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Is Your Resume Too Long?

The old restriction, that resumes could never exceed one page, has been overturned. Depending on your years of experience, a resume may be two or more pages. Even so, a resume is too long when:

  • It is two pages only because the margins are two inches wide on every side. White space is fine, but it should never be used to make a resume appear longer than it is. That strategy failed to work with your 10th grade English teacher—it will fail to work with future employers.
  • It is filled with unverified fluff like “brilliant expert, known for ability to work independently or as part of a team.” What exactly makes someone “brilliant”? Have you ever met anyone who was unable to work independently or as part of a team? If you are going to make statements like those, make sure you can back them up with examples and facts.
  • It is meant to be everything to everyone. You must target your resume for the job you want, the industry you prefer, and the companies you are most interested in. No recruiter or hiring manager is going to waste time trying to figure out where you belong in their organization. It is your responsibility to make that clear.
  • It is disorganized and outdated. Your undergraduate degree from 20 years ago appears before your promotion to Vice President last year. Your current job and the one you held before that are both in the present tense, even though you held the previous job years ago. Again, no recruiter or hiring manager is going to waste time trying to dig out the facts they need from a resume mess.
  • It never explains the results of what you did. Many job applicants share the same skills, but not everyone has accomplished what you accomplished with those skills. Make sure you lead with results (“Drove $800,000 in new sales by interviewing customers to determine their current problems and changing marketing message to emphasize solutions”).

By those standards, is your resume too long? Robin’s Resumes® will make sure all pages are correctly formatted, concise, focused, organized, and compelling. Contact us today.

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