How Learning Speed Reading Can Help Job Seekers

Job Seekers, do you need an edge to rise above the crowd? Looking for a way to get your resume noticed? A credential that will catch a hiring manager’s eye? By learning the lifelong skill of speed reading you can gain a definitive advantage in your job hunt while also advancing your professional career.

Think about it, how many people (and potential job applicants seeking the same position as you) have that skill? I’m willing to bet that most employees, managers and even C-level executives are unable to speed read. So automatically, you are entering into the company as a potential candidate with a unique skill.

If you break down the average work day for many employees, it’s not uncommon for them to spend at least half the day reading. In fact, we recently implemented a speed-reading training program for analysts at a large mutual fund. These analysts spent an average of 6 hours a day reading. Imagine how much more productive they could be by just doubling their reading speed!

Let’s say you work 8 hours a day with 4 hours spent reading. Think of all the different types of reading you encounter on a given work day: emails, research, news, industry specific information, powerpoint presentations, PDFs, magazines, blogs, memos, or those TPS reports… just to name a few.

If you were to double your reading speed, how much more would you be able to accomplish? Hiring managers know the importance of time management in relation to productivity and are always looking for the most self-motivated, efficient and productive individual to hire. Listing speed reading as a skill on your resume is something unique that an HR manager is likely to notice. In this global job market, any skill that will get you noticed and that makes an individual a more competitive asset to a company is critical to the modern day job seeker.

I started suggesting to my students that they add “speed reading” as a skill to their resumes and cover letters during the Great Recession in 2008. It seemed that many of them were professionals or newly minted graduates sidelined by the crisis and were seeking any competitive advantage to get noticed. Many of them also noticed that with all the reading of posts, job descriptions, staying informed with industry news, online and in print, that just going through all of that information felt like a full-time job! Speed Reading can greatly assist in this process.

Iris Reading also offers a whole suite of productivity courses that can help you get the most out of your day. So don’t wait, even using some of the most basic techniques can help you at the beginning. Later on, once you have landed a position and you have a need to build up on those basic skills, you can come back and we’ll help you achieve a higher level of personal and professional growth.

 

More Resources:

• Attend a live speed-reading course in your city
• Register for an online speed-reading course

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