of top institutions like schools, companies, or brands especially the one that is the leader in the field of work you are searching for. This will make you appear more appealing and stand out. It is a good idea to put as many brand names as possible to indicate potential and success as most recruiters and Hiring Manager tend to prefer candidates coming from well known companies as opposed to smaller unknown ones.

5. List of skills

This is a part that will show if a person is qualified for the position recruiters are working on. Recruiters will look for specific skills such as majors, courses, certificates, language spoken, computer programs, computer languages, and such. Recruiters do keyword search sometimes to reduce time spent on one CV as they have to scan a lot of CVs in a day to search for a perfect candidate. This is why it isimportant for a candidate to put the keyword to show their skills that match the qualification. This is particularly relevant to technical candidates in engineering and IT related sectors as these skill sets often form the basis on the recruiter’s search.

Apart from these things, it is also good if you want to do a creative thing to catch recruiters’ eyes like nice graphics, color, or detail arrangement but keep the professional format. A CV should be easy to read and contain a proper amount of information, not overloaded or lack of necessary details. Do not forget to check your spelling and grammar. It is true that recruiters and employers won’t spend an hour reading every single line on your CV but once they decide they like your profile after few seconds scanning, they will definitely reread for more in-depth detail.

 

Smart Search Recruitment is Bangkok’s leading executive recruitment consultancy. We serve multinational and local companies, sourcing high-caliber candidates and placing them in mid and senior-level roles. For recruitment service inquiries contact us. We are committed to meet our client’s needs by delivering an exceptional level of service. We have insightful HR resources updated everyday. Please keep in touch with us via our social media.

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