How long should a good resume be?

[Tap-Out]

I have a question,

I have always been told that a good resume should be no longer than two pages, but after doing some revisions mine is a little over two with only a few lines on the third page being used. The problem is that I don't really see anything I can cut out of the resume. So I guess what I'm asking is would a 2 1/4 be tossed out or is that alright?

 

[Nora]

One page. That goes for both a good and a bad resumé.

 

[Freya]

Can you make the font one size smaller to shrink it?

 

[MissTaken]

Yep!

One page.

They will ask for details at your interview or you will do a cover letter when you apply.

Tehy wont' read more than one page.

 

[Tap-Out]

Can you make the font one size smaller to shrink it?

It's already at 11ft and I don't really want to go down to 10 because that just looks really small

 

[lovetoread]

It should be no bigger than 2, but you should try to fit it into one.

You could try using a smaller font.

lol, can you tell I just had a class on how to write one.

Are you doing a functional or a chronological?

 

[islandman]

One page. That goes for both a good and a bad resumé.

Yep. One page to send.

But it seems like more people are carrying more in-depth CVs in with them for an interview. I guess the one-pager is like a teaser.

 

[Monazwx]

Yep, you definitely need to cut some, even if it's a chronological resume.
Pick your best stuff and highlight that instead of listing everything.

 

[horny_giraffe]

I'd shrink your resume.

Tailor it for specific prospects, if you have to. Cut out the stuff that doesn't matter. For example, if you're applying for an engineer's job, obviously your experience as a retail clerk is pretty irrelevant. With as much credentials as you evidently have, I'm sure you can afford to summarize a few things, too.

Bottom line is that if the resume is too long, it's hard to read--which reflects badly on you.

 

[glamorilla]

my resume is like five pages long.

theres got to be something you can cut.

 

[a7yritch]

A resume should be 1 page, 2 if necessary, but over 2 (especially 1/4 typed and 3/4 blank) wouldnt have gotten good attention from me when I was in the business world. Sorry.

I agree with the last poster, change your font to get alittle more room.

Good luck on the job search!

 

[SimGuy]

All the standard rules say about 2 pages.

Mine is three pages, plus the cover letter and two additional attachments that I don't always include.

First is the objective. Next is a technical skills/abilities overview, then the usual history of employment and responsibilities, followed by schooling and technical papers/professional organizations. It's lean and mean and it is 2 1/2 pages long.

Really depends upon your field and experience. Mine is technical and every job adds to the full picture of my background and skills without being repetitive.

I don't think there really is any hard and fast rule - you are selling yourself. Just make sure you don't sell yourself short.

 

[Ham Murabi]

Time is precious to the person reading your résumé. Keep it short and pack a punch.

 

[Tap-Out]

Thanks to you all for the help. I'm chopping now, and I'll see how it looks later.

 

[Lasher]

All the standard rules say about 2 pages.

Mine is three pages, plus the cover letter and two additional attachments that I don't always include.

First is the objective. Next is a technical skills/abilities overview, then the usual history of employment and responsibilities, followed by schooling and technical papers/professional organizations. It's lean and mean and it is 2 1/2 pages long.

Really depends upon your field and experience. Mine is technical and every job adds to the full picture of my background and skills without being repetitive.

I don't think there really is any hard and fast rule - you are selling yourself. Just make sure you don't sell yourself short.

You need to scrap all that crap and go to a functional resume and get it down to one page.

And get rid of the objective. Objectives are so 1990s it's not even funny. If you're sending in a resume every damn body knows what your objective is.

 

[miles]

I've spent a long time in HR recruiting, screening resumes, interviewing, and hiring people.

Recruiters see hundreds of resumes. They are usually busy as hell and for the most part live by these rules:

Three page resumes are boring and are thrown away, usually without being read. Resumes with typos are also tossed, as are those with a picture of the person , weird size, color or non-standard fonts, resumes printed on colored paper, resumes with sparkles or gimmicks to attract attention, personal data, race, and so on ad nauseum. Functional resumes are usually used as decoys to hide frequent job changes. Do yourself a huge favor - don't use them.

90% of the resumes I see are people describing their jobs. We know what people do in their jobs. Show me your accomplishments. If I'm screening ditch digger resumes the candidate who tells me how many ditches he can dig in one day gets the interview. Not the guy who tells me how he digs it.

$25, please.

 

[Tap-Out]

Well the employment history and education will fit on one page, and everything after that needs to go on the second page. This is a lot harder than I thought.

 

[KillerMuffin]

Do you describe your jobs in your employment history? Don't.

Simply list them and the dates you worked. Write out what you can do in cleanly divided, easy to read sections tailored for the job you're after.

Managerial Skills

• Responsible for 75 employees in deadline intensive environment.
• Consistently pulled together coordinated projects between five departments under budget and on time.
• Took initiative and stole key to executive washroom. Blended right in.
• Capable of sustaining concerted blow job for upwards of four hours.

Personal Skills

• Self starter and motivated. Able to take directions and to complete tasks without supervision
• Team player. Comfortable leading a group or taking orders.
• Writes a mean porno story.

Employment History

Schumcks R Us 10-10-98 to Present
Naked Babe Escort Service 4-30-94 to 9-23-98
Taco Bell 4-14-94 to 4-15-97

It's easier to trim fat this way because you don't repeat your skills. If you wrote Java programs for Company A and Company B it's simpler to say you can program Java than to explain in two spots that you wrote programs in Java. Redundancy isn't impressive.

 

[Cheyenne]

You need to scrap all that crap and go to a functional resume and get it down to one page.

Someone sends me a one page functional resume and it goes straight to the circular file. I want to know at which job you got which experience.

Two pages is the max for a resume of someone with a lot of years of experience. One page is good if you are younger with not many years under your belt yet. If I get anything longer than 2 pages, it is on the edge of that circular file, just waiting to be pushed in. Time is money. I don't want to read a novel about you.

 

[glamorilla]

i like the "bullet method"

my professional resume is only two pages long~this covers full time jobs in my field. my freelance credits take up about three pages and they usually come into play during a second interview and then i have a page of referances and well as letters of recomendation and my portfolio.

the one i use for bartending/waitering jobs is only a page and no...i am not listing my last boss as a referance.

if anyone has any advice on cover letters i'd like to see too.

 

[Cheyenne]

I've spent a long time in HR recruiting, screening resumes, interviewing, and hiring people.

Recruiters see hundreds of resumes. They are usually busy as hell and for the most part live by these rules:

Three page resumes are boring and are thrown away, usually without being read. Resumes with typos are also tossed, as are those with a picture of the person , weird size, color or non-standard fonts, resumes printed on colored paper, resumes with sparkles or gimmicks to attract attention, personal data, race, and so on ad nauseum. Functional resumes are usually used as decoys to hide frequent job changes. Do yourself a huge favor - don't use them.

90% of the resumes I see are people describing their jobs. We know what people do in their jobs. Show me your accomplishments. If I'm screening ditch digger resumes the candidate who tells me how many ditches he can dig in one day gets the interview. Not the guy who tells me how he digs it.

$25, please.

All of that was dead on correct and worth much more than $25.