What do HR managers look for in a resume?

The first impression that you make on the recruiting personnel is through your resume. What you do and what your skills are, everything gets represented through the resume. Without a well-written resume, you cannot create a good impact on HR. It is your primary tool to earn the chance to sit for the interview or get shortlisted for the job profile. But how do you capture the attention of HR among so many other candidates? For cracking the code, first, understand which parts in the resume catch the most attention. 

Know the reviewing process for resumes by HR Managers

How do HRs of the company shortlist the candidates by reviewing their resumes? Do they check it at a glance and decide whether to shortlist your name and go ahead with the process? Or they review it thoroughly to understand whether you are worthy as a resource in the company? Well, it is a mix of both! The first impression is crucial and happens through a glance over the resume. If the highlighted parts of the resume match the profile they are looking for; then they thoroughly review your skillset and other experiences. For attaining their attention at once, you have to know the resume points on which you have to put more stress. 

Points they notice: To ease your confusion, here are the prime points you should work on and represent rightly on your resume. Give a quick read and understand the areas where your resume lacks to the rest to work on them. 

1. Your Skills

 Before sending the resume to HR, check whether you fit their job profile. Sending your resume without thoroughly checking the skill set needed for the particular job is a big no! HRs first notice whether your resume holds the skills which are a must for the job. If it does not match, they do not read it further, and you lose your chances of getting shortlisted for the interview. 

2. Your Education

 Your educational qualifications are very important when it comes to screening for job profiles. But many job seekers mistakenly elaborate their educational degrees on their resumes. You have to first understand that elaborating your educational qualification does not make much of an impact! Mention your degrees, obtained percentages, and areas of specialization. Highlight the relevant educational degrees only if they got listed as essentials for the job selection criteria. 

3. Different Recognition and Achievements

Apart from your educational degrees and skills, if you hold any special training certificate, always mention them in the resume. HR managers always check for such recognitions and achievements in the resume. Highlight these in the resume so that they are easy to notice at a glance. Mention the details but do not extensively elaborate as it may distract the attention. Put this information wisely in the resume with relevant details. 

4. Overall relevant experience in resume

 Experience holds great importance while resume screening. In the current job market scenario, anyone with practical experience in a particular job has better chances of getting a new job than anyone with a superior educational record. Your skills and practical experiences matter the most to the company where they are absorbing you. Thus, HRs always look for employees who have a good grip on the job with existing on-job experience. This point is invalid for freshers, but if you have prior and relevant experience that can be helpful for a particular job, always highlight it in the resume. 

5. Career progression

 HRs screen the resumes by checking the career progression of the experienced candidates. Chronologically mentioning your career growth eases the task of HR as they get a systematic view. Mention the company, job titles, on-job responsibilities, and duration of working in your resume. In this section, you can also include any awards or recognitions to prove your abilities in a better way. 

6. Formatting Style

 Whether you are a fresher looking for a job, or experienced personnel trying for a better opportunity, resume formatting can be tricky in the initial screening process! How you represent the information on the resume, what best font you use, the size of the characters, and all other visible formatting features hold great significance. If the formatting is too eye-catching, it can oppose the professional appeal. Keeping the formatting simple and professional is the key to catching the right attention of HR managers during the screening process. 

7. Check for spelling and grammar errors

 At first sight, one thing that annoys any HR personnel is the use of wrong English and grammatical errors in the resume! It is also a sign of carelessness on the applicant’s part. Overlooking the linguistic details can be heavy on your part, for which proofreading your resume is a must. Also, using complex vocabulary to explain your skillset or in writing about yourself can also be off-putting. In your resume content, use simple English, which does not have any grammatical flaws or spelling errors. 

8. Look for relevant qualifications

 Some job profiles necessitate an educational degree or training certificate to fit you for the role. In such cases, highlighting it in the resume can be helpful. You can mention the areas of specialization and what you learned as a part of the curriculum. Do not elaborate, but briefly mention the essential parts relevant to HR and make your resume appear superior to the rest.

Prepare Your Resume for Ats Friendly

ATS scan is a modern technique that most job application screeners employ. Passing the ATS scan largely depends on which template or format you are using. It can get difficult for a job seeker to know the right formatting styles and templates that fit the need. Thus, in such cases, prepare your resume with the help of professionals. They implement ATS-compliant templates and use perfectly fitting keywords to perform well in the HR recruiter’s screening session. 

Personal brand and online presence

 As a job seeker, your resume provides you an opportunity to build your branding statement. You can put forward your brand to the HR recruiter. It is among the first and prime things that the HRs notice in a resume for which making it impact ful is your responsibility. For digital resumes, including the LinkedIn profile also helps prove your online presence and personal brand. 

Additional details in the resume

 Apart from all the said pointers, you can also add other points to the resume. Extracurricular achievements have a great impact these days and improve your screening performance in multiple ways. If you have any such valid and relevant details to add to the resume, do not shy away and mention it subtly. 

Pro-tips for listing skills on your resume

 With so many points to mention in the resume, it often gets confusing for a job seeker to use the right formatting and editing features. Either they make it too simple, or they over-format the whole resume to make it complex. With the following five pro-tips, you can also make your resume more attractive by listing your skills. 

• Make it compact: You may have hundreds of skills to mention in the resume, but are they all relevant for the particular job? Making the skills compact and representing them orderly helps in the screening performance in many ways. An organized representation of five skills creates a better impact than a haphazard elaboration of twenty skills! 

• Simple fonts and format

• : Striking a balance in formatting the resume is something that many job seekers struggle with! To improve the overall formatting, you can always refer to google and see the professionally fitting samples. The best thing to do is find professional resume writing services and hire them to prepare an ATS-friendly and visually appealing resume. 

• Systematic yet detailed

  : Mentioning your skills, experience, educational degrees, and other data is very important to pass the screening test. But how do you fit it all in one resume? Review multiple samples online and make a clear idea about how to fit the necessary details systematically. In such cases, pro-resume writers can be very helpful. 

• Original resume content

  : Mindlessly copying the template and content of the samples that you see on Google is a big no. Take a clear idea from the samples but create your original resume by writing it properly. Never copy-paste your name, qualification, and other skill details on a sample you find on the internet. 

• Highlighted data

  : Highlight the information and relevant data which are essential for the job. Do not highlight every achievement or educational degree to catch the attention. Remember that you have to ensure that HR gets impressed by your resume to select you for the particular job you have applied for. Thus, highlight the targeted areas of expertise and perform better than the rest. 

Seek assistance from professionals

If you find it confusing or difficult to prepare a resume that can catch the attention of the HRs at first glance, connect to the pro-writers. They will systematically arrange your resume details so that the HR recruiter can identify the essential parts by screening your resume only at one glance. Keep every mentioned pointer in mind to make the best resume and perform better than the rest.