resumes

An awful lot of people have internalized the old rule that your resume can only be one page, but it no longer holds true. Times have changed!  Two-page resumes are common now, so if you’re been agonizing over how to stick to one page, agonize no longer.

There is one big exception to this, though, and that’s if you only have a few years of experience. If that’s you, stick to one page.  It looks a little silly to see someone two years out of school with a two-page resume; it’s rarely needed, and you’ll generally come across as a little self-important or unable to edit. There are exceptions to every rule, of course — but in my experience, everyone thinks they’re the exception on this, when only a small minority of people really are. So be brutal about sticking to one if your experience is limited.

I also see a lot of three-page resumes, but I’ve yet to be convinced that anyone is in a situation where they need a third page. (Obviously, if you’re under 30, don’t even think about this. Hell, if you’re under 40, don’t even think about this.) I’m not going to reject someone because they use three pages, but I’m also not sure I’ve ever seen anyone I wanted to hire who used a third page. I suspect there’s a correlation between hireability and the ability to concisely distill your accomplishments down to what matters.

If you’re trying to figure out how to get rid of your third page — or if you’re 23 and trying to figure out how to get rid of your second page — here are some things to take out:
* an objective (toxic!)
* that loooonnnng listing of skills (Pare it down to the essentials. And no, Word and Internet Explorer don’t belong there.)
* lengthy descriptions of stuff you did 20 years ago; your more recent accomplishments trump these anyway

Now, these rules aren’t automatic deal-breakers. If anyone is rejecting candidates because of a resume that’s a page longer than they’d prefer, that person probably isn’t very good at hiring. But length does play into the overall perception of you as a candidate — can you convey essential knowledge quickly, do you know what is and isn’t essential, etc.?  – and that overall assessment is hugely important.

And there’s another reason length matters: The longer your resume is, the less likely an employer is to see the parts you want them to see. The initial scan of your resume is about 20 seconds — do you want that divided among three pages, or do you want it focused on the most important things you want to convey? Short and concise means that employers are more likely to read the parts you most care about.

So while there aren’t unbreakable rules here, what we do have is a place for you to demonstrate some good judgment. Which is often harder than just following a rule.

* By the way, keep in mind that we’re talking about resumes here — not CVs, which are used in academia and Europe and which are longer.

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A reader writes:

I was wondering what your opinion is on professional resume writing services. Are they worth it? What about for new grads?

I have 5 years of post0secondary (a degree with a semi-connection to my current field, and a diploma directly connected to my current field) concurrent with 6 years of experience. Some of my experience is directly related to my current field (Early Childhood Intervention) and easily identifiable, some of it not so much (i.e.: admin work) but is still relevant (i.e.: my admin experience helps me keep accurate and detailed records and data for the children I work with.) Also, since I work with so many clients with such varying needs, my experience at my previous and current job reads like a laundry list of accomplishments and skills. It’s hard to be succinct and accurate when my role is kind of all over the map.

I was thinking of having my resume professionally done since I have no idea how to put my experience on paper in an organized way that will make sense to hiring managers. I feel like once I have the basic wording and formatting done I can use what I get from the service to tailor my resume to a job opportunity. Do you think this would be helpful, or is it a waste of money? Every time I sit down to update my resume (which was originally put together in high school and then reviewed by my University’s career center when I graduated — I got hired straight out of school so I never updated it for my current full time position), I get really overwhelmed and give up.

Do I just need to sit down and power through it or could having a set of professionally trained eyes sort it out for me be helpful?

I wish I had a good answer to this, and I don’t.  Actually, I have an answer but it’s unhelpful: If you find a good resume-writing service, it’s probably worth it, but there’s such a large chance of ending up with a bad one that it’s difficult to recommend it wholeheartedly.

I’m sure there must be good resume-writing services out there, but they seem to be rare. When I’ve looked at the example resumes that most of these services have online, I’ve been unimpressed — from the actual substance of their makeovers to just general sloppiness, like spelling errors and inconsistent verb tenses. (Of course, you can fix the latter yourself, but it says something about their overall quality.)

On the other hand, if you’re as stuck as you sound, maybe it’s worth having someone at least give you something to work from. Just make sure you see before and after samples before you commit, and don’t go with the first service you look at; hold out until you find one that seems to genuinely do a good job.

