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Interested in hearing how this can be done with a 1-2 page resume for complex high skilled niche high paying roles.
Obviously a highly technical skill with performance metrics cannot be verified. Doesn’t matter much whether the application document is 2 pages or 200.
References are important to verify an applicant’s claims, and I don’t mean limiting those references to the ones supplied. You can have the candidate perform skills tests, but many people are suspicious of these and they are time consuming.
Sometimes all you can do is set employment expectations and a probationary period.
I don't have the time to read 45 pages. Anything over 2 pages better interest me or I am done.
My thought:
Cover page is fine. Realize that this is not the resume.
Professional Resume works good. Style does not matter to me. Spelling and use of language is important. What is relevant to me is something no older than 10 years back. If it does not apply to the job, I don't need to know about it. If this is a project management job that you are trying to get and you list positions that have nothing to do with project management I am not interested in reading.
I am fine with online resources that show the candidates strengths. If you have a relevant web site, industry blog, or something that explains who you are and why you would be a good fit, I am up for checking it out. Of course it only helps if it is your own site. Your linked in page works for this.
If I am interested I want to continue finding out about you.
My resume is one of the 4-5 pager ones. I do include a brief summary. If I only gave my immediate former positions and education, you would miss the 20+ years of applicable experience and the additional educational opportunities that led me to where I am today. You might dismiss me as "only entry level". The dates of previous employment and owning a business stretch back over a number of years, but the experience is remarkably relevant. I returned to finish my education after my kids finished their degrees. Best decision ever! It was prompted, too, by a 20's something HR person who stated that I could NEVER have done the things I did in life with my background. Now my education supports my abilities (and my grades were good, too). I cannot one-page my life.
2-3 pages seems to be typical when I've interviewed many mid-level engineers. I don't think I've seen many past that.
Even when interviewing a entry level college grad type engineer, that 1 page resume sure does fill up fast. 2 or 3 interships and list of coursework and relevant skills and you are at the end of that 1 page. Now imagine adding 10-15 years of experience over the course of 2-3 other companies...
I think the one I keep updated for myself is around 3 pages.
Unless your "career" is in low skill positions, I have no idea how a mid career person with lots of relevant experience and associated skillsets could cram that relevant information neatly and orderly on one page.
In my observation, well crafted and detailed resumes of 2 to 3 pages can and do bring high levels of success in getting calls and interview offers. At least in the realm of financial operations.
Exactly.
Just an education, major, etc., will take a few lines. I had four years of similar work after college. I just ball those jobs up into "various help desk contracts." Even then, I have enough experience in projects that a page and a half is practically required. Current technical skills round that out to about two full pages.
If you have been working a long time you might need three pages. Any more than that is probably superfluous. That said, today's HR departments use that awful Taleo for job applications and they only know how to search keywords. So you need to be sure that the right keywords appear in your resume or it doesn't matter what your actual qualifications are. HR reps and recruiters (especially recruiters) have no clue what the IT skills are anyway, nor do they have a clue of what skills apply to what jobs.
My husband has been dead for five years and he is STILL getting contacted by recruiters for jobs he wasn't qualified for when he was alive.
Mine is two pages but I have 15 years of experience that is relevant. Any additional experience and education are one liners. All they need to see is “graduated magna *** laude from x” not everything I did at the school. Likewise for my first two jobs - even while relevant I just put the title and a one line description. They can ask if they want more info.
One of the most memorable resumes I read was 6 pages and the person claimed to be an expert in everything. She wound up getting both hired and fired because of it.
We've been trying to fill a position for our company (IT related) and I've been one of the primary people receiving resumes from our HR guy (since the person will likely be working under me) to look over. I'm amazed at the number of resumes with 3-4 pages. Is this a new trend? When I graduated from school (maybe 7yrs ago) we were told never ever ever provide a resume longer than 1 page. I realize that maybe if your experience warrants multiple pages then that's fine (or so I've read online, lol) but about 75% of all the resumes I've received are at least 2 pages long (and this is supposed to be a intermediate position, not a senior position) which surprises me.
I just had an entry level recent-grad apply to my assistant role and his resume was 10 pages in huge font. I didn't bother reading it. He's not getting an interview.
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