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Keeping

an eye on
recruiter
behavior
NEW STUDY CLARIFIES RECRUITER DECISION-MAKING
Here is every |ob seeker's dream worId:
! #$!%& '(&)& *(&+ ,-.' &/!%*$+ (.' )&%)01*&)23
41-52 '.),6 '(&)& *(& )&!2.-2 7.) (1)1-8 5&%121.-2
!)& .9:1.026 '(&)& *(& %)1*&)1! 7.) !- &77&%*1:&
)&204& !-5 ;.9 2&!)%( !)& !2 %$&!) !2 5!+<
OI course, IhaI worId doesn'I exisI. We can'I read recruiIers' minds, and
cerIainIy noI wiIh any IeveI oI scienIiIic accuracy. Or can we?
According Io a new reporI," =(&>!55&)2 recenIIy conducIed Ihe IirsI
IormaI, guanIiIaIive sIudy oI recruiIers' on-Ihe-|ob behavior. This ground-
breaking research empIoyed a scienIiIic Iechnigue caIIed eye Iracking" -
a IechnoIogicaIIy advanced assessmenI oI eye movemenI IhaI records
and anaIyzes where and how Iong a person Iocuses when digesIing
inIormaIion or compIeIing acIiviIies. The sIudy gauged speciIic behaviors
oI acIuaI recruiIers as Ihey perIormed onIine Iasks, incIuding resume
and candidaIe proIiIe reviews. ThirIy proIessionaI recruiIers Iook parI
in Ihe sIudy during a 10-week period.
The Iindings provided speciIic daIa regarding Ihe IoIIowing:
|ndividucl rcsumc cnd onlinc projilc dctcils vicwcd
9+ #!)*1%1#!*1-8 )&%)01*&)2
Spccijic itcms thct ccpturcd rccruitcrs' cttcntion during rcvicws
How long rccruitcrs spcnt vicwing ccch itcm
How quickly thcir cycs movcd jrom itcm to itcm
Whct contcnt wcs ovcrlookcd
!I's IempIing Io caII Ihe resuIIs eye-opening, buI Ihey cIearIy oIIer vaIuabIe
insighI inIo recruiIers' reaI-worId behavior. The inIormaIion is aIso useIuI
Io recruiIers IhemseIves Ior increasing eIIiciency and eIIecIiveness.
KEEPI NG AN EYE ON RECRUI TER BEHAVI OR
*Eye Tracking Online Metacognition: Cognitive Complexity and Recruiter Decision Making. Will Evans, Head of User Experience Design,
TheLadders. 2012.
xpIoring Ihe issues
The research invesIigaIed Ihree primary issues. irsI, did recruiIers
perceive and process proIessionaIIy wriIIen resumes diIIerenIIy Ihan
Ihose generaIed by |ob seekers? Second, how Iong did recruiIers acIuaIIy
spend reviewing each candidaIe's resume? This secIion soughI Io evaIuaIe
research (based on recruiIers' seII-reporIs) suggesIing IhaI recruiIers
spend as much as ! #$ % &'()#*+ ,*- -*+)&*.
LasIIy, Ihe sIudy scruIinized Ihe process recruiIers use Io review
onIine proIiIes. The researchers measured where recruiIers Iook, whaI
inIormaIion is mosI vaIuabIe Io Ihem, and whaI daIa Ihey use Io deIermine
a candidaIe is a poIenIiaI IiI. The sIudy hypoIhesized IhaI some Iypes oI
onIine proIiIes are signiIicanIIy Iess eIIicienI Ihan oIhers when recruiIers
are searching Ior guaIiIied candidaIes.
Making every second counI
According Io Ihe research, recruiIers Iend Io IoIIow a consisIenI visuaI
paIh when reviewing boIh resumes and onIine proIiIes, so an organized
IayouI is cruciaI. 8ecause proIessionaIIy wriIIen resumes have a cIear
visuaI hierarchy and presenI reIevanI inIormaIion where recruiIers
expecI iI, Ihese documenIs guickIy guide recruiIers Io a yes/no decision.
!n IacI, Ihe sIudy Iound IhaI, using a LikerI-Iike scaIe"" ranking oI 1 Io 7,
recruiIers gave proIessionaIIy re-wriIIen resumes an average raIing oI
./0 1$- 2)+34'5'#6." This was a .78 '&,-$9*&*(# compared wiIh a :/;
raIing beIore Ihe re-wriIe. This Iinding supporIs parIicipaIing recruiIers'
commenIs IhaI Ihe re-wriIIen resumes were 2*3+'*- #$ -*3</=
ProIessionaIIy prepared resumes aIso scored beIIer in Ierms oI organiza-
Iion and visuaI hierarchy, as measured by eye-Iracking IechnoIogy. The
gaze Irace" oI recruiIers was erraIic when Ihey reviewed a poorIy
organized resume, and recruiIers experienced high IeveIs oI cogniIive
Ioad (IoIaI menIaI acIiviIy), which increased Ihe IeveI oI eIIorI Io make a
decision. ProIessionaI resumes had Iess daIa, were evenIy IormaIIed and
were described as cIearer." They achieved a mean score oI %/. on a seven-
poinI LikerI-Iike scaIe, compared wiIh a !/7 raIing Ior resumes beIore Ihe
re-wriIe > 3 !78 '(?-*3+*/
KEEPI NG AN EYE ON RECRUI TER BEHAVI OR
** A Likert Scale is a psychometric ranking system that offers users a series of choices ranging (for example) from strongly agree
to strongly disagree. This type of scale is used in a wide variety of questionnaires in many elds.
