Let’s be real: Recruiters glance at your resume for just 7 seconds. That’s the brutal truth of recruiting. In that blink of an eye, they don’t read; they skim.
To skim is to read quickly to decide one thing only. Fit or not fit.
That decision happens before any deep evaluation of the profile. If your resume fails this first scan, nothing else matters. You are out!
Do you want to know what recruiters look at in your resume? What grabs attention?
Eye-tracking research shows that recruiters follow a predictable pattern. They focus on a small set of elements in the following order.
- Your name
- The first few lines of your introduction (just below your name, and contact)
- Your current title, company and starting date
- The previous titles, company names, and their start and end dates
- Education credentials
- That is it. Be aware that long paragraphs, dense text, and decorative elements rarely get attention.
The science behind the 7-second rule
The Shocking Truth: Research from Ladders reveals that recruiters and executive search firms decide “fit or not fit” in just 7 seconds using eye-tracking tech. That means you have mere moments to make an impact.
They brought in 30 professional recruiters over a 10-week period to record their reactions as they viewed different types of resumes, online profiles, and other candidate information.
The eye tracking data showed where attention stopped, slowed, or skipped entirely. Anything that did not support a fast decision was ignored.
Aaarrrggghhh—I hear your scream!
Why pictures, graphs, visuals hurt your resume
Cut the clutter because visual distractions like photos, graphs, charts, icons, and logos waste precious time. It reduces resume performance.
Visuals pull attention away from job titles and experience. They also introduce biased risks linked to age, gender, or background.
The research conclusion was blunt.
Visual elements waste time and weaken analytical judgment.
A clean resume layout consistently outperforms visually rich designs and LinkedIn profiles filled with ads and side panels.
Remove your photo. It steals attention from the only things that matter. Your experience and results.
One page or two pages, the data-driven answer
The two-page rule still applies when you have more than 5 years of experience.
The eye-tracking analysis showed that an engaged recruiter spends as much time on a second page as on the first.
However, the time on the second page depends strongly on how compelling the first page is.
Subsequent pages tend not to perform as strongly, regardless of how engaged the recruiter is on the first and second pages.
The resumes that scored low had a cluttered look and feel, characterized by long sentences, multiple columns, and very little white space in the margins and between paragraphs.
The worst resumes had a poor layout that did not draw the eye down the page (there was little use of section and job headers to catch the eye).
Recruiters spend 7.4 seconds deciding whether to continue
The resume is a two-page sales pitch document. It’s not meant to be used in a Court of Law, nor written as your memoirs.
The purpose: To get you an interview.
It does not get you hired. The interview does.
Like anything else in our daily lives, fashion keeps changing.
Look back 10 or 20 years and notice how cars, buildings, clothing, hairstyles, and so on looked back then.
Even the once-popular font Times New Roman has been out since 2007. It was replaced first by Calibri and, since 2023, by Aptos, which is now the default Microsoft font.
What the worst resumes have in common
A Ladders’ study concluded that the worst-performing resumes shared these issues:
Cluttered look and feel, characterized by long sentences, multiple columns, and very little white space.
Poor layout that did not draw the eye down the page (i.e., little use of section/job headers to catch the eye).
Evidence of keyword stuffing. While this strategy can help with automated resume screening, candidates should keep in mind that a successful resume will ultimately have to be read by a real person. As such, keywords should be presented in context.
Botox your resume with these great tips
Always keep in mind that the resume serves only one purpose: to get you an interview.
HR departments and consultants from executive recruitment companies would love to know the reasons for leaving their jobs. But there is a but.
You should be ready to answer these questions – but not in your resume, only when asked during the interview. Simply leave out any information in your resume about why you left a job.
Every business has its own jargon, its own short words, that people in the business know well.
- You should avoid using abbreviations, as the line manager (someone familiar with this terminology) might not be the first person taking a look at all the resumes and applications but rather someone in the HR department.
Do not enclose copies of your diplomas and certificates. Instead, bring the copies along for the interview in case the recruiter wants to check your educational credentials.
- Go for the standard and acceptable Microsoft Word document, and you are on safe ground. For your resume, drop the Excel or PowerPoint documents.
Do not use a file name such as my.resume.doc or the employer’s company name. When you save the resume document on your computer, use your own first and last name as the file name: first.second.resume.docx.
- It is not necessary to include the names and addresses of any referees. Reference checking takes place only when the employer has decided to offer you employment.
Is it time to get a Resume and LinkedIn Makeover?
If your resume or LinkedIn profile fails the 7-second test, fix it now.
If your resume looks busy, outdated, or unfocused, recruiters make quick decisions and move on. The market does not reward effort. It rewards clarity.
If you want professional help, work with someone who understands recruiter behavior, not design trends.
Tom Sorensen is a PARWCC certified writer who works daily with hiring managers and executive search firms across Asia.
The goal stays the same. Get the interview.
