Reading Resumes in 5 seconds
I just delivered a presentation to a group of job seekers, and one issue that caused considerable concern in the room was that I look at resumes for an average of only 5 seconds.
Most people don’t understand 5 seconds, don’t like it, and downright resent it. I get it. Candidates pour their heart and soul into creating a resume, and it is insulting to hear it receives less than 5 seconds.
I will explain why candidates get shortchanged, believe it or not. I will provide a few examples of how society does the same thing and finds it perfectly acceptable.
I absolutely get that it makes no business sense to make a hiring decision in less than 5 seconds.
If you have ever questioned the 5-second rule, and I don’t mean dropping food on the floor, this post is for you.
With this information, you can create a resume that can capture the recruiter’s attention long enough to give you a fighting chance.
5-second decision
First, let me clarify that I know making a hiring decision in less than 5 seconds is unfair.
When I discard a resume in 5 seconds, I am NOT making a hiring decision in 5 seconds. I am deciding not to hire in 5 seconds. Hiring a candidate may take days or a few weeks to months for some companies. There is a significant difference between deciding to decline a candidate and hiring a candidate.
The number 1 reason I discard a resume after 5 seconds:
Based on the resume, I am confident I can identify a candidate who is a closer match.
After my resume writing presentation, I realized I needed a better analogy to explain my short attention span when reviewing resumes. In the presentation, I explained that most resumes receive so little time for two reasons:
- The experience on the resume isn’t a close enough match to the job I am trying to fill.
- The resume is challenging to read.
I am not a speed reader
How can recruiters review a 2-page resume in less than 5 seconds? Am I a speed reader? Am I super bright?
The answer to these two questions would be a definitive “No” and “No.”
Here are two analogies I wish I had used in the class presentation because they are so universal.
5-second resume analogy No. 1.
If I am looking to buy a car, I can decide to skip a test drive in seconds. It may take me weeks to buy a car, but I can skip a car in less than 1 second.
Before I buy a car, I make a checklist of what I am looking for. I have a clear understanding of the make, model, condition, and price I am willing to pay. I will have non-negotiable needs, such as air conditioning, and negotiable items, such as vehicle color and roof rack options.
Today I’m in the market for a late-model Subaru Outback Wilderness. I absolutely need air conditioning and leather seats. I am flexible on color because I know there are not many Wilderness models available.
When I visit a car lot or an auto sales website, I will be presented with options for cars, trucks, and SUVs. I barely glance at the trucks and SUVs because I know those are not Subaru Outbacks. I don’t even visit those sections of the car lot or webpage.
Declined 100 profiles in seconds
I just “reviewed” more than 100 vehicles in less than 5 seconds and declined them all. No car doors were opened, and no tire was kicked.
I scan the section where the cars are parked, but I am specifically looking for the Subaru Outbacks.
When I see the section where the Subaru Outbacks are listed or parked, I am still in scan mode, but I am slowing down because I am looking for a Subaru Outback Wilderness, preferably in Midnight Blue.
We could have easily declined another 100 vehicles that were not Subarus.
Do you see where I am going with this?
A recruiter is looking for a specific profile. That original list for the Outback is the job description. I am non-negotiable on some items and negotiable on others.
When I see an Outback Wilderness, I do a quick walk around before I open the door. When I do open the door, I double-check for leather interior and ask about AC before I decide to sit in the vehicle.
5-second analogy no. 2
Two close friends just introduced me to Tinder. Yes, they are both single. Read more, and it isn’t a surprise why they are single (but this is precisely why I love these guys). The Tinder phone app is the perfect analogy for explaining the 5-second rule.
For those unfamiliar with Tinder, I will share the Tinder education I received from Frick and Frack. It was a fascinating evening, explained to me in mixed company, where I was the only married guy. Anyone who has spent any time with me knows that I “got no game” and no one could imagine me on a dating app. I have literally had girls chuckle at the thought.
What began as the app’s introduction evolved into a step-by-step, show-and-tell. Like any great product managers, Frick and Frack ran the process from opening the app to closing the deal. Trigger alert. This discussion wasn’t for the faint of heart.
Pic, short blurb, and geography
Tinder is a geosocial mobile app that matches users in the immediate vicinity for “hooking up.” The app provides a few volunteered tidbits about these potential one-night stands and how many friends you have in common. The key feature of the app is that it will show you a profile picture of the potential stalk-ee.
You pull up the app, and a picture of the desired sex (male or female, not the type of act) shows up. The user swipes the photo presented to you in one of two directions. You swipe to the left if you disapprove or to the right if you approve. This connection is based on looks alone. Everyone that you swiped in approval receives an immediate notification. Hopefully, your potential one-night stand also swipes right in approval of your profile picture. Wah-la! We have a match.
Immediately after you swipe a picture to the left or right, another profile picture appears of a different potential partner. You can swipe 45 profile pictures in less than a minute while waiting in line at the local coffee shop.
If there are mutual swipe rights, Tinder serves as a wingman/wingwoman and enables users to chat with one another.
How easy is it?
To demonstrate that this was a game of numbers, one of my buddies in the group delivered the coup de gras. He just started swiping to the “right in approval” while conversing. HE WASN’T EVEN LOOKING AT THE PICTURES ON HIS PHONE with your typical “look ma, no hands!” bravado. Don’t worry, he doesn’t work in HR.
This guy closed out 15 profiles in less than 10 seconds and wasn’t even looking at what he was swiping. And you thought my giving your resume 5 seconds was shitty? Au contraire, mon ami.
When swiping on Tinder, my buddies knew precisely what they were looking for. They were specific about their preferences. They were attempting to infer height and weight from selfie headshots. Based on the headshots presented in conveyor-belt sushi style, was the candidate high-maintenance or outdoorsy?
One preferred edgy, and the other preferred Victoria’s Secret curls. They both received cues and signals, which they deciphered and inferred from prior experience, that prompted a left or right swipe. Remember, I was in mixed company, and both genders subscribed to these cheat signals. The entire app was designed for the demographic looking to skip the preliminaries and proceed directly to the deep end.
Not fair, not right, but understandable
Reviewing resumes boils down to using signals to narrow choices quickly. Just like buying a home or a car, we have particular needs, and if we don’t see what we are looking for, we move on quickly. If you want a callback, give the recruiter and the hiring manager what they are looking for.
This post explains one signal hiring managers notice.
In the full resume guide, I connect this signal to how resumes are actually read, what it competes with, and when it helps or hurts you.
See you at the after party,
HRNasty
nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.
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gander2112
January 1, 2014This leads back to the need to have a connection in a company that you want to work for. No offense to the recruiter or HR person, they are usually sifting through a mountain of resumes, and indeed it takes just a few seconds to know if there is a glimmer of hope (oh, and to me, a spelling error leaps off the page even in a 3 second glance).
Some of the blame falls to the hiring manager. They are the ones that give parameters to the recruiters/HR screeners. “I must have mobile experience …” or some such puts the fetters on the front end.
But I have found that by setting the criteria too narrowly you end up with too little choice.
The house analogy is good, and as someone who is going to relocate to the SF Bay Area this spring, i am going to have a lot of philosophical tradeoffs to make in what I can afford.
Hope you have a great 2014!