I’ve read thousands of resumes. I’ve read hundreds of articles about why resumes don’t get noticed. I’ve even sent my fair share of resumes into the job board abyss. I've talked to recruiters for years about what they look for in resumes and why some stand out and some don't. I noticed pretty early on that when you're inundated with resumes you start to gloss over pretty quickly.
After all the research the answer became simple - pay attention to the details. The next question became which details. So here's a quick list of reasons your resume may be getting rejected:
Your resume doesn’t match the job description. Stop applying for jobs that just don’t suit your skills or experience. Or re- write your resume to match the job description. Highlight the skills in your experience that match what the job description is asking for in a candidate.
The skills they are looking for aren't clearly stated in your resume. Recruiters want to see early on that you have the right skills, companies or experience for their company.
Typos on your resume - careless mistakes like not spelling company name correctly, grammar errors, inconsistent punctuation instantly get you resume out in the reject pile.
Resume isn’t well written. With so many resumes submitted per job recruiters are overwhelmed. Resumes that stand out have a combination of qualities: they get to the point in the first half of the resume, they are an engaging read, highlights achievements, results and benefits of hiring you.
The job doesn’t exist. Many companies have policies that a job has to be publicly posted even if they already have an internal or referral candidate in mind. This one is beyond your control so don't worry about it.
Hope this helps - let's talk more about how to get your resume noticed. I love questions - I answer all of them.
