It’s a well-known statistic that a recruiter will look at a CV for only 7 seconds, before judging if the candidate is fit for a particular role or not. But what do they look for in a resume that helps them to determine this? What are the indicators for a recruiter when they scan a resume? If you are able to figure it out and avoid those basic mistakes, you at least assure that a recruiter will spend more time on your CV and look a little further.
As recruiters, the first thing they do is check if a candidate is employable or not. This can be easily seen through just a glance at the CV. Subtle indicators like the overall layout and the design of the CV immediately talk about the professionalism of a candidate. However, the next step is where most of the candidates fail to understand the reason for their rejection.
To make it easier to understand, here are a few statistics that Saransh experts have collated.
1 spelling mistake is all it takes to reject a CV
For something that determines your career graph and livelihood, it is a big ‘no’ to send a recruiter a resume having a spelling mistake. It straight away tells the recruiter that you have not taken the pains of even proofreading your own CV before sending it ahead. And this is a big indicator of carelessness. For obvious reasons, if a recruiter finds a spelling mistake in a CV, it will be immediately rejected.
76% of CVs are rejected due to an unprofessional email ID
When you enter the corporate scene, the email ID that you had created when you were in school or college, and which felt ‘cool’ will not work. It is always best to create and maintain a professional email ID, which can be used for communication in the corporate. Though some recruiters may overlook this part, it is always a safe bet to cover all bases.
88% of recruiters reject CVs having a photograph of the candidate
There are a few basic standard practices that are usually followed in the corporate world, and adding a photograph in the resume is not one of them. According to studies, the rejection rate of resumes having a photograph of the applicant is very high. So, it is better to steer clear of doing this, if you want to increase your chances of getting noticed by a recruiter.
17% of recruiters spend time on reading the Cover Letter
Your cover letter is your basic introduction to the recruiter. It is a chance for you to provide an introduction through a conversation and to add any points that you’d like to highlight to the recruiter. So, a good cover letter can help you make a good first impression. Also, there is always a possibility that the recruiter might make up his mind based on the cover letter itself, even before seeing the resume.
In those 7 seconds when a recruiter is surfing through hundreds of applicants’ resumes, it might happen that a candidate is a good fit for the role, but gets rejected, not because of lack of skill, but because of resume etiquettes. It is always better to present yourself in the best way, be it face-to-face, or through your resume.
If you are searching for a good job opportunity, the best place to start is by sharing your resume with us at info@saranshinc.com, and our recruiters can help you find the right job.