59 Resume Statistics All Job Seekers Should Know in 2024

Top 20 resume statistics

Your resume is likely the first opportunity to make an impression, so making a good resume is an essential step in the job hunt. The top resume statistics of 2024 will arm you with the knowledge to create a resume that stands above the competition.

1. The average resume is 506 words long, with 287 words being roughly the single-page resume cutoff point. (EnhanceCV)

2. Seasoned professionals with an average of 16.18 years of experience use their company’s email address. Job seekers with 13.37 years of experience tend to opt for personal email. (EnhanceCV)

3. The most popular resume section is job history (76%), followed by career objective (68%) and the skills section (67%). (Genius)

4. According to recruiters, the top reasons for rejecting a resume are the following: (CareerBuilder)

• • Impersonal applications (84%)
  • No thank you note (57%)
  • Lack of resume customization (54%)

5. In fact, job seekers with more than 99% of the words on their resume spelled correctly are three times more likely to get hired. (MIT Sloan)

6. Candidates with AI-assisted resumes are 7.8% more likely to get hired, one study found. (MIT Sloan)

7. On a resume, 61% of employers believe soft skills are just as important as hard skills. (CareerBuilder)

8. The most popular soft skills to list on a resume include the following. (Zety)

• • Communication (11%)
  • Leadership (9%)
  • Time management (8%)

9. The most popular hard skills to list on a resume include the following. (Zety)

• • Microsoft Office (12%)
  • Project management (6%)
  • Microsoft Excel (6%)

10. Only one-third of recruiters think job candidates are honest about their skills, and 85% believe candidates exaggerate their skills on their resume. (HR Dive)

11. A majority 93% of resumes include one or more action words or phrases. (KickResume)

12. Unfortunately, 44% of resumes include 10 or more filler words, from unnecessary pronouns like I, we, their or my to certain adverbs like always, totally and completely. (KickResume)

13. According to an eye-tracking study, the resumes that are most likely to get noticed by recruiters share the following characteristics: (The Ladders)

• • A clear, simple resume that uses logical layouts
  • An overview at the top (like a summary or objective section)
  • Clear, legible fonts

14. The lowest-performing resumes in the eye-tracking study had the following characteristics. (The Ladders)

• • A cluttered look with little white space
  • Poor layout
  • Keyword stuffing

15. Nearly one quarter (24%) of hiring managers spend less than 30 seconds looking at a resume. (CareerBuilder)

16. Roughly 97% of Fortune 500 companies use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to automatically screen resumes for keywords. (Jobscan)

17. Up to three-fourths of qualified applicants have been rejected by an ATS because the software couldn’t read their resumes — a great example of why you should have a plain text resume on hand. (Forbes)

18. Nearly three-fourths of hiring managers have caught lies on a resume. (CareerBuilder)

19. The most popular resume sections for candidates are the following. (Zety)

• • Languages (31%)
  • Certifications (27%)
  • Additional activities (21%)
  • Interests (19%)

20. These are the top resume deal breakers for hiring managers. (CareerBuilder)

• • Typos or bad grammar (77%)
  • Unprofessional email address (35%)
  • Lack of quantifiable results (34%)

Cover letter statistics to accompany your resume

Cover letters are sometimes seen as the forgotten little brother of the resume. But they serve an important purpose — a great cover letter can make you stand out to hiring managers and show more of your personality.

Keep reading to learn more about the state of cover letters in today’s job market with these 2024 statistics.

21. Only 38% of job seekers included a cover letter with their application. (ResumeLab)

22. Yet, well over half (64%) of job listings with a direct application process require a cover letter. (ResumeLab)

23. Even when submitting a cover letter is optional, 77% of recruiters give preference to candidates who send a cover letter. (ResumeLab)

24. In fact, 45% of hiring managers always read cover letters and 38% usually read them. (Genius)

25. 36% of hiring managers actually read the cover letter before they read the resume. (ResumeLab)

26. Up to 38% of hiring managers say that including a cover letter makes them more likely to pay attention to the application. (CareerBuilder)

27. Almost half (45%) of recruiters say that not having a cover letter could get your job application rejected. (CareerBuilder
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28. In addition, 51% say that a weak cover letter might deter them from inviting an otherwise qualified applicant for an interview. (Genius)

Job search and resume statistics

Whether you recently lost your job or are looking to make a career pivot, here are some prominent job searching statistics for 2024 you need to know.

