Recruiters spend seconds, not minutes, on a first pass of your resume. In that window, the resume either earns a second look or gets closed. Here's what actually moves the needle.
Lead with impact, not duties
"Responsible for managing social media" tells a recruiter nothing. "Grew Instagram following from 2K to 18K in 6 months" tells them everything. Rewrite every bullet as a result, not a task.
Keep it scannable
Use consistent formatting, generous white space, and no more than two pages. A resume that looks cluttered gets skipped even if the content is strong.
Match the keywords
Most companies run resumes through an applicant tracking system before a human ever sees them. Mirror the language of the job description where it genuinely applies to your experience.
Common instant-reject mistakes
Typos, a generic objective statement, an unprofessional email address, and unexplained employment gaps are the fastest ways to get filtered out before anyone reads your actual experience.