The 10-Second Resume Rule: Make an Immediate Impression or You Lose

Most initial resume screenings last an average of 10 seconds or less, that's how the rule got its name. This initial screening happens very quickly, whether it is done using a human reviewer or technology. Nearly 75% of all applicants for any position are easily removed in this initial screening process. Did you get that? Within the first 10 seconds of resume review, 75% of all applicants are rejected. Hasta la vista. Catch you later. Thanks for applying.

To beat the 10-second resume rule, your resume must be able to quickly convince a reviewer, whether computer or human, in only a few seconds that you meet the position requirements and have the experience they need and are, in fact, the candidate they need to hire. Simple, right?

Resume writing is so challenging for this reason. It is the hardest form of persuasive writing. Why? Because there are few topics more difficult for most people to write about than themselves. That's why many people find better success in bringing in a professional resume writer to help out.

Fix My Resume

Let's set this straight now--there is no simple fix. The screening process counts on the fact that so many resumes don't make the mark. Writing a resume is tough. That's all there is to it. Most people do not like to write. Most people do not like sales. A resume is both - it is a written sales pitch. Ouch! Double whammy.

So, how do you fix a resume then?

The 10-Second Resume Rule Revealed

Let's review the keys that make up the 10-second resume rule. You can't beat a system you don't understand, right? These top resume tips will improve chances that your resume will make it through the initial 10-second evaluation round.

1. Spend the Most Time on the Most-Read Part of Your Resume

Contrary to what you might think, the most-read part of your resume is not your name. When there are hundreds of resumes to review, names matter little in initial evaluations. The most read part of your resume is your Profile or Experience Summary. If your resume is missing this section, you are losing your best opportunity to create interest. It used to be common to put an Objective at the top of your resume. However, the Profile or Experience Summary section has completely replaced the Objective section. Why? It is a quick 3-4 sentence overview of your qualifications. This acts as an Executive Summary for a reviewer where you clearly point out why you are the best candidate for this specific position. If you don't generate interest in this section, your chances of further review or even an interview are slim.

Write the Experience Summary section of your job resume for each specific position you are seeking. You must state a convincing case as to why you are the perfect candidate. For example, if you were applying for a computer programming job, you should focus your Experience Summary on your computer programming skills and experience and establish yourself as qualified right away. It may be nice that you were in a community play or a scout leader, but it is not relevant and won't get you the job. This ultimate purpose of this section is to quickly make you stand out from other applicants. When drafting your Experience Summary, keep asking yourself if someone else would be able to make the same statements in their own resume. If so, you need to go back and re-work it again. You need to establish your value to the employer and clearly tell them, "Here is what I can do for you." Investing your time on this one step will bring huge rewards for you.

Tip 2. Learn How Job Search Technology Works and Use it to Your Advantage

Technology is now in use at most medium and larger employers to help manage job applicants. This technology is much more accessible to a wider range of employers since prices have come down over the past few years. Why is this important to you? Because most of these software applications are used to quickly remove up to 75% of applicants from the review pool, which saves human resources staff a lot of time and work.

This technology presents some risks for you as a potential job candidate, so you must understand how they work. Many of these so-called applicant tracking systems do not recognize items in table format, text boxes, or other graphical elements. They are very text based. Therefore, you should avoid embedding anything important into graphical elements such as text boxes or tables to make sure they are not missed by these applicant tracking systems.

Tip 3. A Simple Resume Format and Resume Template Work Best

A lot of the initial resume review process may be done using software tools as discussed above. This software typically scans a resume for specific sections of information, such as profile or summary, work experience, education, training, etc. If the software can't identify where information is in your resume, it is likely that the information you worked so hard to put in your resume will just be skipped over. Rarely will you get a second chance from an in-person reviewer. So keep your resume format simple to avoid having any issues with software tools used by potential employers.

Tip 4. Present Your Work Experience in a CAR

Not a literal car, but an acronym CAR to help guide your resume writing. 

First, for each position listed on your resume, provide a short paragraph that describes your roles and responsibilities. This tip is designed to make sure you use keywords related to the position that the software may be searching for in your resume. If done correctly, it should allow your resume to earn a higher ranking in the system.

