Looking for a job? Submitting your resume to recruiters, hiring managers, and HR departments?
Let’s get clarity around something: your resume needs to be one page. ONE. See for yourself why:
(Note: I assume that we’re talking about a hard copy resume in this video because my experience is that many people still print these things out and read them over lunch or on the train or other places where they are not plugged in. If you think your resume is going to be read online only, then this advice applies double: make all relevant information fit on ONE SCREEN, without shrinking the font to anything below 10 points.)
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i don’t agree with this at all… as a recruiter, i find myself constantly frustrated with the lack of information on a one-page resume. people sell themselves short, don’t tell me enough – and they get tossed to the side. 3 pages, a bit much. 2 is my sweet spot. i dunno how many recruiters would agree with you on this one!
Thanks, JLee.
Something tells me, your resume would be both impressive and also one page long—and I mean that as a compliment.
Of the thousands of resumes I’ve seen, very few of them would merit an exception to this rule, and all of those would have been for experienced executives or specialists with technical credentials.
There is a way to tell your story so it fits on a page. (Clue: don’t waste space rehashing old job descriptions that don’t provide insight into *you*.)
I don’t agree. I hardly ever see the paper copy of a persons resume first thing, much less a stack of 100. Most resumes I see come to me electronically, either through an applicant tracking system or through email. I sort them on the computer and only print them out if I’ve already decided to call them. Personally, my resume is two pages long. I would never go longer than that and I think most people are okay with two pages these days.
Nope; can’t agree with ya totally, Jason. I agree that people waste valuable resume real estate on job description material, but I believe that most recruiters are looking for 1) scope of work (and hopefully some results to back it up) and 2) some type of career progression. That can be hard to do in one page and still leave some white space for those pen-friendly recruiters. Length may be by job function/industry, too — I’d expect one page of great results for a sales professional, but two for a vice president of sales. I’m no recruiter, but I write a TON of resumes for clients and two is definitely my “sweet spot” as JLee would say!
Jason, great video – I agree . . . and disagree. Here’s what I mean:
When dealing with Hiring Managers, I recommend a one-pager. They are exactly the way you reference in your vid.
When dealing with HR, it comes down to the business acumen of the ‘filter-er’. See, some internal recruiters are on staff to purely do 3 things:
a. Filter resumes (I mean, ‘review’ them . . . and then filter.)
b. Do phone screens (initial ‘corporate culture’ conversations when questions like, “What is your favorite bird” come up.)
c. Set appointments (and then provide debriefs to candidates).
Other recruiters are more different – they, for the lack of using the buzz phrase, “have a seat at the table.” They think (uh-oh), “strategically”. They think like you . . . and me. Many of them are former TPRs (ironic, but true).
What I’ve learned as a TPR is that sometimes it’s good to have multiple versions of the same resume, depending on the acumen of the recipient (and/or whether they really care or not). Those versions go like this:
1. One-pager (reserved for after or ‘post-filtering’, considering that filtering is done by a reactive HR recruiter).
2. Two to three-pager (because the ‘filter-er’ Recruiter has to justify how much filtering/reviewing they’ve done before providing the Hiring Manager the “final slate”.)
This again comes back to how I say being a TPR and representing candidates is more a artful dance than a science.
Thanks, y’all… some really good comments in here, we’re certainly not done with this topic—lots more to come!
Nicely said, Jason. I’m sharing this with our job seekers on http://my.coolworks.com. : )
Kari
I am a technical recruiter and that usually requires certain skills to be dispalyed through out the resume. I usually am having to go back through the resume because there is not enough information given.
I need at least 2-3 pages.
Sorry Jason.
@Scott Technical resumes are one of the two exceptions I make to the rule, for exactly the reason you allude to. (The other is for senior executives.)
No apology necessary.
Jason
I agree that many people waste space on a resume, but I’m not opposed to a 2-pager…just depends on the person’s level of experience.
