Get Your Resume Noticed In 6 Seconds

Dear applicants, the recruiters have finally confessed the secret. The time span of a recruiter checking your resume stays between 5-7 seconds, says online job search site The Ladders as per the research done by them. This equals to about 30-40 words on resume in total.

There’s always this anxiety in us to know what happens next when we apply for a job. How long are recruiters reading our resume? What are the major areas of concern on a resume for recruiters?  What interests them to not toss the resume in recycle bin?

Let’s glance through a few facts below unleashing the figures and facts related to recruiters’ activity. (A study was done by Undercover Recruiter on the analytics of CV through a recruiter’s point of view.)

► 200 applications are received when a job is posted
► Average time spent looking at the CV lasts for about 7 seconds
► 15% chance is the attached cover letter will be read too
► 1 spelling or grammar mistake your CV will be thrown out
► 80% of CVs are rejected with photos attached on it
► 60% of recruiters will search for your other social media profiles
► 80% of CVs are rejected if you have unprofessional email address

After the careful analysis of survey done by The Ladders on job recruiters to figure out what matters the most on your resume – firstly, they found out the areas of content that is largely ignored, secondly – the top six aspects on which recruiters pay maximum of their attention, such as –

► Name
► Current Title / Company
► Previous Title / Company
► Current position start end dates
► Previous position start and end dates
► Education

So, what do you do to make your CV gain worth a second glance? We would say, the best solution is to summarize your CV at the earliest.  Try applying following smart tricks to keep your CV visible in that span of 6 seconds precisely –

► Tailor your resume summary as per each job application you apply for – Try to highlight your areas of expertise most relevant to the particular position you are applying for and use them in the summary. This will help a recruiter focus his/her attention on the areas that are expected out of you to perform, hence it improves the interview process.

► Mention the result outcomes you’ve achieved in those areas of expertise – Focus on how you have helped organizations achieve their goals. Simply focus on specific results that have benefited other organizations. And most importantly, how well your accomplishments distinguish you from other candidates.

► Highlight the major industries you’ve been associated along with years of experience – This space gives you an opportunity to explain the industries you’ve been associated with through out your career span. Try to talk about the areas which are most vital in terms of its relevancy and application.

► Make use of important key words that describes you as a best fit Avoid using generic words. Keywords are essential to make your resume strong in terms of right filtration of the most concerned set of words.

► It is equally important to work on LinkedIn profile alongside – Unlike just having about a few lines on your resumes summaries; you have up to 2000 characters in the summary section of your LinkedIn profile to highlight accomplishments and connect them to what you want to do next.

It is true that other parts of resume are also important. But a summary can captivate a recruiter’s mind at the right spot. Try to distinguish yourself from other candidates and create that need of your profile in recruiter’s eyes. In the end, all you can wait for is a call back on your phone.

References:
The Ladders
Undercover Recruiter

Engaging for the Future | PEOPLE MANAGER CONCLAVE 2012

IILM students participated in the IBM People Manager Conclave 2012 which gave an insight about the challenges faced by the present HR managers and what strategies/ tactics can be used in order to align their individual goals with the organisational goals. Theme of this event was “Engaging for the future.” This event involved various activities such as:-

  • Panel discussion on “GEN- Y” and “ Managing 360 degree
  • Students were enlightened on the topic by:
    • Pari Sadasivan- India Delivery Leader @ IBM Global Process Services
    • Ashish Kumar- General Manager @ IBM Global Technology Services
    • Sanjiva S Dubey- Service Delivery Executive @ IBM Global Business Services
  • Lecture on “ Creating a High Performance Culture” delivered by
    • Dhirender Jagdev- CRM @ IBM Global Process Services
    • Abhishek Sharma- CRM @ IBM Global Process Services
    • Vinayak Sastri- S&D @ SMS CoE

    GEN-Y, also known as the Millennial Generation, is the demographic cohort following Generation X. The generation born in the 1980s and 1990s, typically regarded as increasingly familiar with digital and electronic technology. The session focused on the issue like GEN-Y tends to move from organisation to organisation in a very short span of time. Role of career planning for such workforce was discussed. Thus, to have a better and motivated Gen-Y need for a mentoring program through which their career planning could be done was emphasised within the session. The biggest challenge for the HR managers would be how to retain GEN-Y employees and make them committed towards the organisational work.

    Pari Sadasivan gave her real life corporate examples which were enlightening. She also talked about the importance of the focus team session, move fast, no subtitue for the talent, integrity, clarity and humility. She concluded as how people managers were earlier considered as managers only to manage the workforce. But now HR managers are the business partners who make and support the organisational vision and strategy to be possible.

    Creating a high performance culture in the organisation through below mentioned points were outlined:

    1. Matrix organisation
    2. Decentralisation
    3. Team player
    4. Building trust
    5. 7S model of change
    6. Collaborative decision making
    7. Prepare for change
    8. Manage operation and strategy
    9. Work-life balance
    10. Performance and Benefits

    Role of HR manager in bringing about the change was discussed. HR manager should be:

    1. Change Agent
    2. Employee Champion
    3. Administrative expert
    4. Strategic Partner

    Another important fact regarding HR is managing 360 degree. 360 degree feedback is very important in an organisation but it is not necessary that employees should worry about it. Employees should be able to contribute towards the individual and organisational betterment. It is necessary to have a good feedback but it is always necessary for the employee to work in the organisation according to the need of the organisation without thinking about the feedback.

    Leadership is skill that a manger should possess. Thus a leader should be able to motivate his employee to do their work. A video on leadership of Emma Brandon, award winner of Britain’s Best Boss was shown in the conclave. She was a senior charge nurse at a mental facility who was motivating the employees and the patients. She invited ideas from the employees to make their work better and to cure the patients in a better way. Thus this increased the number of cured patients and employees were also happy to work there. The decision making in the medical facility was decentralised and new ideas were invited from all employees which made a feeling of belongingness among the employees. She also had pleasure trips and games for the patients in the medical facility centre which was a better treatment for them. Thus a leader should be a motivator along with directive and supporting.

    Another insight was given by Mr. Durga Kota on is experience in different parts of the world and how he was able to manage he work force. The keys mantras which kept in to connect IBM with Bharti were building trust worthy collaborative team, to be a team player, prepare oneself for changes, manage operation and strategy and manage matrix organisation.

    Thus the conclave gave an insight of the different aspects about the people manager to be taken to consideration as most of the organisation neglect or don’t appreciate their work. Thus it is important for an organisation to take their people manager as a business partner for the organisation.