Here in Australia, the expectation is at least 4, preferably 5 or 6, particularly if you have a lot of experience. Thankfully I didn’t need to go through this as I had a job to come to from a company who can see through the cultural differences, but my husband struggled for a while before getting a job. When he did, and he started recruiting himself, he realised the page number rule was different here (not that the recruitment agencies ever bothered to tell him!). So just a cautionary note to any readers outside the US – check your local rules, as they differ wildly!

Of course, I only send it after I’ve made contacts, so it may have less to do with the resume and more to do with the contacting. *smile*

I think these are great tips, though.

The tips are for writing a resume that gets the right kind of attention, ie. interest. Trent isn’t saying that you cannot submit a resume longer than 1 page, or that if you do you won’t get hired. What he’s saying is that a concise resume is more likely to generate positive response.

I’ve been in my industry for 10 years and have no problem putting together a 1 page resume. Sure, I can’t include everything I’ve ever done at every job, nor can I include most of the things I’ve done, but I can include the spectacular things from every job, and that’s what leads to interviews. And we all know that the interview is where you get the job or you don’t.

If I read a resume of someone that can’t cull the flotsam and jetsam out of their resume, then I often come to the conclusion that the person has difficulty prioritizing or being decisive.

As far as flashy, flashy is BAD. B. A. D. Stylish is good. Designed is fine, but flashy is bad. I don’t want to see gigantic cursive fonts that are impossible to read. I don’t want to see clip art. I don’t want to see fluff. I do want to see an eye for design. I do want to see that someone can accentuate the important information through the use of design. I do want to see clever layout on the page, but none of that means flashy.

Lastly, Lorax hit the nail on the head. Sending out tons of resumes is not the best way to get attention. The best way is to have contacts. If you don’t have contacts at the company you want to work for, call them and try to speak to a human.

But the resume doesn’t really matter much. What’s really important is who delivers it. If it’s the mailman, expect it to be tossed. If it’s a co-worker, it will be read.

Not sure if it’s a general guideline at the college career center. My friend told me it was her advicer told her to put as much information as she can on the resume. She ended up with 2 pages description of her ‘experiences’ without any focus.

Whenever I apply for a job, I write a resume and cover letter specifically for that position. Yes, it takes more time but never fail to get an interview (ok, 4 out of 5 positions, good enough for me. LOL).

I know it’s hard to get ahead and I know how lucky I was that I found an amazing mentor. That said, if you can, try to either take a certification that relates to your field because adding on to your degree automatically puts you in a different category in employers eyes or intern/volunteer at an organization where you can get the kind of experience that will get you noticed. There are 1 year certifications that look really great on a resume and if there are mitigating circumstances as to why you took the jobs you have, explain it out on your cover letter. The people reading it are human after all.

I know that there are a ton of single parents out there who have no time or money for additional education and can’t be interns because they need to support their family but if there’s any way you can do it, in the short term you might miss out on some time with your kids but it will set a really good example for them in the long term.

Good luck!

The last interview I had was for my current job four years ago. The employers shaking their heads are all in my head, but the thinking seems to be straightforward: “applicant has a college degree, and has been working menial min wage jobs forever…something’s not right here and it’s easier and safer to toss the resume than to ask questions”

There is no way that anyone over 30 will be able to fit relevant information on 1 page without using a tiny font size unless they haven’t done very much. Maybe there are industries where the job is so specific that you only need to list your MAJOR accomplishments and anyone interviewing you would know immediately that you were qualified but for my industry, 1 page is often not enough.

“Flashy” resumes can be annoying but part of my job for so long was editing and formatting documents and I couldn’t put together a standard resume (read boring) without feeling like I wasn’t showcasing my skills. the tech oriented people probably don’t care what their or my resume looks like but I do and just as I wouldn’t show up at the interview not looking my best, I wouldn’t submit a document for review that doesn’t show off my best features (talents) in a professional manner.

On the cover letter: Last time I was in the job market, I ran my cover letter past a friend well experienced in the seeking (and landing) of jobs. He pointed out that the cover letter should emphasize NOT what you have done but WHAT SPECIFICALLY YOU CAN DO FOR THE NEW EMPLOYER. I rewrote my cover letter along those lines, and presto! Got the best-paid job of my career!

As a Ph.D. who moves back & forth between real-world and academic jobs and who, on the side, contracts with business-world as well as academic clients, I maintain a CV as well as a resume. The resume is two pages long (and nope, that’s not a deal-breaker); the CV runs over ten pages.

If an employer’s hiring committee is too busy to look at a 1 1/2- to 2-page resume, you don’t want to work there. In a way, your resume says who you are and how you’ll fit; if a two-page resume that lists your relevant experience (not every part-time job as a leaf-picker, but everything that matters) disqualifies you for the job, it disqualifies the employer from the privilege of working with you.

Whether you’re in the market or not, BTW, you should always keep your resume up to date. First, you’ll find other occasions to use it than just job-seeking; and second, if suddenly you find yourself unemployed (or if you’re just mildly dissatisfied with your job), having the resume ready to go saves a lot of grief.

My master resume is many pages, but each one is targeted to the company/job I am looking at, and I cut and paste to get the point across that I want.

The real problem is that unless it goes to a live person it is lost in The Pile. One large local company had a stack of resumes 3 feet (1m) high that they had gotten that week!

The resume is not too important, most of the jobs I’ve gotten lately the resume has been a procedural afterthought (something for the file) not a vital part of the process.

Finding a real live person to talk to is a much more challenging process but the most important one.

No, do not leave college off your resume. A college degree is better than no college degree. It shows you worked hard and finished what you started.

I don’t know how to spruce up your resume, but I do know that everybody is telling me to finish college. That includes a lot of successful people who are fairly high up in major companies (Intel for one).

My resume was originally 3 pages and I whittled it down to a page based on a friends advice, and was forced to only include information/accomplishments pertinent to the job I am applying to. It has really helped me in my job searches, as before I thought everything I did at a job was important to include. Not so.

Prospective employers are receiving SO many resumes these days, that they don’t have all day to read/scan everything. A longer resume will not necessarily be more appreciated or signify a more desirable candidate. Chances are they won’t even read it all. A longer resume probably just makes the information on the first page more worthwhile reading if someone has limited time.

Of course if someone has been in the working world for 10-15 years +, there will be more to include but not everything will be relevant to the position they are applying to.

I have long wondered, should I omit any reference to ever having attended college? (My degree appears at this point to be a negative.)