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  • Aaron Stauffer

    The exercise was for an entry level customer service position. I find it interesting that the majority of people (so far) picked the candidate that would be least interested in something as basic as entry level CS when they are obviously such a high performer based on their resume. I guess this is part of the “overqualified” conundrum people run into.

    Without additional details, it’s hard to make a call on who to hire. For example, the candidate that most people liked worked almost exclusively in telemarketing. Would those skills work as well for an in-person CS role?

    6 seconds is on the short-side but it can be long enough to weed out the people who are careless in their formatting. I do an exercise like this in my office but I give people 15 seconds to make the judgement call.

    • Hi Aaron,

      Thanks for your comment! You make some solid points. Stay tuned for our follow-up post which will provide more in-depth results from the test.

      -RG Team

      • BP

        15 seconds is better. 6 seconds is absolutely criminal. It takes longer than that to inhale and exhale. I don’t believe anyone in HR who sticks to a 6 second model is actually doing their jobs properly. I don’t believe it.

  • Rudis

    6 seconds to decide the change in candidates live? I have experienced this many times…not acceptabel !

    • Hi Rudis,

      Most of our office would also agree that 6 seconds is not enough time. Thanks for your comment!

      -RG Team

      • BP

        I am not in HR, but I have been a “hiring manager.” After taking the test here, I know that 6 seconds IN NO WAY is enough time (though I ranked “professional” with a score of 7 – whatever that means 🙂 . . . 6 Seconds. If I were looking for HR professionals, and any of them agreed to this 6-second statistic, I wouldn’t hire them. Sociopaths with a lazy streak. It only takes a minute. We learned how to skim for reading comprehension in 6th grade. Comprehension. Only takes a minute. I’m appalled . . .

  • Sarah

    Bit of a strange game – I was a successful recruiter, but without knowing the client and the job role in question – how are you to judge the quality of the resumes??? When I’m quickly scanning through, I’m more concerned with looking at relevant job titles and dates etc… None of which had any bearing in this game because we have no background information… Sorry – I get the idea, but not a fan!

    • Hi Sarah,

      We appreciate your opinion and agree that there are some limits to this game. There is no doubt that a detailed job description is crucial to the hiring process, but knowing that you are hiring for an entry-level customer service position at least allows you to look at relevant job titles and dates. Also, some hiring managers have different criteria (like formatting) when it comes to sifting through the initial stack of resumes. Based on the results, this game helps to demonstrate just how subjective the hiring process can be. Thanks for your comment!

      -RG Team

      • Aaron Stauffer

        I think that is really the crux of the situation. It is a highly subjective process so I advise people to be clear, concise, organized and put the most important stuff on top of their resume so the reader can find it. Above all else, I tell people to research the company to see what the company wants because a manufacturer isn’t interested in the same thing as a restaurant.

  • BrunoZapit

    A minute atleast, if you do have thousands of applications.

  • Hélène

    It is impossible in 6 seconds to decide which can be a candidate to hire in a company. Looking at a CV of people in 6 second, you can lose some interesting points so for me I can’t
    say more.

    • Helene,

      We believe most people would agree that 6 seconds in not enough time decide which candidate is the right fit for a company. However, in some cases, it is enough to weed out the obvious “Nos” (the Photo Resume). Thanks for your comment!

      -RG Team

      • Alexzander Shelton

        Deciding someone isn’t a right fit for a job solely based on their photograph is discriminatory and highly suspect to say the least. If someone looks at a resume and declines it in six seconds because of that person’s pictue, there is something very wrong.

        • Alycia Knauer

          A prospective employer may make the same decision about a candidate in a face-to-face interview. Like it or not, people often make decisions about others based on looks. No, it isn’t right or fair, but it’s human nature. So the smart thing may be to leave the photo out altogether. On the other hand, if someone’s going to exclude me based on looks, trashing my photo-resume would save me from wasting my time and energy interviewing with such a person.

        • Hey Alexzander,

          That’s exactly why the general rule is not to add a photograph to your resume. You can’t guarantee that the hiring manager will base their decision on your merits and not your looks. Thanks for your comment!

          -RG Team

      • good samaritan

        Dear RG team, how can a human being even scan six sentences or at least six lines in six seconds ? An interviewer is also a human being and not necessarily a superman. Even to weed out a certain NO, he has to identify a NO. In six seconds it is not possible at all. If an interviewer takes only six seconds to decide whether to keep the resume or trash it, then it is a process of elimination and not selection. May God keep me away from such a situation.