6
SECONDS
The study found that recruiters
spend only 6 seconds reviewing
an individual resume.
Regarding onIine proIiIes,
reviewers were cIearIy disIracIed
by common visuaI IeaIures such
as picIures, ads, eIc. These
disIracIions wasIed Iime and
deIracIed Irom more perIinenI
and useIuI candidaIe inIormaIion
such as experience and skiIIs.
Such visuaI eIemenIs reduced
recruiIers' anaIyIicaI capabiIiIy
and hampered decision-making.
!n some cases, irreIevanI daIa
such as candidaIes' age, gender
or race may have biased
reviewers' |udgmenIs.
Some oI Ihe mosI surprising
Iindings invoIved Ihe Iundamen-
IaIs oI recruiIers' resume review
process. or exampIe - and
despiIe recruiIers' diIIerenI
seII-reporIs - Ihe sIudy Iound IhaI recruiIers !"#$% '$() * !#+'$%!
,#-.#/.$0 1$ .$%.-.%21( ,#!23#.
The sIudy's gaze Iracking" IechnoIogy showed IhaI recruiIers spenI
1(3'!4 567 oI Iheir resume review Iime on Ihe IoIIowing daIa poinIs:
Ncmc Prcvious position stcrt cnd cnd dctcs
Currcnt titlc/compcny Currcnt position stcrt cnd cnd dctcs
Prcvious titlc/compcny ducction
8eyond Ihese six daIa poinIs, recruiIers did IiIIIe more Ihan scan Ior
keywords Io maIch Ihe open posiIion, which amounIed Io a very cursory
paIIern maIching" acIiviIy. 8ecause decisions were based mosIIy on
Ihe six pieces oI daIa IisIed above, an individuaI resume's deIaiI and
expIanaIory copy became IiIIer and had IiIIIe Io no impacI on Ihe iniIiaI
decision making. !n IacI, Ihe sIudy's eye Iracking IechnoIogy shows IhaI
recruiIers spenI abouI * !#+'$%! on Iheir iniIiaI IiI/no IiI" decision.
KEEPI NG AN EYE ON RECRUI TER BEHAVI OR
Recruiters rated resumes with an obvious
information hierarchy as easier to read.
On a Likert scale of 1 to 7, self-written
resumes (above left) averaged 3.9 versus
6.2 for the professionally rewritten resume
(above right), a 60% increase.
ThaI proIiIe phoIo isn'I heIping
The sIudy showed IhaI recruiIers who used Ihe
TheLadders candidaIe proIiIes (versus Linked!n)
experienced a signiIicanIIy Iower cogniIive Ioad.
They were abIe Io review key daIa poinIs IasIer
because TheLadders proIiIes were %%8 *3+'*-
#$ -*3< #@3( A'(B*<C(/
Linked!n's proIiIes had higher IeveIs oI visuaI
compIexiIy, and Iheir ease oI use suIIered
subsIanIiaIIy as a resuII. AdverIisemenIs and
caIIs-Io-acIion" creaIed cIuIIer IhaI reduced
recruiIers' abiIiIy Io process Ihe proIiIes. inaIIy,
eye Iracking-based heaI maps" oI Linked!n
proIiIes showed IhaI recruiIers IixaIed Ior an
average D;8 $1 #@* #$#35 #'&* +,*(# - on proIiIe
picIures, insIead oI examining oIher viIaI
candidaIe inIormaIion.
Key recommendaIions
Turn Io a proIessionaI Ior resume rewriIes;
insisI on an organized IayouI and a sIrong visuaI
hierarchy; and make sure onIine proIiIes are
easy-Io-read, wiIhouI disIracIing visuaIs - IhaI
is, iI makes sense Io IoIIow Ihe sIyIe Iound on
TheLadders.com.
!n concIusion, consider Ihe expression, The
eyes are Ihe window Io Ihe souI." !n Ihis case,
Ihe eyes and eye-Iracking IechnoIogy have given
us vaIuabIe insighI - and vaIid daIa - abouI
recruiIers' behavior. WhiIe we may never be
abIe Io read recruiIers' minds, Ihis sIudy gives us
a much cIearer view oI whaI Ihey are Ihinking
and how Ihey make decisions.
KEEPI NG AN EYE ON RECRUI TER BEHAVI OR
Recruiters eyes, while reviewing LinkedIn proles (above) xated on strong visual
elements, spending 19% of their time looking at prole pictures. In contrast,
recruiters viewing TheLadders candidate proles (below) reviewed more key
information in less time, a 55% improvement in readability over LinkedIn.
Click here to learn more about
TheLadders resume re-writing services

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