Quick, count to six!

That was fast right? Of course it was, it’s only 6 seconds but what if I told you that a decision – a determination – about you and your ability to perform a job was made within that 6 seconds. Ladies and gentlemen, your resume gets about 6 seconds to make an impression on a hiring authority. I am not trying to scare you or alarm you but “the 6 second scan” is real.

Here’s proof.

Melanie Pinola’s LifeHacker blog “Get Your Resume Past the 6-second scan..”

Dice.com, David Strom’s “What Recruiters Look For in a 6-Second Resume Scan”

So maybe you don’t want to click on a link, okay let me give you an example from one of my clients. I’ve been working with this guy for years. We’ve updated his resume – gone over interview questions and tips – he’s gone back to school to get certifications and finally he lands a job that he loves and pays him well. One day the manager called him in her office, when he arrives, he notices that she is looking at resumes and quickly dispatching them to the trash pile. He says to her “What are you doing?” and she responds “I’m giving these resumes a quick 6 second scan to see if they qualify.”

My client is shocked, we’ve talked about the 6 second scan before but he had never seen it in action and to see it in action was amazing to him. He called me that night and told me all about it because he could not believe how fortunate he was to have a resume that passed the 6 second scan. He also told me that the manager told him “I liked you as a candidate from the moment I saw your resume.”

Boom – that’s the kind of results you want, folks! You want a resume that will get you noticed and passed on to the next step within 6 seconds.

As a resume writer, I don’t see many good ones. They are either too long or too short – have too many adjectives and vague language – and many of them are far too plain.  Just like my client’s manager who was screening resumes in 6 seconds, she could tell when a person has put a little time, effort and energy into their resume, which means, she can tell who has made an investment in their credentials in order to make the best first impression. Your resume says a lot about you and if you only have 6 seconds, you’d better make sure It says the right thing or you’ll be gone in 6 seconds.

**You or someone you know needs help with their resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile and job search, contact with me ‘[email protected]’,**