        • Hello Good Samaritan,

          Good point, many of us at the office also disagree with the “six second resume” concept. This page was assembled with the idea of challenging the idea that a resume can be mentally processed in six seconds, and this seems to be the case. Hopefully hiring managers have learned from our study and are looking at resumes more closely, but it’s hard to say – everyone does it their own way. Thanks for taking the time to comment!

          -The RG Team

          • Danielle Poe-Holcomb

            It may not be a good system, but yes, the it can be 6-30 seconds (im being generous with the 30). Of course, this may not be the case with every employer, however I have had the opportunity to sit with panels of CEOs, Hiring managers and the like and this is what they have said. You have to take into account, these people look at resumes all the time. This is their profession and time is money. They quickly scan them to find the obvious No’s (sorry, it has to look good and cant have spelling errors, its just the way it is). They also dont want to have to read the whole thing, they have a ton to go through and a time crunch, make it easy to skim. Once they have picked the top X number of resumes, they hand them off to the next person who will look more carefully at them, who may give it a minute or two, or may call you for an interview. I hope this helps. I know it may not be a “fair” system, but its true and can help you adjust your resume accordingly. Cheers.

          • Hi Danielle,

            Thanks for pitching in for our readers! Great points.

            -The RG Team

  • khan shahid

    all the recruites in the world need to be put in an single area and …… …. please feel free to fill-inthe banks.

  • Alycia Knauer

    I mainly excluded resumes because of errors (typos and missing/inconsistent information), and use of passive verbs (no sense of iniative). The resumes that caught my attention were ones with specific measures of successes.

  • deb

    This was very interesting. If all they look at a resume for is 6 seconds, besides all the usual about grammar and spelling, you had better have outstanding achievements and put them at the very top of your resume.. These resumes are for an entry level position. I took one look at the achievements on them and I now know I that someone who is average like me and does not have any outstanding achievements wouldn’t stand a chance.

    • Hey Deb,

      I wouldn’t say you don’t stand a chance. You can also make your resume stand out like the ones in the test. Check out resume writing guides for some tips and tricks: https://resumegenius.com/resume

      -RG Team

  • Hopeless Dreamer

    I know someone who completed with honors his Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration in New Zealand. He has worked in 3 different countries prior to coming to NZ. After graduation, he applied:

    Case # 1 = he applied in jobs that are the same level with his qualifications (work experiences and educational background). He was consistently rejected in all his applications with companies saying he does not have any NZ office work experience.

    Case # 2 = he applied in entry level jobs to gain office experience. He was consistently rejected in all his applications with companies saying his qualifications are more than what they need for the job (over-qualification).

    Case # 3 = he “diluted” his CV and applied for manual jobs like factory worker, cleaner, garbage collector. He was consistently rejected with companies saying he is quite senior to the role (in terms of age), quite physically unfit (he is overweight), he has no certificate or prior training on the job, etc.

    Ending = he is jobless for months now, running out of money, and his whole self-confidence shattered to pieces!!!

  • LS Elisabeth Swiriduk

    This activity was a great reminder that with competition being so intense for talented job seekers and/or career builders, the first impression formed by the HR person is made in just seconds, so make sure that resume “sings!” (If you know what I mean…)

  • Jessica Battle

    As a previous hiring manager I could decide within 6 seconds of reviewing a resume whether or not I would call them right away or wait awhile hoping I received more qualified applicants. If a resume is in tip top shape and speaks for the applicant I’ll more than likely call to schedule an interview. However, if not, it typically goes to the bottom of the pile or just filed away. My word of advice is keeping your skills and experience relevant to the position you are applying and keeping the resume verbiage appropriate for the work environment (i.e. avoid weird fonts and designs around the border, etc.) It’s a great personal touch but can also be a distraction so just be mindful when creating your resume!

  • Hi there,

    We always love to hear from hiring managers – thanks for your comment! Great advice for our readers.

    -The RG Team

  • Eileen Pilon Kortright

    No, 6 seconds isn’t enough time, but by the second one I was skimming for what the person was doing now, then what he had been doing before that — if I had time. Those were the points I was most interested in, given the lack of time at hand.

  • Hi F,

    We’re glad you enjoyed it! Also, don’t worry about not doing well, the reality is it’s too difficult for most people. The point of this challenge is to prove once and for all that even professional hiring managers can’t properly evaluate a resume in just 6 seconds. Share the challenge with your friends and see if they can beat your score!

    -The RG Team

  • Hi Kaden,

    The point of this challenge is to prove that the common belief – hiring managers evaluate a resume in just 6 seconds – is a myth! So your comment is very true, it’s impossible to properly examine a resume in such a short time. Share the challenge with your friends and see if any of them can do it.

    -The RG Team

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