Interview Reality Check
"Your Resume Has 7.4 Seconds to Impress."
Recruiters spend ~7.4 seconds on the initial resume skim—just enough to spot deal-breakers like formatting issues, misaligned job titles, or missing keywords reddit.com+8linkedin.com+8hrdive.com+8..
That Seven-point-Four-second window determines whether you’re rejected or move forward—it’s not about impressing, it’s about not disqualifying linkedin.com+1linkedin.com+1.
The first 1–3 seconds are a skim; 3–15 seconds a scan; only 10–20% of resumes make it to a deeper review linkedin.com.
Layout matters: simple one-column designs with clear headings, bullet points, and adequate white space consistently outperform cluttered formats reddit.com+13hrdive.com+13reddit.com+13.
“The Interview Process has definitely Changed”
And just 1–2% of applications get interviews.
The average time-to-hire? 44 days. And more than 49% of candidates drop out because of bad communication.
Pandemic-era slowdown continues: Since 2021, companies now conduct 42% more interviews per hire, elongating time-to-hire by ~24% (now ~41 days vs 33) reddit.com+8infeedo.ai+8enterprise.page.com+8.
Pre-2019, video interviews were rare. Post-COVID, platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet became standard for initial and even final interviews.
There's a growing focus on demonstrable skills over traditional credentials. Employers increasingly use skill assessments and job simulations in place of or in addition to resumes.