Why Hiring Managers Rarely See the Resume You Submit to Companies

The resume you submit to companies does NOT go directly to hiring managers. Resumes show up first to a company's HR, staffing, or recruiting department. For obvious reasons, companies would never allow resumes they receive to go directly to the hiring managers. Resumes are screened and then forwarded to the managers so as to not waste their time.

Most people have not thought about the fact that very few resumes people submit to employers ever make it past the HR department and into the hands of the hiring manager. If the manager with the opening never sees your resume you will not get called, interviewed, and hired. This defines and explains the infamous resume black hole and why you do not hear back from employers regarding your resume most of the time.

HR and internal/external recruiters do not forward most resumes they receive to hiring managers because the quality of the resumes they supply is a direct reflection on them. Think about it this way. The product that HR and recruiters produce is resumes. Resumes represent them. A great resume equals a great recruiter. An average or poor resume equals a mediocre or poor recruiter. HR and recruiters of course want to look good to the hiring managers / co-workers they work with by sending them a great product.

Hiring is subjective. HR will often choose a less experienced or qualified candidate who has an outstanding resume. They know that hiring managers are greatly influenced and respond to high quality and professional resume presentations. Most resumes HR receives have formatting, wording, and information that hurts the candidate. The resumes that get forwarded are exceptionally well written, formatted, and targeted resumes with quality, rich content. Resumes people prepare on their own do not meet these standards.

To avoid the resume black hole, represent yourself to employers with a professionally prepared resume. Not doing so is an egregious error in judgment. Job search challenges are not because there are better candidates, you are not qualified, etc. It is because of your resume. The bottom-line is that resumes prepared by trained professionals with employment industry experience get saved and forwarded to hiring managers.