29. Job seekers cite these as the top factors when looking for a new job opportunity: (Jobvite)

• • Career growth (56%)
  • Compensation (54%)
  • Health benefits (49%)

30. Nearly three-fourths of job seekers (74%) say they believe finding a job has become more challenging. (Jobvite)

31. Around half of all working Americans (48%) are open to other job opportunities. (Jobvite)

32. Nonetheless, 73% of job seekers say finding a job is one of the most stressful events of their entire lives. (NorthOne)

33. Nearly seven out of 10 job seekers say remote work is important when deciding whether to take a job offer. (Jobvite)

34. These days, up to 85% of jobs are filled via networking. (LinkedIn)

35. People who have certifications as their highest level of education earn, on average, 20% higher than those whose highest level of education is a high school diploma. (BLS)

36. People change career paths an average of 12.3 times throughout their working lives. (BLS)

37. About 43% of HR professionals cite “competition from other employers” as the primary reason they have difficulty hiring the right employees. (Apollo Technical)

38. Well over half of Americans (63%) have taken a break at some point in their careers. (LinkedIn)

39. Nearly one-fourth of working professionals (23%) feel like they are on a “treadmill going nowhere.” (LinkedIn)

40. Up to 87% of employers check references during the hiring process. (SHRM)

41. Today, 64% of recruiters predict that the job market will be more favorable for candidates and employees than employers in the next five years. (LinkedIn)

Job Interview Statistics

If resumes are the first impression in your hiring process, job interviews are where you cross the finish line.

First, you should prepare answers to common interview questions. Then, come up with some smart questions of your own. These job interview statistics can help.

42. Nearly nine out of 10 (88%) working Americans reported having a positive experience during their most recent job interview. (Jobvite)

43. Meanwhile, 58% of interviewees reported having great communication with their most recent interviewer. (Jobvite)

44. The most preferred channels to communicate with recruiters are the following. (Jobvite)

• • Email (58%)
  • Phone calls (25%)
  • In-person meetings (17%)

45. On average, a corporate job attracts 250 applicants, of which only 2% will be invited to interview. (Glassdoor)

46. Over 40% of employers say they may not interview candidates if they can’t find their online presence. (CareerBuilder)

47. During the interview process, these are the top factors job seekers use to assess long-term work potential. (Glassdoor)

• • Information regarding pay (44%)
  • Clear growth tracks (39%)
  • Track record of promoting from within (37%)

48. Employers say these are the soft skills most lacking in candidates they interview: (ZipRecruiter)

• • Problem-solving (37%)
  • Ability to deal with complexity (32%)
  • Communication (31%)

49. The average time-to-hire across all industries is three to four weeks. (Yello)

50. Over half of recruiters say that it takes at least three job interviews before a job offer. (MRINetwork)

51. According to 82% of recruiters, it takes three or more weeks to get a job offer. (MRINetwork)

Diversity in hiring — 8 statistics for 2024

The workforce’s makeup is changing to become more diverse, and the most competitive companies have already recognized the importance of changing with it.

See how these diversity in hiring statistics can help you in your 2024 job search.

52. Despite macroeconomic headwinds, 20% of recruiters say diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are a higher priority now than last year. (LinkedIn)

53. Up to 58% of employees would not apply to work for a company where there is a pay gap. (Glassdoor)

54. Companies that are in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15% more likely to have high financial performance. (McKinsey)

55. Of all stay-at-home moms, 70% eventually return to work, of which 40% return full time. (FlexJobs)

56. Strong female leadership at the board level led to a return on equity 36.4% higher than companies that lacked such representation. (MSCI)

57. Teams that focus on inclusivity outperform their peers by 80%. (Deloitte)

58. Workers ages 18 to 24 have a smaller pay gap (1.4%) compared to those 55 to 64 (12.3%), suggesting that the pay gap is closing with younger generations. (Glassdoor)

59. Companies in the top quartile for racial diversity financially outperformed the industry average by 35%. (McKinsey)

These resume statistics paint a picture of what the future of work looks like: a more diverse, remote workforce that relies on technology to assist with everyday business processes.

Regardless of how the workforce changes down the line, it’s becoming clear that the best way to stay competitive is to stay ahead of the curve — and if you want to become a competitive applicant in today’s job market, you can start by building your resume today.