How To Get An Edge Over The Competition Using Your Resume
How familiar does this sound to you? You’ve been coming across positions that you feel you are a perfect fit for, you apply for those positions and yet you don’t get to hear from them irrespective of having the necessary set of skill sets. Ever wondered why this happens or what happens to your resume after you have hit the submit button?
The way things work out there in the recruitment market is way different from what it used to be. The extensive use of applicant tracking systems and some infusing artificial intelligence into the recruitment process, has made it that much more difficult for your resume to get through these gatekeepers and get to the hiring manager’s desk.
If you evaluate the strength of your resume vs. the gatekeepers, you will soon realize that the problem could well be your resume and the way it is drafted. You may be the most appropriate applicant for the given position, but if you don’t nail your resume, you don’t stand a chance in getting in front of the hiring manager for an in-person discussion.
Most of us have this imaginary vision of the hiring manager going through your resume line by line and marking out the important aspects that make you suitable for the role before calling you in for the interview, the reality is way different from it. Your resume most probably is stuck at the screening software because of the lack of keywords. Industry statistics show us that less than 25% of the resumes submitted make it to the hiring manager’s desk and all of these are the ones that satisfy the ATS engines and are carefully drafted.
However, it’s not all bad news here. These days the support sectors have also come a long way. You have resources available out there to create that killer resume. If you choose carefully, you will find the right guidance required to create a resume or you could take the support of some of the best resume writers who can draft that professional resume for you. Professional resume writers who have been at it for a while know how the ATS engines work and will draft your resume in a way that satisfies the robot and the human recruiter alike.
Let’s put a structure to creating a resume that gives you an edge over the competition in 2022. It is important to understand how the recruitment process works to make sure that your resume is strong enough to cross the hurdles.
Therefore, it is important to understand the ATS. Simply put, an applicant tracking system is a software application that has evolved over the years to help recruiters screen resumes and streamline the recruiting process. The present industry standards show us that over 90% of employers apply the ATS in one form or the other during their recruiting process.
From your perspective, it is important to understand the ATS as a tool that scans your resume for relevant information that the recruiters and hiring managers look for on a resume and present them with the most appropriate resumes. The ATS mainly scans for keywords to determine the suitability of a profile and when it does not find the appropriate keywords, it becomes a dead end for the resume because it does not move any further and will never reach the hiring manager’s desk.
A recent study by CV Designer evaluated over 10000 resumes to identify the crucial requirements of getting through ATS engines used worldwide and we came up with the below:
Use of Keywords: On any given ATS, keywords take the most important spot. Every single ATS engine out there gives priority to keyword identification and shortlisting. These engines compare your resume against the job description to match the keywords on the job description to the content of your resume. The study identified that less than 50% of the resumes had the necessary keywords. Therefore, make sure that you go through the job descriptions in depth and customize your resume to suit the job description. A generic resume is not going to do the trick anymore.
Your LinkedIn Page: Again, less than 50% of the resumes that were evaluated had a LinkedIn profile mentioned on it. The ATS engines today have the ability to scan your LinkedIn profile too and use the data available there to match your profile with the position. Therefore, make sure that your LinkedIn profile is complete and you mention the URL on your resume. It is sure to improve your possibilities of getting through the ATS.
Length of the Resume: The study shows us that the ideal length of your resume should be anywhere in between 750 to 900 words. 47% of the resumes exceeded this and when compared with the hiring manager’s choice of resumes, the resumes that exceeded this length made it less hirable. When it comes to drafting your resume, it is important that you keep it as crisp as possible and at the same time, pay attention to not compromising on the keywords.
Choice of Words: Keep it simple. While one may consider showing off their vocabulary of designing skills, do understand that your resume should be the last place to do that. The choice of words matters. Keep it simple unless you are applying to positions that require your extensive vocabulary to be a requisite and make your resume appealing to the reader’s eye by placing information that is easy to find. It is important that you take into consideration the aesthetic elements while formatting your resume. Keep in mind that at the end of the day, it is important to get the hiring manager’s attention for them to understand your potential.
By paying attention to these steps, you can be sure to head in the right direction while drafting your resume that gives you that edge. As mentioned, there are millions out there who are working with professional resume writers to get them through these hurdles. Being in this field of work over the last two decades, we’ve evolved along with technology and we’ve managed to be a step ahead of the screening mechanisms and helping our clients get higher visibility when they go into the market. We would love to be a part of your success story as well. Do get in touch with us at 0091 8448448780 or write to us on d@cvdesigner.in if you need help in writing a resume.