Introduction
There’s a lot of advice out there about the best way to write your resume and cover letter. The internet is full of conflicting tips on what makes a good CV, with some sources saying that you should only include relevant information, while others suggest including all your experience from the last 10 years.
In practice, I’ve found that the best approach is somewhere in between: keep your resume short! This can mean limiting how many jobs you include in each section of work history (e.g., listing only 3–5 jobs rather than 10) or cutting out unnecessary information altogether (e.g., removing descriptions). By doing so we can condense our resumes into something manageable while still being honest about who we are and what we’ve done professionally.”
Keep your resume and cover letter short, clear and easily parsed.
Keep it short.
Make it clear.
Make sure it is easily parsed.
Make sure it is easy to read and scan.
Resume being too long is a common mistake job seekers make.
The length of your resume can be a big factor in whether or not it gets read. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), job seekers with resumes that are more than two pages long have a 43% lower chance of getting an interview than those with shorter resumes.
The good news is that you don’t need to spend hours and hours crafting the perfect document if you want your resume to stand out from the crowd—just stick to these five tips:
Keep it short! A one-page resume should be plenty for most people, especially if you’re just starting out in your career or changing industries at mid-life. If you do need more space, use bullet points instead of paragraphs when possible; this will help keep things clear and easy on the eyes without sacrificing content quality or quantity.
Make sure that each section contains meaningful information about why people should hire you rather than fluff or filler words like “responsibilities” or “duties.” The goal here is brevity without losing meaning, so try using numbers instead of words whenever possible; it creates more impact with less effort! For example: Instead of saying “managed three teams” say “managed 3 teams”. This also makes room for more important details like responsibilities & achievements.”
Hiring manager spend only six seconds, on average, glancing at a resume.
As a hiring manager, I can tell you that six seconds is not a lot of time to make an impression. Many people apply for the same job, so you need to differentiate yourself from the pack.
To do this, keep your resume and cover letter short and sweet! If a hiring manager has to spend too much time on one of your documents (especially if they have many other resumes), they may never get around to reviewing it at all.
If you follow these tips, you’ll be sure that both your resume and cover letter are compelling enough that your documents take center stage during the interview process without overwhelming or boring them
Limit the length of your resume to 1–2 pages.
A resume is a summary of your professional experience and skills. It should highlight the most relevant, impressive aspects of your career path. However, it’s easy to go overboard when writing one, so here are some key tips for keeping yours short:
If something isn’t directly relevant to the position you’re applying for, don’t include it. If you went through multiple jobs in one field and had different responsibilities at each one (for example, as an assistant editor in publishing), don’t include every job on your resume—just pick out the most applicable ones.
Use bullet points instead of paragraphs whenever possible; this makes it easier for readers to skim through and find what they need quickly.
Just because you can fit more information into a paragraph doesn’t mean that you should! Stay focused on putting only pertinent information on the page so that readers can easily see where their attention needs to be focused.
Keep all of your resume’s subheadings to two words or less.
One way to make sure your resume is easy to read and understand is to keep all of your resume’s subheadings to two words or less.
Also, use action verbs in the body of the document; don’t just say “manage” or “develop”—say what you managed or developed! This will help convey your skills and experience more effectively.
To learn more about writing resumes that get noticed, check out The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Getting A Job In The Digital Age (now available in paperback).
A summary is an excellent way to condense your career history into 1–2 sentences.
A summary is an excellent way to condense your career history into 1–2 sentences. It should be written in the past tense and placed at the top of your resume, so that it’s easy for hiring managers and recruiters to see. The summary should be no longer than 2 sentences.
A few things to keep in mind:
A summary does not have to include your job title or responsibilities. Instead, focus on what’s most important about your career – accomplishments, skills gained, etc.
Don’t use an objective statement or a goal statement here! Write something that shows off who you are as a person and what makes you different from other candidates applying for the position.
When listing experiences, let the job description be your guide.
When listing your experiences, let the job description be your guide. If a position requires three years of experience in project management, don’t list any other responsibilities that fall outside of this requirement. Instead, focus on highlighting the skills that are most relevant to the job and spend more time explaining them in detail.
Equally important is knowing which skills not to list on your resume or cover letter. We’ve all heard it said that you should tailor each application to the specific requirements of each job—but what if those requirements include things like an STEM degree or several years as a software engineer? Should you lie about these things? Absolutely not!
If you don’t have an MBA but are applying for a senior level role at an investment bank, it’s probably better for everyone involved in your application process if you take those things off of your resume and leave them out of conversations with recruiters as well. Remember: You’re trying to get hired by companies who want someone with specific qualifications (and personal interests), not just any warm body that can do some basic tasks well enough—so don’t waste space listing irrelevant qualifications!
If you have over 10 years of experience, consider moving some of the older information to a separate section called “Additional Experience.”
If you have over 10 years of experience, consider moving some of the older information to a separate section called “Additional Experience.” This will keep the focus on your most recent and relevant experience. What should be included in this section?
Anything that isn’t recent or relevant should go in Additional Experience— i.e., work from 10 years ago that isn’t relevant anymore. You can also include any other job-related skills not listed on your resume, like foreign language proficiency or software programs used at previous jobs (e.g., Microsoft Office). Do not include:
Personal information that doesn’t relate directly to your career goals or qualifications (age, gender) Personal details about previous bosses or coworkers Any mention of salary negotiations
In general, only go back 10–15 years on your resume.
It’s a common mistake to include too much detail on your resume. To avoid this, keep it to the most recent 10–15 years of experience, and use the career summary section at the top of your resume to condense your career history into a more succinct form. If you have over 10 years of experience, consider moving some of the older information to a separate section called “Additional Experience”—this will not only help keep your resume short, but also allow you to highlight key accomplishments that might be buried in the back pages.
Keep your resume short and clear.
When you’re writing your resume, remember that the purpose of your document is to get hired. A clear, concise document will help you with that goal.
Some tips to keep in mind:
Keep it simple and streamlined. Don’t use fancy formatting or long paragraphs. Your resume should be easy to read, even at a glance on a crowded desk or on an applicant tracking system screen.
Don’t include personal information unrelated to work, such as hobbies or interests—or even your contact information! You don’t want potential employers thinking about how they can get in touch with you when they need someone else over again; you want them thinking about how awesome of an employee (and person) you would be if given a chance.
Conclusion
We hope this article has helped you understand why your resume should be short and clear. Keep in mind that if you have more than 10 years of experience, you can use the additional section to list some of your other experiences. We also recommend that you keep all of your subheadings to two words or less. If you’re still unsure about how long or short your resume should be, just remember one thing: Hiring managers spend an average of six seconds looking at each resume they receive!
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