How to make sure your CV avoids the rejection pile

Aine Cain
Saturday 17 June 2017 07:44 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Sending out your résumé is a rough business.

A simple formatting error or a typo could mean the difference between landing your dream job and getting rejected right off the bat.

Even worse, hiring managers are pretty much hardwired to reject your thoughtfully-put-together résumé

As Art Markman, a professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas at Austin, writes for Fast Company, there are usually two phases to the résumé review process:

First, hiring managers go into "rejection mode," seeking out reasons to eliminate résumés from the stack. "Psychologically, this actually requires a recruiter or hiring manager to zero in on your flaws before fixating more closely on your strengths," Markman writes.

In most cases, this is probably the most important step of the process.

As Markman writes in another article for Fast Company, "When people are dissatisfied with all of their options, research suggests that they often focus on finding reasons to reject one over the other rather than reasons for preferring one." So if you are applying for an entry-level position, you can bet that the "rejection phase" is going to be even harsher.

After they've trimmed the list down, Markman says hiring managers switch modes to the "selection mindset" and begin comparing candidates' strengths.

So, how can you ensure that your résumé survives the dreaded rejection round?

As any dog owner can tell you, puppies are are more likely to take their medicine when the pill is embedded in a treat. Markman suggests candidates wrap each of their potential weakness with a strength.

Additionally, in "No One Understand You and What to Do About It," social psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson writes that it's more important to "emphasize your potential" rather than past successes in the hiring process.

So, if you lack job experience for example, your best bet in surviving the rejection phase might be to highlight instances where you took ownership and learned skills on the job.

Read more:

• This chart is easy to interpret: It says we're screwed
• How Uber became the world's most valuable startup
• These 4 things could trigger the next crisis in Europe

Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in