What the research says about getting hired.

No. No study shows a fixed timer. Recruiters who spent longer on Experience were more likely to move a resume forward.

Peer-reviewed eye-tracking study Pina et al., 2023 · 2,043 resume reviews

Don’t panic over one. Five spelling errors cost 1.85 points on a 0–10 interview rating. A single typo wasn’t tested.

Experiment Sterkens et al., PLOS ONE, 2023 · 445 hiring professionals

Whatever a stranger can say in one line. In mock interviews, first impressions predicted the final ratings and, later, real internship offers.

Peer-reviewed study Barrick, Swider & Stewart, 2010 · interviews, not resumes

In one experiment, yes. Posts changed how candidates were rated. Nobody showed those ratings predict how you’d do the job.

Experiment, working paper Baker, Grimm & Ofek-Shanny · 1,500 online evaluators and 500 hiring professionals

No. Use a second page when it adds experience that matters for the role.

Study, abstract only Blackburn-Brockman & Belanger, 2001 · 570 CPA recruiters

Say what changed. Then how you measured it, and what you did to get there.

Practitioner advice, not a study Laszlo Bock’s formula, from Google

For the story behind a line, yes. Just don’t force every bullet into the formula.

Research review Levashina et al., 2014 · doesn’t test STAR itself

In the largest test, no. A line explaining a caregiving gap did no better than leaving it unexplained. Listing years in each job instead of dates did help.

Preregistered experiment Kristal et al., 2023 · 9,022 UK employers

Briefly, and only with what’s true. Naming caregiving did no better than silence in a UK test, and worse than a layoff in a US one.

Field experiments Kristal et al., 2023 · 9,022 UK employers; Weisshaar, 2018 · 3,407 US applications

It helped in one big experiment. New freelancers whose profiles went through a grammar tool were hired 3.3% of the time, against 3.1%.

Randomized experiment Wiles, Munyikwa & Horton, 2025 · 480,948 jobseekers

Not with one magic score. The software pulls your text into fields. If it can’t, the file stays attached and someone enters the details by hand.

Vendor documentation Greenhouse and Lever, on resume parsing

Earlier than you’d think. Which job ads you see, whether you’re eligible, and how you reach a person.

Review of hiring tools Upturn (Bogen & Rieke), 2018

More than they say. They rated human advice as more trustworthy, yet an algorithm’s pick still pulled their ratings toward it.

Experiment Lacroux & Martin-Lacroux, 2022 · 694 recruitment professionals

They search titles, skills and the words in your profile. LinkedIn doesn’t publish how it ranks the results.

Platform documentation LinkedIn Recruiter help pages

A lot, at every stage. 40% of referred applications reached an interview. Of applications sent in cold, 3% did.

Vendor data Ashby customers, 2021 to 2024 · 38 million applications

Often not in practice. By one estimate, dropping the requirement opened up new opportunity in fewer than 1 in 700 hires.

Industry analysis Harvard Business School and Burning Glass Institute, 2024

There’s no one right answer. For higher-paid candidates, disclosing brought higher offers and fewer callbacks. Know the local rule and ask for the range.

Field experiment, working paper Agan, Cowgill & Gee · 2,000+ fictional applications