- The Launchpad
- Posts
- Job market stats, what's holding your resume back, and more.
On Today’s Launch
Job market statistics to help you understand the odds
One reason why your resume isn’t generating traction
Previous launches you may have missed…
Ever wondered what the odds were for online job applications? Well I’ve got some stats for you
For this week’s post, I did some digging to find statistics from several sources, such as SHRM, Forbes, Jobvite, and a few others.
Stats are centered around 5 main areas:
Resume formatting
83% of recruiters say they're more likely to hire a candidate who has a well-formatted resume (Jobvite).
One out of five recruiters will reject a candidate in under 60 seconds and without finishing reading their resume (The Undercover Recruiter).
✅ Do’s | ❌ Don’ts |
|---|---|
Use a clean, single-column layout with consistent fonts and spacing | Avoid overly elaborate designs that can distract from the content |
Make sure your resume is free of typos and grammatical errors | Don’t clutter your resume with irrelevant details; instead, focus on the most relevant info (relevant to the target job) |
Work Experience and accomplishments
Hiring managers want to see specific accomplishments and results in the work experience section (LinkedIn).
✅ Do’s | ❌ Don’ts |
|---|---|
Hiring managers value results. Quantify your achievements with specific numbers, percentages, or measurable outcomes. For example, "Increased sales by 20% in the first quarter." | Avoid phrases like "was responsible for" and instead specify what you did and the impact it had. |
Start each bullet point with strong action verbs such as "led," "developed," "achieved," or "implemented" to convey your active role in past achievements. | Avoid industry-specific jargon or acronyms that might not be familiar to all recruiters or hiring managers. |
While it’s important to list your responsibilities, balance this by highlighting key achievements in each role. | Don’t neglect visuals (but keep it simple - less is more). |
Tailoring and customization
Recruiters say that one of the biggest mistake job seekers make on their resumes is not tailoring their resume to the specific job they are applying for (Forbes).
✅ Do’s | ❌ Don’ts |
|---|---|
Focus on job experiences that are most relevant to the position you're applying for, and customize your work history to align with the job description. | Don’t overload with unrelated jobs. |
Education
63% of hiring managers say that education is an important factor in their hiring decision.
Hiring managers say that they are more likely to hire a candidate with a GPA of 3.5 or higher (Indeed).
✅ Do’s | ❌ Don’ts |
|---|---|
Include your highest degree first, followed by other relevant educational qualifications. | Don’t include your high school diploma, unless it’s the only thing you have. |
Mention your GPA if it’s above 3.5. | Avoid listing coursework, unless it’s directly relevant to the job you’re applying for. |
Application process challenges
✅ Do’s | ❌ Don’ts |
|---|---|
Follow up on your applications. | Don’t send out the same resume and cover letter for every job |
Invest time in well-written, tailored cover letters. | Don’t apply to jobs where you meet less tan 70% of the qualifications. |
Build and maintain a professional network that you can lean into when you need a job. | Fail to follow application instructions. |
About the Author
I’m James, Cofounder of Final Draft Resumes. I’ve been in the career consulting space for 13 years, and before that, I was a recruiter for AECOM.
I’ve helped thousands of job seekers, from industries like software engineering, IT, sales, marketing, manufacturing, and more generate job opportunities through well-written resumes that translate unique backgrounds into coherent narratives.
If you’re struggling with your resume for whatever reason, reach out - I just might be able to help!
If you’re more of a DIY person, then check out Resumatic, my free-to-try resume builder.
One reason your resume isn’t generating traction
Before I get into this, I want to set the mood. You’re a recruiter working for a civil engineering firm, and the company has tasked you with filling a project manager position.
Your day starts with a cup of coffee and a bunch of resumes to review. The clock is ticking and you need to find the right candidate in time for a major upcoming public sector project your company was just recently awarded. The PM needs to be ready to go in less than 6 weeks.
You open the job requisition and see 87 applicants! Wow, “that’s great”, you think to yourself. You’re sure you’ll find at least a few matches in there.
The first one belong to ‘Michael Rodriguez’. You didn’t see project manager anywhere in the top half of the page. His project management experience was buried deep within his work history, overshadowed by two more recent roles in construction safety. While these jobs might illustrate some transferable skills, they didn’t immediately showcase his project management capabilities. A quick scan didn't reveal the depth of experience the company sought.
The next resume belonged to Sarah Nguyen. Her resume was well-formatted but included a generic summary that didn't do a good enough job of speaking specifically to her project management experience. It mentioned leadership and collaboration, but didn’t really highlight specific achievements or projects she led. Without concrete examples, it was difficult to gauge her suitability for the senior position.
Finally, you saw David Cohen’s resume. At first glance, his title of "Project Manager" seemed promising, but as you dove deeper into his work experience, you realized his responsibilities were more akin to those of a coordinator. He primarily focused on administrative tasks and lacked the hallmarks of a true PM, like planning out scopes, estimating costs, budgeting, or managing vendors.
You let out a big sigh. Only 84 more to go…
So, what can you learn from this?
This is what a typical recruiter goes through on any given day, and I can promise you that over 75% of those remaining 84 applications would have had similar problems.
If you don’t show the recruiter how you’re qualified CLEARLY and QUICKLY, you lose, and that’s really because they simply don’t have the time to dive deep into your resume for more than a few seconds.
So how can you do this clearly and quickly?
Mirror the job title in your summary. If you’re a project manager, advertise yourself as such. MATCH. THE. JOB. POSTING.
If they’re looking for a PM with 10 years of experience, guess what you’re including right after your “Project Manager” title? Yep, years of experience (i.e., “Project Manager with 10+ years of experience…”).
If you don’t include a summary, the first position under your work experience better say “Project Manager”. If it isn’t (such as when your current role isn’t related to PM, but your past experiences have been), then you minimize the content under the current unrelated role (1-2 bullet points max) so that the recruiter doesn’t have to go too far down the page to see the goods.
Your responsibilities need to align with the responsibilities of the job posting. Always list more relevant responsibilities higher up the list of bullet points.
Subscriber Questions
Question: I have an interview tomorrow with a company I'm really excited about. I just got an offer from another company, but it's not my ideal role. Should I still go to the interview?
First off, congrats on the interviews. Having multiple interviews is a good problem to have (a lot of people have none).
Regarding whether you should go to the second interview, I’d say yes, you should.
I’ve seen countless horror stories of people leaving a job within days of receiving an offer because the culture wasn’t they expected, their boss turned out to be a prick, or the scope of work was different than what was discussed in the interview.
You have the option of getting insight from a second company - you may end up with a better offer, better compensation etc., so go, you never know what could happen.