Five Items On Your Resume Recruiters Notice First

Top schools, Fortune 500 companies, household brands, and hot start-ups. Recruiters’ preferences depend on the search. At the executive level, top schools still carry weight but not as much at this stage of the career as recent companies. For a recent graduate, the school brand matters more because there is less other information. If the role is for a fast-growth newer company, a history with successful start-ups may be preferred over even Fortune 500 companies. If the search is for a large company, then Fortune 500 names will carry the day.

Recruiters search for specific keywords: technical skills like software or programming languages, certifications like the CPA or PMP, and functional skills like direct response for a specialized marketing search or regression analysis for a data analyst position.

Recruiters zero in on gaps, short tenures, and lack of progression. A gap in the middle of an otherwise solid career is less of an issue than a recent gap. A shorter gap (less than six months) is a non-issue. Multiple jobs with a year or less of tenure raise suspicions that the candidate has no staying power. If there is longevity but no increase in responsibilities, title or results, then this shows a lack of progression.

Spelling and grammar mistakes jump out and make you look sloppy, unprofessional, and uncaring. If proper names are misspelled (a company in the Experience section, a software in the Skills section) it raises doubt as to whether or not the candidate really worked at that company or knows that program.

This is not one specific item on a resume but the feel across the entire resume. Brand names, relevant keywords, longevity and progression, and no mistakes all signal positively to potential. Body of work – skills plus experience plus specific industry or functional expertise – also signal potential. The aesthetics of the resume – layout, readability, conciseness of descriptions – signal professionalism and attention to detail. The emphasis in the resume – the summary on top, the first bullet of each job, the results that are quantified – represents the candidate’s value proposition.