However … I’d at least start by trying to do it yourself. Look at some sample resumes online for inspiration (if any have an objective at the top, move to a new site) and try to do your own first. And don’t be daunted by the process — a resume is really just a reverse-chronological list of where you’ve worked and what you achieved there, with the basics about your education thrown in at the end, written in normal language with a focus on your accomplishments. Everything else is frosting. And as for feeling like your experience is all over the map, stick to the basics when something doesn’t feel relevant to what you want to do now, and add more detail about accomplishments when it is.

Give it a shot. If you do it and you’re convinced it sucks, then maybe it’s time to turn to a professional. Just be really, really picky about who you hire.

(By the way, let’s avoid pushing specific companies in the comments, since some messages are certain to be from those companies themselves and I’d rather not have the job of having to figure out what’s self-promotional and what’s an honest review.)

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Please, for the love of god, do not put large paragraphs of text on your resume.

People looking at your resume are going to skim it on the first pass. They are not going to read it word-for-word, and they are more likely to see what you want them to see if you use bullet points.

When an employer opens a resume and sees large blocks of text under each job, they immediately feel a little more tired than they did a minute before and think about taking a nap instead of trudging through your densely written resume. You want your resume to be coffee, not Ambien.

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You do not want something like this on your resume:

Mother of three children: William (born 1992), Kara (born 1994), and Lee (born 1997)

Why is it there?!?!  Why?! Why?!  Get it off, immediately.

I do not need to know the names and ages of your children, your pets, or your parents. I need to know about your skills and accomplishments. In the professional realm, not the domestic one.

Obligatory disclaimer that we’re talking about the U.S. here and, yes, other countries share all kinds of personal info on their resumes, like spouses, children, health status, religion, and bra size. The U.S. does not, and people whose resumes make it clear that they’ve spent their entire career in the U.S. have no excuse for this sort of thing.

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A reader writes:

Any thoughts on grading yourself on your strengths in a resume? I saw a resume today that included a list of “skills” next to a graphical rating system with a 1-5 grade on how the guy perceived himself in each area, which were all subjective things like critical thinking, creativity, drive and determination, etc. Of course, they were all 4-5 star reviews. (I’m pretty sure he left off the areas he’d only get a 2 in.) Either way, it seems really weird and a waste of space. Maybe I’m just failing to see the big picture and how genius this guy is.

No, that’s weird.

It can actually be really helpful to do this with something like your proficiency in software programs. But to do it with utterly subjective traits like creativity and drive? No. It comes across as really naive and silly.

In fact, your resume really shouldn’t contain subjective self-assessments at all (even if not presented as ratings), since most hiring managers will just ignore them because so many people’s self-assessments are unreliable. Instead, if you want to show that you’re creative or driven or smart or whatever, you do that by including accomplishments that demonstrate those traits. After all, it doesn’t matter how creative or smart you are if you can’t show an ability to do something with it. How you use it is what matters.

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All resume objectives are terrible, but here’s our latest don’t-do-this example (courtesy of a reader who came across it):

“With the expectation of the progressive environment that uses my skills and opportunity for growth and as a platform for learning and improvement, I would be inclined therefore to a career that reflects my interest.”

I’m not even going to comment on this, other than to ask what would have to be in your head to think this was a good idea?

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More things that don’t belong on your resume:

* the name of your junior high school

* the names of your children and their years of birth

* an objective like this: “to obtain a position where I can leverage my skills, knowledge and experience to use proven methodologies for the successful implementation of project goals and corporate vision”

* jargon of any sort (see above)

* for that matter, an objective of any sort

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It’s true that your resume should market your accomplishments, but declaring that you are a “visionary leader” — as I read on two candidates’ resumes recently — is going a bit far. (Besides, if you’re really a visionary leader, I’ll see it in your accomplishments, right?)

And “I have a very charismatic personality” is a weird thing to say about yourself. It’s the sort of thing that others get to determine about you.

On the other end of the spectrum, I was nonplussed to see this in a cover letter:  ”I am a strong employee who possesses adequate leadership skills.”  Adequate isn’t generally what employers are hoping to hire.

And then there was the candidate with this objective:  ”to obtain a professional position in Corporate America”

Hmmm.

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“References available upon request.”

Do you have this line on the bottom of your resume?

If you do, go delete it.

Believe me, no one is concerned that you might refuse to provide references upon request. It’s assumed that you will. It’s like saying “phone calls returned upon request.”

You have that line there because at some point long ago you learned that it was the thing to do. But it’s 100% unnecessary, it’s a tiny bit dated in feel, and it’s taking up valuable space that you could use for something with more of an impact. Go take it out! It’ll be liberating, like cutting those scary “PENALTY OF LAW” tags off your mattress.

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