In the Eye of Recruiters: what do they (really) look at on CVs?

The recruitment blog “TheLadders” features a highly interesting article titled “Keeping an Eye on Recruiter Behavior”, that tends to demonstrate that the manner of analysing a CV and subsequent decision-making differs little between French and anglo-saxon recruiters. The eye-tracking test analysed the behaviour of 30 recruiters over a period of 10 weeks. The results may be useful to you if you are in the process of preparing or revamping your CV or profile on social networks.
 
6 seconds
 
Results indicate that French recruiters spend little time on their first visual contact and that they systematically look for the same information and tend to select candidates on the basis of stereotypical criteria. Likewise, on the other side of the Atlantic, recruiters take an average of 6 seconds to select candidates after scanning the first third of the content of CVs.
The first lesson to draw from this is to put essential information AT THE TOP of your CV and present it in a readable manner. The second lesson is that if the recruiter is not convinced by this initial information, he/she moves on to the next CV.  SO WORK HARD on your hook and make sure that the first information visible to the recruiter matches his/her expectations for the post concerned.

Your last post and your education
 
Whereas certain detractors would have us believe that US recruitment practice differs from that in France (“over there it’s different, they don’t look at your degree”), eye-tracking techniques show highly objectively that even in the USA, the eye of the recruiter remains firmly attracted by educational qualifications and training and that the information sought first are the candidate’s name, last post (place and date), current post (place and date),  employer, and of course, education and training. The more visible the information, with key words highlighted in bold or underlined, the more time the recruiter spends on it. So THINK ABOUT the presentation of your information as if your CV were the front page of a newspaper. Ask yourself what you want the recruiter to notice most of all, so as to ensure you maximize the first impression.

By all means illustrate, but with facts rather than images…
 
Too many logos and too much visual information lead to clutter and complicates effective reading. The readability of your CV and profile will benefit from a plain photo and information in text form (results obtained, assignments handled, etc.), rather than multiple corporate logos (unless in the unlikely case that the companies concerned are paying you an advertising fee….). This means putting in one or two achievements supported by clear, quantified and verifiable arguments!

However, to be sure of being read, put yourself in the place of the recruiter. He/she has to decide between 50 initial applicants and select the 8-10 who will be picked for an interview. Your chances of being selected will be greater if your CV contains readable arguments for the recruiter. And if you’re not chosen? Then remember that the recruited candidate might have just managed to catch the recruiter’s eye better than you did…