Here are some statistics from a research study conducted by CareerBuilder. The good news is that it is a candidate’s market: 55% of recruiting managers said it was difficult to find good candidates last year – and 81% said it is equally or more challenging this year. And here is what a hiring manger is looking for in a resume.

First is relevant experience. They clearly are looking for people who have “been there, done that”. Next is “Skills to Action” which means they don’t want to hear about your job responsibilities, they want to know what skills you used and what was achieved.

Next is a succinct and easy to read format followed by a clear career summary at the top of the resume. So those of you who still have OBJECTIVE at the top of the resume are missing out.

And now, here are their pet peeves. Top of the list is spelling errors. Enough said on that. Other items include irrelevant details, listing roles and responsibilities (yes Virginia, we know that administrative assistants answer phones) instead of skills and accomplishments, irrelevant details, and stating that “References are available upon request” (they know that).

Basic keywords that managers like to see include: Problem-solving/Decision-making, Oral & Written Communications, Leadership, Team Building, Performance & Productivity Improvement, Project Management, Customer Retention and Strategic Planning. Of course they expect to see job-specific keywords. Interesting too is that 70% of the nation’s employers say they wish to see a digital resume, and 23% say that over a half of the resumes received have formatting errors.

Hope this helps in your self-review of your resume.