Temitope Azeez-Stephen gives her advice on what makes a resume effective and passes her 10 second resume review

It has never been more imperative to ensure that as a jobseeker your resume beats the recruiters 10 second resume review. Employers are tired of reviewing resumes with more than 500 words which eventually communicate little or nothing in regards to your skills and competences. The layout plays a major role in how your information is displayed and communicated.

As a recruiter myself, I have had to turn away resumes based on my first five seconds of review because there are certain elements I expect to see to encourage me go through that resume further.

Most of those highly affected by these turnouts are my people in the diaspora. The way your resume is perceived here is quite different from over there. I have had people from the diaspora try to get an interview by submitting their resumes at least 10 times but never get to be called due to how their resume looks and what it communicates.

Guidelines to Beat the 10 Second Review

Let us not forget that your resume is a marketing tool which represents you while you are physically absent, and these days employers prefer to see your resume before considering or listening to advice from us consultants on how good the candidate is.

So you find that included now in the recruitment process for consultants, the client gets to see the resumes of those we have shortlisted to decide on who they want us to go ahead and interview, unlike the old days where we decide all that and look beyond the face value of the resume.

So if you are looking to come back home in search of a job placement, here are some guidelines in ensuring that your resume beats the 10 second review of any recruiter:

For now, the tips above should set you on the right part to developing a convincing and professionally expressive resume. What is left is to ensure that you capture training relevant to your work experience. Achievements should also take precedence under each career experience and references (which often are provided on request).

Remember the way back home to Africa via job hunting is having a good marketing tool…. yes, a watertight, communicating and marketable resume.