It has been widely documented that recruiters spend about 6 seconds on the average resume. It is no wonder; they are flooded with resumes on a daily basis. And I am sure that the job you are applying for is not the only one the recruiter is looking to fill. So, they are in a hurry. Completely understandable. Not only that, the average resume is filled to the brim with “responsibilities” and “accomplishments.” And each of these has more keywords and buzzwords to make any reader’s eyes glaze over. Let’s be honest, reading just isn’t where we are as a society anymore and, unfortunately, the resume has yet to evolve... at all. We are deep in the “show me” era. Visual experiences are easier to consume, easier to understand. Visual is where we should be going. After all, a picture is worth 1,000 words.
Tools That Showcase Your Skills To Recruiters
It will take time to evolve to a more visual representation of work experience because the system is not set up for visual, but I happen to believe that it will be one day very soon. In the mean time, here are five tools that showcase your skills to recruiters. Some are visual. Some are not. Some are new, some are tried and true, but all of them will help you stand out in the search process.1. Word Clouds
Easier than sifting through the text of a resume a word cloud can show a recruiter your areas of focus in your career. It is also more visually interesting than the average resume. There are a number of tools to create word clouds of your resume. I used Wordle for mine. Not only does it show you what your resume is really saying, it can show you what it ISN’T saying. If you are an amazing sales person and your word cloud is all about service, then, you may want to re-work your resume to be more demonstrative of your sales achievements. Here is my word cloud:
Guess what, I have done a LOT of years in Digital. Regardless, 6-seconds reviewing this and you get a better idea of what I have done in my career than 6-seconds with my resume.
