A retired HR director told me to stop listing every skill I have on my resume and instead focus on the top three results I delivered

She said hiring managers spend maybe 6 seconds scanning a resume, so I cut my bullet points from 12 to 4 on my last application and got an interview offer within 3 days, has anyone else found that less detail actually works better?

2 comments

2 Comments

blaker7515d ago

Man that is spot on! I tried the same thing a while back after a buddy in recruiting gave me the same advice. Cut my resume down to just the big wins and it was like night and day... suddenly people were actually calling me back instead of just ignoring my application. I used to cram every little thing I'd ever done in there thinking more was better, but it just made me look all over the place. Now I keep it tight with like three or four results that really show what I can do, and it works way better. Hiring folks don't have time to read a novel about your whole career history, they just want the highlights.

simonreed14d ago

Yeah I went through the exact same thing about a year ago. Used to have this massive wall of text with every certification and software package I'd ever touched, and I was getting zero callbacks. A buddy in recruiting told me the same thing, just pick your three biggest wins and put them front and center. I was skeptical at first because it felt like I was leaving out important stuff, but once I trimmed it down to just the results that actually moved the needle for my last company, my response rate went through the roof. It's almost like you have to make it easy for them to say yes, and bombarding them with a hundred bullet points does the opposite.