Eye tracking - Making sure your CV catches the readers eye

A lot of the support that candidates ask for revolves around the structure and formatting of the CV.  In the last week two people have asked me about the eye tracking "F" that I've discussed in the past, so I thought I'd briefly mention it again. 

Google studies have shown that when people "eye track" over a document the resulting heat bloom of the areas the eyes concentrate on is the shape of an F.  The top of the document is most important, diminshing as the eyes lose interest towards the bottom of the page.  This article briefly describes eyetracking.
 
You've sadly got just a few seconds (current research reckons six) to impress someone with your CV.  The harsh reality is that recruiting managers and recruitment consultants are looking for key words to "pop" out of the CV pretty early on, so if your profile isn't on the money then you are going to be passed over.

So, what can you do?  Make it specific to you, not generic, and try to ensure that by the end of those first few sentences the reader knows what it is you specialise in, how much experience you've got, what you are great at and therefore knows what it is you want to do and whether or not you might be a fit for their organisation.  Then time yourself reading back the profile and see how far you get in six seconds.  Then take a selfie of the shocked look on your face.  Yep, you really don't have long to get someone's attention!