Your resume is an extremely important document in your career journey. Whether you’re applying online, leveraging a connection, applying for your first job or changing careers, your resume is the first document the other person at the end looks at to determine if they want to have a conversation with you.

Sidebar: in a lot of cases if you’re applying online without leveraging a network or connection, the resume is usually the second document. The first? Your cover letter.

Ok, back on track. Even though you might spend hours, in some cases days working on your resume, research shows that most HR professionals and recruiters (moving forward I’ll refer to all hiring professionals as recruiters) spend only 6 seconds looking at a resume for the first time. In those 6 seconds they create their piles.

The “I’m interested in this candidate” and “This person is not a good fit” piles.

After making their piles, they go back and spend more time with the I’m interested in this candidate pile.

And honestly, can you blame them? Recruiters are bombarded with literally hundreds of resumes on a regular basis.

If I was a recruiter, I would probably spend less than 6 seconds doing my initial skim. With the amount of resumes I have edited (in the hundreds) I know where exactly to find the information I need and can do it in about 4 – 5 seconds.

But what does all this mean for you and your resume?

It means you only have 6 seconds to make an impression when you’re applying for a new job.

That’s why it’s extremely important that the goal of your resume is clearly articulated from the jump.

Enter your objective or resume summary.

This is the first section of your resume and where you highlight your qualifications for the job you’re applying for.

Today, I have a quick training to guide you through writing your resume objective or summary.