On average, recruiters look at a resume for less than seven seconds. That’s how much time you have to make an impression. Wild, but true.

And even though that amount of time sounds ruthless, it makes much more sense once you see the massive stack of applications that come in for an average position. I’ve worked in companies that routinely received 200+ applications for each open role.

If you’ve recently been searching for a job, I’m guessing you’ve noticed the jaw-dropping (and depressing) number of applications listed for some positions on LinkedIn. That application tally is a good indicator of how intense a job search can be.

After more than a decade as a manager and HR leader, I’ve read countless resumes and participated in 100+ interviews. I’ve also had the chance to help many friends and colleagues with their resumes and job searches.

Here are the biggest lessons I’ve learned to make your resume stand out:

1. Remember that recruiters want to minimize risk

One quick logistical note because it’s important to understand…
Each company’s interview process looks a bit different, but for many companies, you can loosely think of the process in five-ish stages:

1. Application Phase: The recruiter or an automated system called an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) scans through the applications and resumes. Most people don’t make it out of this stage.
2. Phone Screen: The recruiter has a brief phone call (often 15–30 minutes) with the candidates who cleared Stage I.
3. Interview #1: Candidates who make it through Stage II earn a longer interview with someone else — often the Hiring Manager for the role (your future boss), future colleagues, or other company leaders.
4. Interview #2: Same as above. Most companies have at least two interviews, but some have more (potentially even a half-dozen).
5. Job Offer: Whoever stands out in the interviews earns a job offer. There are often other aspects of this stage, including negotiating salary, reference and/or background checks, etc.

Note: Some companies include other steps like requesting a work sample.

As described above, a recruiter often runs Stages I and II. And their job isn’t only to surface the best candidates — it’s to filter out the worst ones.

But because it’s often hard to tell who would be worst in a role, many recruiters use riskiest as a proxy for worst. That means the recruiter’s first pass through the application stack is usually an effort to weed out any risky candidates.

Now, put yourself in their shoes: If you were a recruiter, you wouldn’t want to pass through a candidate that could make your boss or a hiring manager question your judgment or think you weren’t vetting candidates appropriately. So from that perspective:

Risky candidate on paper = Risky for the recruiter’s job

For this reason, a lot of “safe” candidates make it through the first stage of weeding out applications: Ivy League grads, candidates who’ve done that same job for 5–10 years, ex-Google and ex-Microsoft people, etc. Those people may or may not do a good job in the role, but they’re definitely safe for the recruiter, so they often make it through to the phone interview.

A recruiter’s risk aversion means that you need to do anything possible to de-risk your resume and application, which leads to this next tip.

2. Connect the dots for the recruiter

The best way to de-risk yourself is to show the recruiter you’ve done something similar to this specific job before. Show them you’re someone whom they’ll look smart for passing along to the next stage.

Think of your job as trying to solve a problem for the recruiter. They have a position they need to fill, and they need qualified candidates to fill it. They want someone who can solve that problem.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make on resumes is to list jobs they held previously without connecting those jobs back to the role they’re applying for.

You need to connect the dots for the recruiter. Show them how your last job relates to this new job.

This is easy to do when your last role was the same as this new one (e.g., you were a Product Manager and you’re applying to be a Product Manager). It’s tougher when your last role was only somewhat related.

For example, let’s say you’ve been a Customer Success Manager (CSM) for three years but you want to move into product management (PM), so you apply for a PM role. If you just list the normal tasks you did as a CSM, you won’t get anywhere.

Your resume will scream “RISKY,” and you’ll be tossed into the dump bin. Your only chance is to connect the dots:

• Explain that your customer service experience helped you build great relationships with clients — the same type of relationships that a PM needs to build with clients.
• If you once partnered with the PM team to integrate your largest client’s feedback into the newest version of your company software, include a bullet point for that.
• If you previously coordinated a cross-department project to gather client quotes and testimonials, mention that too.

Rack your brain to think of any and every time you’ve done a PM-related task or project in your CSM role. Show the recruiter that this is a tiny baby step from your last role — not a giant leap into new territory.

3. Use standard job titles

Another mistake I see people make all the time is to include weird job titles in their resume.

It’s been trendy in tech companies recently to create unique job titles like “Recruitment Rockstar,” “Tech Guru,” or “Sales Rainmaker” to make roles sound more sexy or interesting. That’s fine within the four walls of your company (where people understand what that role is), but it’s not going to resonate with recruiters from other firms.

A recruiter’s job is hard enough. Imagine trying to evaluate someone’s entire career by looking at a single sheet of paper for a few seconds. Now imagine that paper has goofy shit like “Tech Guru” on it. As a recruiter, can you see why that would make your job harder?

You wouldn’t know whether that abstract person on the other end of the resume had been working in IT, software development, product management, or something else. And you darn sure wouldn’t feel confident they’d be a great fit for the open job you’re trying to fill.

This is why it’s important to use standard job titles in your resume. Take out the guesswork for the recruiter.

When I’ve coached friends and acquaintances to do this, some have wondered, “But wait…is it lying to say a different job title?” Great question. And no, it’s not as long as you represent your role fairly and accurately.

If you were a Customer Success Manager (CSM) and you put down that you were a Product Manager, that is 100% NOT okay. But if your company called your position “Customer Happiness Representative” (or some other trendy title) and you were actually a CSM, then list the standard title of CSM which every recruiter will understand.

The point of doing this is to remove guesswork (which is good) — not to falsify a job title (which is bad).