Ahh, the resume. It is one of the most important aspects of job hunting, because it summarizes essentially everything about you professionally. Everyone on the job search has a resume, but are you aware of some big statistics that relate to this one important document? Here are some interesting facts:

·         5-7 seconds is the average time spent by recruiters looking at a resume

·         Unprofessional email addresses are the reason for 76% of resumes being discarded

·         Only 35% of applicants are truly qualified for the jobs they apply to

·         Applicant Tracking Systems are like robots that read your resume. They sift through and quickly eliminate 75% of applicants

·         Each week, 427,000 resumes are posted on Monster

·         Facebook consists of 15 million organizations and brands

·         68% of employers will discover you on Facebook

·         10,200,000 applicants found their job on LinkedIn

·         89% of employers have hired someone through LinkedIn

·         Twitter has led 8,000,000 applicants to land a job

From these statistics, an applicant can conclude a few important tips. With the tiny amount of time a recruiter will most likely spend looking at your resume, doing things like bolding key words and getting your point across is crucial. You resume should be easy on the eyes and quickly convey your background. Make sure to also check out 6 Easy Ways to Proofread Your Resume.

In addition, keep your social media accounts such as Twitter and Facebook clean. Utilize LinkedIn and consider it an important platform.

Let’s say you made it to the interview phase…congrats! Be aware that while the average time of an interview is 40 minutes, 33% of hiring managers indicate within the first 90 seconds that they know whether they will hire a candidate or not. Here are some reasons why:

·         70% of applicants were over fashionable or trendy

·         67% were unsuccessful in making eye contact

·         47% had little or no knowledge of the company

·         26% had a weak handshake

As a candidate, you should take from this that first impressions matter. So be confident, speak up, communicate well, and avoid common interview mistakes.

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Buckland, Martin. “25 Fun Facts About Resumes, Interviews & Social Recruitment.” Business 2 Community. Human Resources, 14 Aug. 2014. Web. 14 July 2017.