Resume First Impressions — What Recruiters See in 7 Seconds

Recruiters form a first impression in about 7 seconds. The top half of your resume must sell immediately.

The top third should contain: your name, headline, contact info, and a punchy 2-3 line summary with your biggest metric.

Put your most impressive achievement in the first bullet of your current role — it's prime real estate.

Use scannable formatting: short paragraphs, bullets, bold key terms, and clear section headers.

Match the job title: if you're applying for a 'Product Manager' role, the word 'Product Manager' should appear in your headline or summary.

Front-load keywords: recruiters and ATS both look for them early.

Avoid walls of text: 5-6 lines per role, tight bullets, no paragraphs of prose.

The fastest fix: cut your weakest bullet from every role so only the strongest content remains.