Next step, create a bulleted list of accomplishments in each position using the C-A-R method. For each bullet, follow the C-A-R formula: indicate a Challenge you faced, followed by the Action you took, and identify the Results of those actions. You must ensure that the achievements you include are relevant and significant so that a reviewer won't read it and say "who cares." This is so important. Those who write resumes for a living are very skilled at wording these achievements to sound very impressive and make them relevant. For example:

Took over development of client's web site that was months behind. Developed a plan to divide work among staff and assigned additional resources to get project back on track, finally meeting all original deadlines for site and receiving a commendation from the client.

• Awarded consultant of the year award by client

Approach your write-up for each position in this way - first a short paragraph on roles and responsibilities, followed by a bulleted list of achievements. These should catch the eyes of resume reviewers. If you find yourself struggling with the writing, you may want to call on the assistance of a professional resume writer to jump start your job search.

5. Offer Proof for Your Statements

The old adage that finding a job is a job holds true. The burden is on you to prove to a potential employer that you are the best candidate for the job. To do this, you must build your case from the ground up. This means you need to offer proof for every statement you make. For example, if you say you have 6 years of experience with Java programming or accounts payable, an employer should be able to go one-by-one through your position write-ups on your resume and identify those 6 years by themselves.

Avoid vanilla, blanket statements that cannot be backed up. To accomplish this, you should offer details rather than meaningless phrases like top performer, top achiever, employee of the month, etc. While I am sure these are great accomplishments, you must explain them and tell why and how these recognitions should matter to a new employer. Remember, the actual recognition is secondary to your achievements, a potential employer will care more about why you earned recognition.

6. Avoid Flowery Language That Diminishes Your Achievements

You could have a comedy show with some of the statements people make on their resumes. You don't want your resume to stand out for the wrong reasons. Avoid creative writing. Avoid big words and uncommon vocabulary. Avoid over the top statements that make you sound like you saved the universe. They immediately call your credibility immediately into question. Resume writer Don Goodman shares one of his favorite claims as "Rocketed performance to stellar heights." Says Goodman, "People don't speak like that; I have never heard an executive tell the HR person that they needed someone who could rocket performance to stellar heights. Remember, people hire people they like, so don't make your resume read like an amateur poet wrote it."

7. Keep it Relevant

In second grade, I played the role of a singing tree in my school play. As important an event as that was to me in my life, it is completely irrelevant to our discussion here about resume writing tips. You should follow the same advice on your resume. If it is not relevant or you can't reword it so that it is relevant to the job or employer, leave it off. Focus your resume on the items that qualify you for the position you are seeking. In other words, get rid of the fluff. For example, I once received a resume from a programmer, however the only thing I remember from it was that they attended clown college and competed in national juggling competitions. Yes, that was interesting, but it completely trumped their qualifications for the programming position which I don't even remember. Basically, limit items on your resume to those relevant to the position for which you are applying. Do not include irrelevant items to that position on the resume. If you haven't figured this out yet, this means you will have multiple, fine-tuned versions of your resume for each type of position for which you apply.

You Will Get Better Job Search Results Using the 10-Second Resume Rule

Ten seconds is typically all you get to make your spark some interest from a potential employer for any job. These top resume tips should help you fine-tune your resume and achieve better results. To say it again, writing a resume and finding a job is not easy, most especially in a tough economy where an average of over 300 applicants apply for an open position. You have to make yourself stand out-there is no alternative. Use this strategy to make your resume stand out from the crowded field of applicants I those important 10 seconds. Put these tips to use and you should start seeing results.

If you feel overwhelmed or unsure if you are up to the task, you may want to consider the services of a top resume writer. Everyday these professionals work with individuals like you and turn their resume into marketing masterpieces. Most anyone can benefit from their experience and ability to craft a resume that will make you stand out and dramatically shorten your job search time. This is their business and sometimes you just need to call in a professional to get the best results. And in this economy, the number of applicants you are competing against means that you need leverage every advantage you can get.

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Finding the Right Recruiter For Your Job Search

Choosing a recruiter can have a major impact on your career: the right recruiter can play a major role in achieving job success and security; the wrong recruiter get you stuck in a bad or even career damaging situation. In over twenty five years in the recruiting field, I have observed recruiters on both these poles, and mostly somewhere in between; observing both the career benefits and unhappiness a recruiter can cause in your life. Of course, you need not make an uniformed, or ill informed choice, on who you pick as your recruiter. In this post I will offer some key points for finding the right recruiter for your job search.

