Chicago — Jan. 10
If you're looking for a new job this year, be prepared for some competition. Twenty-seven percent of HR managers say they receive more than 50 resumes, on average, for each open position.
More than one in 10 HR managers (13 percent) receive more han 100 resumes per job opening. The survey, “Resumes 2007,” was onducted from Nov. 17 to Dec. 11 and included 360 HR managers.
When evaluating candidates' applications, 77 percent of HR managers surveyed say they look for relevant experience.
They also consider a candidate's ability to demonstrate specific accomplishments (48 percent) and whether the resumes are customized to the open position (41 percent).
HR managers also frequently search for keywords when screening resumes. Top-searched keywords include:
• Problem-solving/decision making (56 percent)
• Leadership (44 percent)
• Oral/written communications (40 percent)
• Team-building (33 percent)
• Performance and productivity improvement (31 percent)
“In today's competitive job market, it's essential for a candidate's resume to be flawless,” said Richard Castellini, CareerBuilder.com vice president of consumer marketing. “Still, 33 percent of HR managers say more than half of he resumes they receive through online sources have formatting errors. To ensure your resume is error-free, be sure to proofread, proofread, proofread.”
Sixty-three percent of HR managers report that spelling errors are the most annoying mistakes they see on resumes. Other top mistakes include:
• Resumes not customized to the position (30 percent)
• Lies (23 percent)
• Including too many insignificant details on job responsibilities (21 percent)
• Resumes that are more than two pages long (21 percent)
To help job seekers avoid these errors and create resumes that get results, CareerBuilder.com launched cbResume, a new resume writing service.
Job seekers work closely with a professional resume writer to highlight key criteria and accomplishments that will attract employers' attention.
Job seekers receive their finished resume in both plain-text and Microsoft Word formats, and their resume will be posted to CareerBuilder.com's resume database.
“Employers often spend less than one minute reviewing a candidate's resume,” Castellini said. “CbResume helps job seekers highlight the right information to catch employers' eyes and make job searching faster and more effective.”
