By Chanuka Jeewantha · Published · Updated
Before anyone reads your CV properly, they scan it. That first pass is a few seconds long and it answers one question: is this worth more time? Everything about the top third of the page is really about surviving that scan, because a CV that fails it never gets the careful read the rest of it was written for.
Where the eye actually goes
In the first pass a recruiter looks at your most recent job title and employer, how long you have been there and in the role before it, and the top few lines of the page. They are pattern-matching against the role they are filling: right level, right kind of company, no alarming gaps, roughly the right trajectory.
This means the top third of your CV does almost all the work in those seconds. If the most relevant thing about you is on page two, the scan may never reach it.
Making the top third earn its place
Lead with a short, targeted profile that states what you are and the level you operate at, tuned to this role rather than a generic summary. Put your current title, employer and dates where they are immediately visible. If a key qualification or a headline achievement is what makes you a fit, surface it near the top rather than burying it in the third bullet of the second job.
The goal is that a five-second scan lands on the right signals in the right order, so the reader decides to slow down and actually read.
The short version
- The first pass is a scan of seconds, and it decides if there is a second pass.
- The eye goes to recent title, employer, dates and the top few lines.
- The top third of the CV does most of the work; put your strongest signals there.
- A targeted profile beats a generic summary for surviving the scan.