1. Trust: As in most areas of human interaction, trust, or a lack thereof, can be a determining factor in successful personal and professional relationships. Without, at least, some initial intuition of trustworthiness, based upon your first impression of a recruiter, I would suggest you find someone else ASAP. When I started recruiting in its earlier, what I like to call pre-professional "wild west days," trust was almost always a concern, using a recruiter could often devolve into a "buyer beware" scenario. Today I think reputation, knowledge, recruiter consistency, ethics and career recommendations, are among key indicators in trusting, and working, with a recruiter. If you have a major negative assessment on any of these issues, then don't select, or fire, a recruiter immediately. To borrow a phrase from one of our favorite cultural icons, some recruiters are "masters in the art of deception." These recruiters should be avoided no matter what "rosy scenario" they paint of the job positions they offer to you. Finally, always be aware that a recruiter, no matter how effective, is paid by the hiring company, which can seriously impact the recruiter's objectivity and, occasionally, honesty.

2. Knowledge: If a recruiter doesn't understand what you do and what, and why, you want to do next, then forget about working with him because he is not qualified to assist you. Beyond this basic qualifier, it is important that the recruiter you choose has knowledge, and contacts, in your area of specialization: either on their own or through a reputable firm who trains junior and intermediate recruiters. Length of experience shouldn't necessarily be the determining factor in your recruiter selection, although businesses, and business people, have a tendency to use length of experience as a main selling point in working with them. For the most part this may be true because unethical business people, and often their firms, quickly develop a bad reputation and do not stay in business very long. Moreover, an energetic and ethical junior recruiter may work very, very hard on your behalf to establish themselves and a good reputation, while a few highly experienced recruiters can sometimes become jaded and/or burned out (recruiting can be an extremely high stress occupation) and only give minimal effort to your job search

3. Track Record: How successful is your potential recruiter in placing people in situations close to what you are looking for? There are many successful recruiters out there. In itself, that is an important bit of information, but these placements may not be in your area of expertise. However, these recruiters may often have friends, who are very familiar with what you do, and for a finder's fee from the other recruiters, or purely professional courtesy. When I first stated recruiting these recommendations or referrals were relatively rare except if the recruiters operated in different geographic regions. However, today many recruiters make a good part of their income through referrals, usually referred to as splits, to and from other recruiters with another placement firm. This is often beneficial, but make sure that your recruiter gets your prior authorization before forwarding your resume to a "split partner." The increasing specialization and globalization of career opportunities, particularly is the service economy like IT, has contributed to this trend. Finally, finding a recruiter who has exclusive access to a hiring manager or company can be major plus in finding a career enhancing position.

4. Chemistry: As in most areas of human interactions, the chemistry between a recruiter and his client is essential for a satisfying relationship. If you are a "laid back" or deliberative type of person, then a high powered, very aggressive recruiter may not be for you or visa-versa. You might be on such different "wavelengths" that you may come to dread interacting with this person. Remember. there are a lot of recruiters who want your business. Take the time to find someone you feel comfortable working with. If you make a wise decision, your recruiter may evolve into an invaluable long term career asset, finding you future jobs, and even filling your job requisitions if you move into management

5. Source: Today, where an increasing large percentage of personal and social introductions occur over the web 2.0, a major source for finding a recruiter can be found there as well, particularly on Linkedin. Also, job boards like Monster and, my favorite, Dice are a good source for recruiters. However, job boards are quickly losing their drawing power as the job boards lost their drawing power to print advertising before them. However. on a more personal level, for many years it was thought that getting a referral from a friend or trusted associate was the best way to find a recruiter. This may still be the preferred method in some cases. However, unless you have a background similar to the person who referred the recruiter to you, the value of the referral may be negligible. Furthermore, negative chemistry towards the recruiter, and an unrealistic sense of loyalty or obligation to the referring source, may, occasionally, lead to a very negative outcome.

