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9 things employers think about when hiring people
Editorial by Christian Saint Cyr
National Director / Canadian Job Development Network
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I often get asked about the ideal resume format or length or how people should answer specific interview questions. Invariably, I answer these questions by stating it all depends on who asks the question or is reviewing the resume.
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All job search is marketing to an audience of one.
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If I'm applying for a frontline job at the mall, most employers are going to prefer a one-page resume that clearly outlines my skills and experience. If I'm applying for a job with a university, they will expect a multi-page CV with notations of what I've published and my academic accomplishments. Some employers are going to prefer a chronological resume while others are going to prefer a skills-based resume.
You can have the different managers who work for the same company, hiring for the same role and if one employer is looking for a self-starter who takes initiative and the other is looking for a rule-follower who always sticks to procedure, they are going to look for completely different things in a resume.
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I met one technology employer who said he would never hire someone who uses a Hotmail email address and another who said he would never hire someone who uses the Times New Roman font.
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I'd like to think that employers are predictable, but they really aren't and this is why it's so important for job seekers to do research ahead of time.
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One of the things we can do in job development is to ask these questions ahead of time. We can ask questions like:
- How many pages do you prefer a resume to be?
- What do you look for in a resume?
- How important is a cover letter to you?
- What most frustrates you about job candidates?
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Questions like these can better inform us about this employer but also tell us a great deal about what other employers are thinking.
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Recently, the website Resume Genius surveyed 625 managers to explore how each phase of the hiring process (such as applications, interviews, and skills assessments) impacts a hiring manager’s decision to hire or not hire a candidate.
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The following is a list of ten-take aways all job seekers should be thinking about when applying for a job:
- 50% of Gen Z managers find Gen Z the most challenging generation
- 65% consider hiring candidates with relevant skills, even if they lack work experience
- 82% think candidates lying during interviews is the biggest red flag
- 43% are much more likely to hire a candidate who displays enthusiasm
- 53% are deterred by AI-generated resumes, with 20% seeing them as a critical concern
- 80% admit to ghosting candidates throughout the hiring process
- 45% expect to hire millennials more than candidates of other generations
- 45% of all employers find Gen Z the most challenging generation to work with
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We might think that employers are spending less time reviewing resumes but in actuality employers are spending more time reviewing resumes to see if they are showing signs of artificial intelligence.
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While it has been said that employers typically spend less than 30 seconds reviewing a resume, the Resume Genius’ survey reveals that most respondents take their time to carefully evaluate each submission. In fact, only 22% of hiring managers reported spending less than a minute on the resumes they receive.
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The survey revealed 57% of hiring managers spend 1–3 minutes reviewing a resume and 21% of hiring managers spend 3+ minutes reviewing them.
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Baby boomer hiring managers are the most thorough — 37% spend over 3 minutes on each resume (vs. 24% of Gen X, 19% of Millennials, and 16% of Gen Z). Gen Z (34%) and large company hiring managers (40%) are also the most likely groups to spend 1–2 minutes on a resume.
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I've often written that good job development requires being a subject matter expert. For local employers, we need to better understand emerging trends and data in recruitment and retention but for job seekers, we need to be able to pick up on those cues and insights we gather from employers every day.
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We’ll be discussing how to best gather these employer insights at our #MotivatingMondays meeting of the Canadian Job Development Network, Tuesday Oct. 1st at 8:30am Pacific; 9:30am Mountain; 10:30am Central; 11:30am Eastern; 12:30pm Atlantic and at 1pm in Newfoundland.
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On the morning of Tuesday October 1st, 'Click this Link' to join the session LIVE.
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