Results tagged “resume length” from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips Blog

This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:

Ashley writes:

Dr. Hansen, I have gotten several different opinions on my resume, with some saying it’s good, and others saying I should have a functional resume. I have been to my college’s career services and other professors. So I am not really sure which is best for me. Should a new college grad have a functional resume? Should my resume be limited to one page? Please let me know what you think.

The Career Doctor responds:

Several things jump at me when I look at your resume. All job-seekers should remember that a resume is a strategic marketing document that must have two key elements: design and content.

First, let’s discuss design. Every design aspect must be consistent on your resume — same style of headings, same margins… a coherent and appealing look. One of my pet peeves deals with margins… I hate unusually narrow margins. There’s a rule of “thumb” with resumes — margins must be big enough for my (big) thumbs to hold on to it and not cover any content.

Resumes must also be designed with some flair, and job-seekers often accomplish this style through varying typography, font size, and font selection. Your name and major headings should be larger, perhaps in a different font. And be sure to include as much contact information as possible.

Second, let’s talk content. I would recommend you — and all job-seekers — use one of the “hotter” elements in resume writing — the “Qualifications Summary,” also sometimes referred to as “Professional Profile.” This section is what I like to refer to as the executive summary of your resume — it may change depending on what type of job you are seeking — but it should be the key 3-5 accomplishments that make you better than anyone else for the job you are seeking.

And as you write about your experience, remember to focus on accomplishments, keywords, and action verbs. Whenever possible, quantify your accomplishments.

As for resume length, the current rule is a resume is as long as it needs to be based on your experience, and college grads with lots of experience can have two-page resumes.

Get more information on resumes and resume-writing in this section of Quintessential Careers: Resume and CV Resources for Job-Seekers.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.

Among the resume “rules” you may have heard is the one in which resumes should be limited to one page. While it’s true that most entry-level job-seekers should try to limit their resumes to a single page, this length is rarely appropriate for those at senior and executive levels. Top-level job-seekers will find it virtually impossible to capture the breadth of their experience and accomplishments in a single page, and some employers expect longer resumes from those candidates, sometimes up to five pages. In a 2007 survey by Accountemps, a specialized staffing service, only 7 percent of senior executives from human resources, finance and marketing departments favored one-page resumes for executives, while 61 percent favored two pages. Respondents were receptive to three-page resumes for executive roles, with nearly a third (31 percent) citing this as the ideal length.

One-page resumes can be useful for candidates in certain situations, such as networking, in which the job-seeker wants to give potential network contacts a thumbnail glance at his or her career.

A summary of guidelines on resume length:

• One page is usually preferred for college students and new grads, but those with rich campus backgrounds and work/internship experience may need two pages.
• Two-page resumes are suitable for many job-seekers.
• Three or more pages may be required at the senior level.
• Job-seekers should never sacrifice readability (tiny type, narrow margins) just to squeeze a resume into a certain number of pages.
• When a resume spills onto an additional page, it should fill up at least half of that page. If not, try to condense.

See our article, The Scoop on Resume Length: How Many Pages Should Your Resume Be? for a variety of opinions and guidelines on resume length.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.

Hiring decision-makers surveyed for the book, Top Notch Executive Resumes identified this as one of their Top 30 Executive Resume Pet Peeves:

Resume is too long. While there is no consensus among employers and recruiters about resume length, most feel one page is too short. Maureen Crawford Hentz, manager of talent acquisition, development and compliance at Osram Sylvania, Boston MA, particularly disdains “abbreviated or ‘teaser’ resumes” that urge the recruiter, “for more information, call me.” Many recruiters believe that two pages is about the right length; for some, three pages is the outside limit that they will read. “If the resume is longer than two pages, it needs to be well worth it,” noted Hentz’s colleague at Osram Sylvania, Harlynn Goolsby. Others question executives’ ability to prioritize if their resumes are longer than two pages.

Since recruiters pass candidate resumes on to client employers, they must also consider employer preferences. “Most of my clients profess that they are too busy to read anything lengthier — thus, I deliver what they require,” said Chris Dutton, director at Intelligent Recruitment Services and Owner, Intelligent IT Recruitment, Manchester, UK. Recruiter opinions about resume length have been colored in recent years by the growing practice of reading resumes on a computer screen rather than printing them. Resumes that might seem too long in print are acceptable on screen.

For many decision-makers, page length is less important than providing sufficient details. “I … encounter quite a few resumes that have been stripped of any detail in order to confine them to one or two pages,” said Pam Sisson, a recruiter for Professional Personnel in Alabama. “My immediate response is to ask for a more detailed resume. A resume that’s three or four pages but actually shows the qualifications and experience necessary for a position is much preferred, in my opinion, to one that has cut out all the substance to meet some passe idea of a one-page resume.” John Kennedy, senior IT recruiter at Belcan, agreed: “Resume length is of very little importance so long as the information is accurate, verifiable, and pertinent to the position. If a candidate has 20 years of experience directly relating to the position being applied for and that experience is verifiable, it should be listed even if the resume goes four-plus pages.”

See all 30 peeves: executive resume peeves 1-10 in Part 1, executive resume peeves 11-20 in Part 2 and executive resume peeves 21-30 in Part 3.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.