6. Shop Around: Your career is a very critical aspect of your life. If you allow someone to represent you, you should be fairly certain that this person values you as something more than a quick placement commission. To avoid being treated like a commodity, I would recommend that you speak with at least 3 recruiters to feel comfortable that you have found someone to represent your best interests. Next, after careful consideration, I would choose no more than 2 recruiters. If a recruiter senses you will work with anyone, then that could prove to be a disincentive for the recruiter to exert maximum effort on your part. However, if your recruiter(s) don't either get you some interviews or stay in close contact with you within a few weeks, then It may be time to consider other, or additional recruiters.

As stated earlier, finding the recruiter who can most adequately satisfy your short and long term career needs is essential. This recruiter "must have your best interests" as a top priority. Although there has been a major improvement in the quality and legitimacy of recruiting professionals in the last 20 years, there are still shysters out there that should be detected and avoided to avert a potentially disastrous career move. Luckily, the increasingly competitive job market and very cautious employers have made unscrupulous headhunters an endangered species.

So now your concern in working with a recruiter should generally focus slightly less on the recruiter's ethical legitimacy and more on issues related to competency, chemistry, and clientele. Interviews and job offers can often be confusing and inconclusive experiences. A good recruiter, should have the expertise to clarify ad coordinate this crucial situation, leading to a win, win, win, outcome for you, your future employer and you.

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New Year & Your New Career

With the start of 2018, many of us are mulling over the past year and taking time for some self-reflection on our lives and careers. Mostly, we focus primarily on our current state, i.e. if we are employed and/or whether we like our current role in our respective jobs. We also reflect to see if we are at the level this year where we imaged ourselves to be last year at this time? How is our personal life, or do we even have one? How do we feel physically? These personal and sometimes painful reflections are very appropriate as we ring out the old and ring in the new. They all have to do with our well-being.

Career well-being is feeling good about the work you do. It means you can truthfully answer "Yes!" to the question, "Do you like what you do each day?" We know that when our career well-being is solid and stable, we are healthier, happier and more successful over all. Career well-being doesn't happen by magic, of course. To achieve it, you need to act. So, if you want to turn in a new direction in this New Year, and you can feel and see (and even taste!) that you want more freshness in your life, I urge you to kick your resolve into gear and make it happen.

As we reflect, we discover how to tune into our thoughts, and be mindful of our "emotions." This allows us to free and develop the "inner resources" that have been there all along. An important fact here is this: anything that helps support you in your cause is a "resource". A resource can be a person such as a coach or mentor, or it can be a situation such as an alliance with someone who shares your resolve to make things better. Mindfulness and self-knowledge are resources, too.

Are you chomping at the bit to make a change? That's natural, but I urge you to be patient. There is no need for speed. In fact, impatience can be a tremendous drain on your motivation. The antics of an impatient mind are obstacles to your goals. Impatience keeps you stuck in the quicksand of confusion, unable to move forward quickly, slowly... or at all. It's valuable to understand that impatience is triggered after we have envisioned our goal, at the moment it becomes crystal clear that achieving that goal is going to cost us more, often much more, than we thought. When this realization hits us, our mental gears start spinning out of control. We begin looking for ways to avoid the high costs in time, pain, distraction, credibility or opportunity. You can fight back.

Be aware that self-knowledge is your super-power. When you understand how impatience works its dark magic, you can manage it better. You can take full advantage of your impatient energy and use it to speed things up or change course when the time is right. On the flip side, you can learn to harness and calm impatient energy when it makes more sense for you to stay the course.

When we adopt a more patient approach to change, we give ourselves an important opportunity to investigate our inner feelings and learn from our external experiences. I encourage you to take time to reflect on your career and the reason it matters to you. Let yourself feel why the professional and personal challenges you face and overcome every day are worth all the effort. Get clarity on why you do what you do; understand your core motivation and how to apply that to your future career. That's where success lies.

Sometimes the greatest obstacle to change is the fear of change itself. If you're stuck in a defensive stance, you won't be able to change anything. Would it surprise you to learn that people do not naturally resist change? What we resist is the "pain" of making a change. We become paralyzed by our fear of the unknown. The human brain is a wonderful thing. It is engineered to naturally seek out, be curious, explore, and do new things. It's how the brain thrives. But to do all these things, you have to feel safe. Only when you feel safe enough will you confidently go out and explore. Ultimately, when we accept and embrace change, we begin to seek it out and find valuable lessons in it. Therefore, we must do whatever it takes to make allies of the fear of change and the fear of the unknown and accept them unconditionally.

