For those of you who know me, I am a numbers person. I studied 21 math courses while I attended university, pursuing my Computer Science degree. I am sharing some recent resume statistics to raise awareness among current and future applicants and hiring managers. I have added my thoughts to these figures as I saw fit.

• On average, every job advertisement receives 250 resumes.
• Recruiters spend, on average, 6-8 seconds reviewing resumes. I believe it is 5 seconds!
• 5% of recruiters spend more than 1 minute reviewing a resume. Once one of my recruiters has screened a candidate at Direct IT Recruiting, I will review it and decide whether to submit it to our client to ensure we submit qualified, talented people.
• 55% of applicants lie on their resume.
• The ATS Applicant Tracking System rejects 75% of resumes.
• Less than 10% of applicant resumes reach the hiring manager for review.
• 30% of resumes are rejected due to an unprofessional email address.
• 90% of recruiters prefer a 2-page resume. I like to see 2-5 pages for an IT resume, depending on years of experience, education, and certifications. I rejected a 13-page resume this week! Please keep your experience listed within the last ten years unless there is older work experience relevant to the job description. We can help you with the formatting of this.
• Job seekers spend 70 minutes writing a resume. Please have your resume proofread to ensure it reads well, has no spelling errors, and is formatted consistently.
• 3% of resumes received result in an interview.
• On average, a candidate sends 51 resumes to secure a job. On the other hand, we directly contact passive candidates from our various resume databases who match our client’s requirements.
• 98% of large organizations use an ATS to filter resumes.
• Recruiters spend 65% of their time reviewing the “Work Experience” section of the resume.
• 81% of recruiters will reject your resume if you lack the skills and work experience required in the job description.
• 80% of resumes will be rejected by hiring managers due to spelling and grammar errors. Use Grammarly or Chat GPT to ensure your resume is free of typos and grammar issues.
• 25% of recruiters will reject your resume due to poor formatting and layout.
• 63% of recruiters prefer to see a resume tailored to the job description. I like to see a tailored resume 100% of the time. Make an effort; you only have one chance to impress the hiring manager and secure an interview.
• 71% of candidates with a LinkedIn URL on their resumes get interviewed. Please ensure that you have a complete LinkedIn profile with a professional, inviting picture, dates of work experience, and education perfectly aligned with your resume and that your identity is validated.
• 40% of applicants who include numbers on their resume to quantify their accomplishments may be selected for an interview. For example, if you are a PM, please state that you successfully worked on a $X project, led a team of X people, completed the project in X months, and saved the company $X/year.
• 79% of recruiters do not want to see “hobbies or interests” on the resume. At Direct IT Recruiting, we remove this section from our IT resumes.
• 25% of candidates want REMOTE work only.
• 98% of candidates include a telephone number. This should be 100% so that we can call you.
• 99% of candidates include an email address. This should be 100%.
• 25% of resumes include a photograph of themselves on the resume. I find this is rare on an IT resume. I like to see a photo on their LinkedIn profile.
• 10% of recruiters are interested in your awards. Direct IT Recruiting would like to see awards listed on your resume. We view this as part of your accomplishments!
• 80% of resumes are written in Arial font. I suggest a 10-12 font size. Your name should be uppercase 16 font size.
• Resume colours are typically BLACK print on WHITE background. I like to see BLUE as an accent colour and I have placed candidates with GREEN as their accent colour. The accent colour can be used for your NAME and titles such as EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY SKILLS, WORK EXPERIENCE.
• 72% of recruiters use LinkedIn to search for candidates. It is a great way to validate a resume.
• There is no need to include a cover letter. Only submit a cover letter if it is a mandatory part of the resume submission.

I trust that these resume statistics will help you succeed in the hiring process.

2024, ATS, Career, careers, Hiring, Hiring Process, LinkedIn, resume, statistics

Tags: Applicant Tracking System, ATS, career, hiring, linkedin, resume, statistics, work experience