Career counselors and head hunters alike are quite frequently asked by both novices and experienced professionals alike, ‘How long should my resume be?”
The answer to this question is a resounding, ‘It depends.’ So, you say: WHAT exactly does ‘it’ depend on? That’s easy! It depends on the number of years you’ve been working, the type of career field you’re in, and the requirements of the job for which you are applying.
You will often hear career counseling professionals swear on the proverbial stack of bibles that a resume shouldn’t be any longer than one page. That would be a great time-saver IF the candidate has only worked at one or two positions. But, for the rest of us who started two or three DECADES ago, that just doesn’t fly.
Provided that you write well, and that you actually have something to say, the really is no hard and fast rule about how long the resume should be. (Try not to bore your readers, though!) Use your own judgment and make sure to provide accurate information that enables a reader to evaluate your credentials in positions you’ve already held.
Obviously, if you are listing your software proficiencies, it will take more space than it will if you are listing the names of the pizza places in which you worked during your college years.
No matter WHAT information you provide in your resume, one thing is certain. Unless you make it interesting and compelling, no one is going to want to read it. Therefore, vary your vocabulary, use interesting verbs, provide succinct explanations and do remember that you’re not writing an autobiography here. Instead, the idea is to summarize the most important information about you while furnishing your educational pedigrees.
The resume should serve as a point of departure: it is the document that will get you the interview. Nothing more, nothing less. You can, and should, elaborate on it once you get into that conference room. If you are coming up with WAY more pages than you feel you should, you can always decrease your font size, widen the margins and eliminate the ‘white space’ at the top and the bottom of the pages.
Finally, ask yourself after reading each of your statements: “So, WHAT?” If you can come up with an answer to that question, keep the entry in. If not, delete it. You have all heard it said that ‘Less is more.’ It goes for the resume world, too.
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