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Dear Job Applicants: You Only Have 6 Seconds

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Six seconds. According to a new study from TheLadders, that is how much time recruiters spend reviewing a resume for fit.

Remember when it was four to five minutes?

The study used a scientific technique called  “eye tracking” that assesses eye movement then records and analyzes where and how long a person focuses when digesting information or completing activities. The study gauged the behavior of thirty recruiters as they reviewed online resumes and candidate profiles over a 10-week period.

What does this mean for job applicants? Keep it simple.

“If you have a photo online they are going to fixate on that photo; same thing with video resumes,” Will Evans, the head of user experience at TheLadders told MSNBC. “It could be problematic.”

Credentials still trump design. “Recruiters are focused on the most important information: what titles you held; the companies you worked at, the fact that you have a degree,” Evans added.

Although, as MSNBC notes, this doesn’t mean you have to discard your  infographic-looking resume. Just keep two — the straightforward resume that you use for applying and the more creative one that you can provide interviewers.

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