Make the Most of Your 6-Second Resume

Marcianne Kuethen

Updated August 1, 2022

You may have already heard that most recruiters only give each resume a cursory 6 seconds. So how can you maximize the impact of your resume?

A recent study created a heat map of recruiters’ eye movements as they quickly read resumes. “In the short time that they spend with your resume, the study showed recruiters will look at your name, current title and company, current position start and end dates, previous title and company, previous position start and end dates, and education.” The clearer the visual hierarchy of your information, the more details they will absorb in order to decide whether your resume is a keeper.

If you want to see the heat map of a good resume versus a hard-to-read one, click here.

Article published on businessinsider.com by Vivian Giang.

What does your resume reveal about you? For resume-writing advice from an expert, click here.

Marcianne Kuethen

Marcianne Kuethen is a Senior Writer at Amtec, where she has written over 700 blog posts in the past 18 years. Her family has led the company across three generations, from her father who founded Amtec in 1959 to her son Barrett who serves as President and CEO today. Outside of writing, she makes art, music, and gardens.