Acceptance of change comes more easily to us when the brain's "Default Mode Network" (DMN) is activated. This is the part of the brain that is typically engaged when we are daydreaming, thinking about the future or being nostalgic. A human brain in DMN experiences a state of excitement which in turn helps make us receptive to change and opens us up to new ideas. This state of excitement also creates a physiological reaction, not just a mental one. It releases all the negative, self-sabotaging energy that is electrocuting your brain and allows you to see possibilities you've never seen before.

When your mind is clear and calm, you begin to focus on solutions instead of dwelling on problems. I know this isn't easy. It takes determination, energy and powerful intention to connect with your desires. The good news is that every single effort you put forth will strengthen your ability to trust yourself and stand up for what you want. The return on your investment of effort will amaze you.

The bottom line is this: when it comes to change, resistance is futile. So instead of resisting, you should welcome change into your life. Above all else, learn to enjoy all the twists and turns. Learn to adapt to whatever challenges comes your way and know that your attitude will help you move forward and reach your goal. The curve balls and surprises are what make life such a titillating adventure. Go forth and conquer!

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How Resumes Showing Years of Employment With the Same Employer Can Hurt You (and How to Fix It)

We often hear that employment gaps in a resume can hurt a candidate, but did you know long term employment at the same employer can also be perceived negatively?

Having stable employment is certainly not a bad thing. However, if it is with the same employer and your resume doesn't show you made progress, it is not an impressive mark for a potential employer viewing your resume.

When a candidate has stayed with the same employer for many years, it can be considered in two ways: 1) You are lucky to have found a good employer and enjoy what you do, or, 2) You are afraid to take on new challenges and do not like stepping out of your comfort zone.

A potential employer may view your long term stay with an employer negatively for several reasons: 

1. Questions of Ambition and Motivation. If you have been working with the same employer for several years and your resume shows you have the same title as when you started, it can lead an employer to wonder if you have reached the peak of your career. Employers want people who have the ambition and motivation to progress.

2. Marketable Skills. When you have been with the same employer for a long period of time, your skills may grow stale and an employer may think you only know one way of doing things. Do you have what it takes to be effective and competitive? Are you willing to try things differently and can you learn new skills? How well would you adapt to a new environment, one that may require you to stretch into new and different skills requirements?

Here are ways in which your long tenure with an employer can impress potential employers rather than scare them away. 

1. Show Advancement. Whether you received promotions or transferred to work in different departments within the company, make note of these changes and advancements on your resume. Specify the dates you were in certain roles so the potential employer sees that you made advancements in your career.

2. Detail Your Achievements. Rather than group achievements as a whole with the same employer, break it down on your resume. Under each title and the specific dates you held the position, specify the challenge and accomplishments. This will indicate to a potential employer that you have continued to acquire knowledge, achieve new outcomes, and excel in new capabilities throughout your career with the long term employer and that you have taken on new challenges or projects.

3. Advanced Training and Education. If you continued to pursue education or took particular courses or training relevant to the job with your employer, make note of it on your resume. This shows a potential employer that you have a desire to continue to improve your abilities and your job skills have not gone outdated. You also have the initiative to acquire new job skills.

4. Provide a Reason for Leaving Your Long Term Employer. A potential employer always has this question in mind for candidates in these situations. They want to know that you are serious about your decision to move on from your long term employer and that you are not leaving for reasons of a bailout - perhaps your performance has grown stale and you are simply looking for a way out.

Never talk negatively about your employer. Simply indicate you have valued the experience and skills gained from you previous position and you are looking for new challenges where you can apply your marketable skills and continue to grow with new experiences.

Your loyalty and dedication is an impressive sign for potential employers, but they have to know you have grown over the years, and still have ambition, motivation, up-to-date skills, and good intentions for wanting to leave your long term employer. Doubt in any of the particular areas mentioned above can lead a potential employer to pass on your resume and application, so use these tips to make sure you get noticed.

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