Skimmable Material

“Location, Location, Location” is the mantra of the real estate world, but it is equally true for your resume. Employers will concentrate their attention at the top of your resume and quickly scan and work their way down, so it makes sense to put the most attention grabbing statements at the beginning of your resume. Employers, like the rest of modern society, have short attention spans that can be measured in milliseconds, so don’t put information at the top of your resume that does not serve to immediately grab employer’s attention.

Instead place skimmable material at the bottom of your resume and in list form, allowing skimmable material to be easily scaned by employers. What are skimmable material ? Well what is important to your employer may vary by industry, so take a close look at your resume and decide what are the crucial attention grabbing statements and what can be considered skimmable . Some suggestions are : Travel, Language, Voluntary work, Hobbies.

Do not put your skimmable material in long lengthy paragraphs with full sentences, this would discourage employers from reading the last few inches of your resume. Rather, point form, list driven  format, will encourage employer to take a quick scan at your peripheral information. Listing Peripheral information at the bottom not only frees up valuable real estate for more important information, but it will also provide a flushed out image of who you are, outside your skill set. By providing information on your travel and hobbies at the end , it will give employers a feeling for who you are and if you will make a good fit in the organization.

Start closely examining your resume and rearrange information according to the real estate mantra “Location, Location, Location”, and you will have a much more effective resume.