What recruiters notice on a resume

What really gets you noticed from the people who review candidates every day.

There is no shortage of advice about how to write a resume or prepare for an interview.

Use action verbs. Research the company. Dress appropriately. Make eye contact.

All good advice.

But recruiters see the hiring process from a very different perspective. They review resume after resume, talk with candidates every day and quickly learn what makes someone stand out and what makes them disappear into the pile.

And sometimes, the things candidates obsess over aren't the things recruiters notice most.

Here are seven things recruiters really pay attention to when they're evaluating a candidate.

1. We Want to Know What You Actually Accomplished

One of the biggest differences between an average resume and a great one is surprisingly simple.

Average resumes tell us what someone was responsible for.

Great resumes tell us what they accomplished.

There's a big difference between:

Instead of:

Responsible for monitoring network security and responding to cybersecurity threats.

Try:

Reduced security incidents by 35% by implementing enhanced threat monitoring and incident response procedures across a 2,000-user enterprise network.

The second one tells a story. Numbers help. Results help. Specific examples help.

When recruiters review your resume, we're trying to answer a very basic question:

What happened because you were there? Make that answer easy to find.

2. Your Resume Doesn't Have to Tell Us Everything

This may be one of the hardest things for experienced professionals to accept. Your resume isn't your autobiography.

What recuiters notice on a resume? You don't need to include every responsibility you've ever had, every project you've worked on or every skill you've picked up along the way. In fact, trying to include everything can make the important things harder to see. Think of your resume as a highlight reel.

If you're applying for a marketing director position, for example, the recruiter probably needs to quickly see leadership, strategy, revenue impact, demand generation and measurable results.

The fact that you also know how to update a WordPress page may be true. It just might not be important.

Give recruiters the information they need to understand your value not everything you've ever done.

3. Yes, We Can Tell When You Sent the Same Resume to 50 Companies

It's tempting. Create one resume. Upload it everywhere. Wait for the phone to ring. The problem is that recruiters can usually tell.

You don't need to rewrite your resume from scratch every time you apply, but you should look carefully at the position and make sure the most relevant parts of your experience are easy to find.

Pay attention to the language in the job description. If a company repeatedly mentions business development, and you have significant business development experience buried halfway down page two, move it up. If they're looking for someone who has managed a team, make your leadership experience obvious. You're not changing your experience.

You're making it easier for the recruiter to see the connection.

4. We Notice the Little Things Because Sometimes They Aren't So Little

A typo probably isn't going to destroy your career. Five of them might make us wonder.

Recruiters notice inconsistent formatting, unexplained employment dates, confusing job titles and resumes that are unnecessarily difficult to read.

We're not looking for reasons to reject you. We're looking for reasons to understand you.

A clean, well-organized resume suggests that you took the application seriously.

Before submitting it, ask yourself one question:

Could someone who knows nothing about me understand my career in 30 seconds?

If the answer is no, simplify.

5. In the Interview, We're Listening for Stories

Interviewers hear a lot of statements like:

"I'm a great problem solver."

"I'm very collaborative."

"I'm good under pressure."

That's fine. But anyone can say those things. What makes them believable is the story that comes next.

Instead of telling us you're a great problem solver, tell us about the time your biggest customer threatened to leave and what you did.

Instead of saying you're a strong leader, tell us about the struggling employee you helped become one of your best performers.

Instead of saying you work well under pressure, tell us about the project that went completely sideways three days before launch.

That's what recruiters remember.

Don't just tell us what you're good at. Show us.

6. The Questions You Ask Us Matter More Than You Think

Eventually, almost every interview reaches the same moment:

"Do you have any questions for us?"

Please don't say no. And don't waste the opportunity asking something you could have learned from the company's homepage.

Good questions tell us you're thinking seriously about the position.

Try questions such as:

"What would success look like in this role after the first six months?"

"What is the biggest challenge you hope this person will solve?"

"Why have people been successful in this position?"

Those questions do something else that's important. They turn an interview into a conversation.

And the best interviews usually feel much more like conversations than interrogations.

7. We Remember Candidates Who Feel Genuine

Candidates sometimes spend so much time trying to give the "right" answer that they stop sounding like themselves. Recruiters can usually sense it.

Of course you should prepare for an interview. But don't memorize a script. Know your accomplishments. Know your stories. Understand the company. Think about why you genuinely want the position. Then have a conversation.

Enthusiasm matters. Curiosity matters. Personality matters.

And if you don't know the answer to something, it's perfectly acceptable to say so and explain how you would approach figuring it out.

The goal isn't to become the perfect interview candidate.

It's to help the interviewer understand what it would actually be like to work with you.

One Last Thing Recruiters Want You to Know

The hiring process can sometimes feel mysterious from the candidate's side.

It really isn't. Recruiters are trying to solve a problem.

There's a position that needs to be filled, a manager who needs help and a company looking for someone who can make an impact. Your job throughout the hiring process is to make it easy for us to see why that person could be you.

Be clear about what you've accomplished.

Make your experience relevant to the opportunity.

Come prepared with stories instead of rehearsed answers.

Ask good questions.

And most importantly, give us a chance to meet the person behind the resume.

Because ultimately, companies don't hire resumes.

They hire people.