A common trend these days is to include a “scale” of your skills on your resume. To be honest, I’m not a fan of this trend for several reasons. We’ll share why below.
I’m not sure why this trend has become so widespread, but I suspect it has something to do with perceived visual appeal and the opportunity to be ‘unique’. But will this actually help your resume succeed? Will it get you a response from a hiring expert and land you an interview? Here’s why.
#1 – By underestimating yourself for some skills, you are essentially communicating your lack of skills.
When listing and evaluating your skills, the general “rule” of these rating scales is that you cannot rate yourself as “5 out of 5” or “100%” on everything. It seems that In theory, that defeats the purpose of rating scales, right?
Let’s see what one of these scales looks like, taken from an online resume template.
At this scale, the strongest skill set will be Microsoft Office, but there will likely be some marketing professionals with significantly lower skills in Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and SEO.
From a hiring professional’s perspective, you’re likely to come to the conclusion that the candidate in question is probably not very good at SEO or online advertising. In other words, candidates rated themselves and only gave them 3 out of 5. This is not good. Your resume is where you market yourself. It is generally thought of as promoting one’s skills to the best of one’s ability. If any of these digital skills (especially advertising or her SEO) are listed as requirements for the role you want, this is no good.
#2 – Rating scales are meaningless to the target audience, the recruiter.
Remember, you are not writing this resume for yourself. While you may love the visual look of the scale, these ratings are essentially meaningless to the people who ultimately read them: recruiters, HR professionals, and hiring managers.
You are evaluating yourself, what criteria do you use to determine if you get 5/5 for Microsoft Office or 4/5 for content marketing? Have you completed testing to determine where to set it? Is this rating system recognized by others? If not, why does it mean anything to strangers who don’t know you? Is not it?
It could be based on how much experience you have with these skills, but that’s very subjective. A candidate may feel that she has good skills in Microsoft Excel, for example, and she may rate herself as a 5 out of 5, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s in a position like a financial analyst. It does not mean that you have the advanced skills required.
Hiring professionals also tend to be very skeptical about candidates assessing their skills. This is really common sense. Many people tend to overestimate their proficiency in certain areas. How can recruiters know they aren’t overestimating your skill set?
Tip: Hiring professionals would rather you prove your skills by explaining: the result of your efforts By using the skills above (your accomplishments!)
#3 – Visual rating scales are not compatible with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
As I’ve mentioned before, graphics don’t work well with ATS. These software systems are used to scan resumes and determine whether applicants have the skills and qualifications described in the job description. Graphics (such as rating scales) and columns are not compatible with ATS in particular. This content may not pass his ATS and may be garbled.
Resume trends that don’t do much to prove your skills and abilities aren’t exactly what recruiters want. Patience and time are not too much for busy recruiters, HR managers, and recruiters. This kind of content can actually frustrate them and keep them from reading through the resume.
In other words, focus on demonstrating your skills by describing tangible achievements such as projects you’ve worked on or courses you’ve completed. This is always attractive to anyone reading your resume.
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