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Five minutes - that is the maximum time that 40 percent of German HR professionals invest when reading an application for the first time.
After that, it is often already decided whether the candidate will stay in the race or be kicked out.
This was the result of the “JobTrends 2017” survey conducted by the Staufenbiel Institute.
Another insight: The most important part is the résumé - three quarters look at it first.
"The résumé is the central document", says application coach Sven Emmrich, founder of the coaching portal "Karrierehelden".
This document condenses the whole life experience into two pages.
Emmrich regards application documents as marketing documents: "You sell your own working hours to a customer - the employer." Accordingly, the résumé should draw attention to your own strengths as clearly and concisely as possible.
This is particularly successful if the résumé fits the advertised position as well as possible.
Applicants should therefore particularly emphasize the experiences that are in demand in the desired job - and above all the successes achieved.
In addition to the company and the job title, you should also state what exactly you have achieved, says Emmrich.
Bundle the core information of the résumé on a cover sheet
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“Certain measures can be interesting: How many new customers have I reached?
How many cases have I handled successfully? ”Explains the coach.
The linguistic structure “X achieved through Y” has proven itself.
In addition to the company name and the job title, for example, you can write: 30 percent increase in media coverage by intensifying press work.
Or: Ten percent additional business with existing customers through global trade fair appearances and customer events.
Or also: seven-digit annual cost savings through successful group-wide coordination of the group CIP program.
Experiences that did not fit the new position at all could sometimes be left out for reasons of clarity - as long as there were no large gaps in the résumé.
Ideally, the reader is distracted as little as possible by the unimportant.
Information such as parents' professions, which was previously included as standard, is no longer listed.
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Personnel consultant Viola Hoffmann-Scheurer is also the first to compare experiences with the profile of the respective position in a résumé.
“A clear and compact curriculum vitae simplifies the HR manager's job,” she says.
She also recommends a cover sheet containing the most important information such as the name and the most important professional and educational experiences.
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The actual résumé should then not be longer than two pages.
A manual signature makes the résumé more personal and is particularly popular with smaller companies.
Spelling mistakes are a no-go: "One is perhaps still forgivable, if there are several, the application will be rejected." Applicants should also not use online samples completely, but rather design the layout a little more individually.
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However, the structure and structure should generally still correspond to the classic form.
“I still recommend the tabular, reverse chronological curriculum vitae,” says the application coach Jürgen Zech from the Make-it-Better agency.
That means: the most recent work experience is listed first.
This structure simply provides the most clarity and expressiveness, says Zech.
Since the HR staff often had little time, unusual forms were usually more of a problem.
The last two professional positions are crucial
The tabular form is also recommended because CVs are now partially electronically filtered.
The computer records certain keywords and can sort them in this way.
This can be the case, especially in large corporations with a flood of applications.
A tabular curriculum vitae first names the contact details above, then the experiences are listed one below the other, with the most recent experiences first.
Because these are usually the most interesting for HR managers.
Additional information such as language skills, hobbies and interests is provided below.
“From my experience, HR managers first look at the last two professional positions,” says Zech.
“How long did the applicant work there, was there an internal advancement, was there any further training during that time?” In the case of graduates, the final grades and the topics of the Bachelor's or Master's thesis are given special attention.
The curriculum vitae can deviate from the scheme in creative professions, says HR consultant Hoffmann-Scheurer.
She remembers an application for a marketing position in which the candidate submitted his / her résumé as an animated presentation on a stick - completely individually tailored to the company.
“That was highly individual and was well received.” In creative or media professions, it could also be useful to include social media profiles in your résumé - if their content is professional.
Companies expect a photo on their CV
The experts recommend attaching a photo to the CV.
"The picture rounds off the impression of the applicant, makes the document more personal and more tangible," says Hoffmann-Scheurer.
In Germany, the application photo is usually expected from companies.
It's different abroad: For reasons of discrimination, the application photo is frowned upon in many countries.
“But I've never seen someone not invited to an interview because of their appearance, even though they matched the job profile,” says Hoffmann-Scheurer.
It is simply more authentic when you have someone in front of you - and round off the application positively.
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Application coach Emmrich also sees the photo as an opportunity.
“There is no reason to leave out the photo.” Applicants could use it to further optimize their personal marketing.
And the photo can also be adapted to the respective job: Anyone applying for a position with customer contact can stand out with a particularly friendly smile.
If you want to become a laboratory assistant, you can also have your picture taken using the microscope.
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Read more articles from our series of guides on the subject of CVs here:
Everything about the résumé
This article was first published on May 2nd, 2020.