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Quick checklist

• Look beyond job duties: Strong resumes show outcomes, not just responsibilities.
  
• Metrics matter: Numbers (revenue growth, time saved, performance gains) make impact clear.
• Focus on transferable skills: Leadership, problem-solving and project management experience are stronger indicators of success than exact role matches.
• Use hiring tools to narrow the pool: Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and job sites like ZipRecruiter can quickly surface qualified candidates and cut down time spent reviewing resumes.

Hiring has always involved a bit of guesswork, but the current landscape has made things even murkier.

Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data confirms the job market is cooling, giving employers deeper applicant pools and more resumes to choose from. But with more candidates using AI to write those resumes, fewer of them reflect real-world experience.

For businesses trying to find employees quickly and efficiently, this means more options, but also more noise.

The resumes worth your time do three things well: they show impact, back it up with numbers and make a clear case for why the candidate fits the role you’re trying to fill.

Here’s what to look for.

Metrics show real impact

A strong resume doesn’t just list responsibilities, it highlights impact.

Clear metrics around things like revenue generated, projects managed or time saved create a credible, easy-to-interpret narrative. This becomes even more valuable when you're trying to quickly identify strong candidates or narrow a large applicant pool.

Together, these details offer a clearer picture of how someone actually performs on the job, says Ines Hayouna, a senior recruiter at the recruiting agency Duffy Group. A candidate who says they “managed a team of five” might be worth a closer look. But one who “managed a team of five, reducing turnaround time by 20% while improving output quality” instantly stands out.

“Measurable results underscore a candidate's impact,” Hayouna says. “Even something as simple as ‘reduced project timeline by three weeks’ offers helpful context.”

Transferable skills matter more than job titles

A candidate’s past experience doesn’t have to align perfectly to be a relevant match.

Transferable skills — things like project management, leadership and coordinating across teams — often carry over seamlessly, even when the job titles don’t match perfectly. These abilities show how someone thinks, collaborates and solves problems, which usually matters more than whether they’ve held the exact same role before.

“Unlike industry knowledge, which can be learned, leading cross-functional teams, managing complex projects, navigating multiple stakeholders or implementing new processes do not belong to any particular industry,” Hayouna says. “Some of the strongest candidates I've placed have come from adjacent industries because their transferable skills were strong.”

Hiring tools can handle the first pass

Seasoned hiring managers don’t read every resume that lands in their pile. Instead, they use applicant tracking systems (ATS) — software designed to automatically filter and rank candidates — to handle the initial screening.

Online job boards and hiring platforms make the process even more efficient. They allow employers to sort, filter and organize applicants using customizable criteria, from years of experience to specific skill sets. Even if you’re hiring for the first time, these tools make it easy to narrow down a large pool of candidates into a manageable shortlist.

It’s a strategy that “works across every sector,” says Marissa Morrison, Vice President of people at ZipRecruiter.

Approaches change depending on the field — a big tech company might use niche tags to attract candidates, while a local mom and pop shop relies on geo-targeting —but online job boards are still “where the talent lives,” Morrison says.

Resume red flags undermine credibility

If you’re sorting through a backlog of online applications, a few telltale signs of a weaker candidate can help you quickly narrow down your options.

Here’s what to look for.

Vague or generic descriptions: Bullet points that list tasks without showing measurable impact make it difficult to understand what the candidate is actually capable of.

Frequent job changes without context: Job hopping isn’t always a negative, but unexplained transitions can raise questions.

Limited progression in a role: Staying in the same position for years without taking on new responsibility may signal limited growth.

Poor resume structure or grammar: Typos, inconsistent formatting or a disorganized layout reflect a lack of attention to detail.

Overly generic or AI-sounding language: Resumes that feel formulaic or mirror the job description exactly can come across as low-effort.

These issues aren’t always deal-breakers, but since they make it harder to evaluate a candidate’s performance, consistency and attention to detail, they should probably push a candidate to the bottom of your shortlist.

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