What Does the Hiring Manager Expect From Your Resume?

One of the reasons it's tough to write a strong resume is that your perspective on what your resume should achieve is pretty different from the hiring manager’s perspective. Most job seekers want a resume that reflects their entire career, highlights their professional persona, and shows their unique personality. They want a document that will “pop” and “wow” a hiring manager so much that they absolutely must meet this spectacular candidate.

Meanwhile, a hiring manager wants to read a resume that clearly and concisely indicates this candidate is capable of the role and worth bringing in for an interview for further assessment. They don’t need to be wowed by a document; they just want to know if they should move the file to the yes, no, or maybe pile.

It’s this disconnect that leads to some of the more common resume mistakes we see. While you might think a beautifully designed, unique format will help you stand out, the hiring manager doesn’t want to have to take an extra moment to figure out where to find the relevant information -- they just want an easy-to-read list of your achievements. And while you might feel compelled to list every single one of your responsibilities and accomplishments, the hiring manager doesn’t want to waste time reading irrelevant bullet points, nor do they have the time to parse through a lot of text to decipher whether you have the appropriate qualifications.

All the hiring manager expects from your resume is that it responds to their job posting in a convincing way. They would like to see a document that indicates you read and understood the posting and argues that your skills and background will be beneficial to the company in the specific open role. As you craft your resume, consider the hiring manager’s POV. Can they glean your suitability for the role within 3-10 seconds? Is it clear that you intentionally applied for the open role? Do your achievements reflect the type of achievements they’d like to see from someone in the open role? Is your resume easy enough to understand amid a sea of hundreds of others? 

The hiring manager doesn’t expect to hire you based on your resume alone. If your resume meets their criteria, they’ll bring you in for interviews, and you’ll have plenty of time to dig into the fullness of your career and your personality then.