What I loved about your video is the brutal honesty and insight into how recruiters/HR / hiring managers think when sorting through resumes. Even in a tight market, it baffles me to find job seekers who expect everyone else to do the work for them. Whether it’s the expectation that we’ll read a 3 page resume, call back if the phone rings and rings without voicemail or asking a recruiter, “You’ve seen my resume and skill set, what do you think I should do next?”.
When people are looking for a job, they rarely consider anyone but themselves. Sure it’s scary out there, but seekers need to be less “all about me” and think beyond their own wants/needs. As you said, those are the people that we want to hire.
Keep it coming!
I’m in the middle: I have 2 pages, but they can both stand on their own if they get separated. I’m a tech guy, so I really need 3 pages, but draw the line at two (and print it front and back to save a sheet & staple).
The first page is a list of my technical skills and recent job history, the second page is my major projects and educational information. In other situations, I may jettison a page and then beef up the cover letter if the job req is really detailed. Thanks for the ideas.
Mark
Senior IT Manger and Process Improvement Consultant
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ameres
As a recruiter for 8 years, I Love This! Thanks much, will share with candidates!
As a recruiter, why not simply make it more clear in the job posting what your company’s requirements are for resumes? It seems this would be much better than expecting everyone to know and follow a rule that isn’t nearly as universal as we are often led to believe.
There are definitely two sides to this battle.
In every battle, I always choose the side with the people that are most kind – no matter what the battle happens to be.
For this battle, I’ve found it is those with the 1 page rule that want to ridicule, insult and make fools of the “arrogant and misguided” person who feels they need 2 pages to present their qualifications. I’ve had to hold back tears when being snapped at and scolded for using 2 pages.
These are the people that I would not want to work for in the first place. The character of a person cannot be identified by the length of their resume – but passing such quick judgment based on a trivial factor does, in fact, speak volumes on the character of the speaker himself.
I believe that hiring people using rigid maxims like this one can cause a business or recruiter to miss out on the best candidate for the job. How can you risk missing the best person for the job because they had two pages instead of one? Maybe more importantly, how can you find the best person if you won’t take the time to read a second page?
Just my opinion, Jason, and I appreciate your’s even though it is different! Thanks!
Ben, great point, and I promise you, if this post were written for recruiters, my advice would be to look past nitty details like page length and get the best candidate.
For the job seeker, where this whole discussion led to was, be thorough and be brief—don’t waste words—and as long as you tell you entire story succinctly and clearly, don’t worry about page length.
(Also, since the word go, I’ve always exempted technical experts and executives from the 1-page limit… interestingly, generally when someone cites me an example of a resume that won’t fit onto a page, it’s for—surprise!—a technical expert or an executive.)
I have personally placed 1200+ Marketing and Communications Pros over the last 25 years. Resumes should be as long as necessary to spoon feed the recipient, function as a candidate’s sell sheet and help set the interview agenda.
Any candidate with more than 5 years’ experience who sends me a one-pager is not meeting my need to see a compellingly crafted stand-alone writing sample nor meeting the needs of my clients who want a fully-fleshed out version to facilitate interviewing. And, yes, I want all positions going back to college and the date of the degree. Young HR pros often add 10-20 years to the “age” of a candidate who leaves off the date of the college degree because they assume the “worst”. My candidates must have exquisitely written resumes or else I’m not interested, and they must write their own resumes. I will not entertain a “paid for” resume which I can detect instantly. BTW, the cover letter must also be darn good!
I keep hearing that with the added use of online resumes, following the one-page rule is more important than ever — particularly for recent graduates. I just completed my MA degree; I also have a BS as well as five internships plus all my volunteering and other work done. Putting everything on one page would mean little more than listing the companies and my job titles. I have a lot of friends who are in a similar position: as recent graduates, we aren’t expected to have a lengthy resume when applying for entry level positions, but our experience lends itself to a two-page resume.
Having seen one-page resumes, they always look as though the candidate either has no experience whatsoever or the candidate has failed to expand on anything more than a job title. In this time of numerous internships under a graduate’s belt, it’s time to look to that second page of a resume to better understand a candidate’s experience.
really interesting and well written article.