Resume thoughts

Night_Sprite

How long is yours?  What do yo typically put in cover letters?  I need to start applying for jobs so I can hope to have one in 9 months.

kpwedkk

My resume is one page long. In the cover letter, I try to add the basic qualifications, and as many of the advanced qualifications that I have skills for in a certain position that I'm applying for.

EDIT: Generally recruiters/managers don't look at anything more than a page long for resumes.  Why? Because they don't have time to go through all your pages, and all of the pages of everyone else that qualified for the position.  Why?  Because they have to look to recruit someone and do the jobs of 2 or 3 people at the same time...

SarahPLiz

I suck at them, so I am interested to hear other's responses. One of my best friend's is awesome at them. She is a project manager at Dell, and she has a pretty high position in her division, but from her resume you'd think that she's sitting right next to Michael Dell's office. None of it is a lie, but she writes a really good damned resume. I think I'll have her tweak mine when I'm ready. 

btrflykate1230

Mine is one page. I'm only 24 so I hear at my age, it should be no longer than that.

In cover letters I put stuff that isn't on my resume, like specialities and courses I have taken that would be relevant to the job.

Lenore2010

I do one page only because I think that is about all anyone reads. My cover letter elaborates a little on my experience and I try to add something about what I will bring to their particular position/company. I also stay prepared to tweak a resume based on what I am applying for, NEVER lies just maybe subtracting this accomplishment or skill and adding that one .

I am not actively looking now, but in the past my resumes got me an interview about 80% of the time, so I figure I was doing something right.

Nebb

Mine is 2 pages but its really because I suck at condensing and have it formatted as such. I have the most important parts at the beginning though.

I have had a number of HR people help me with my resume and ive been told by numerous people that my resume looks good so im happy enough with that.

future-mrs

In one of my many college classes, they said the shorter, the better.  You have to think of it this way: a manager-type is looking through a gazillion resumes.  Short and sweet is what they are going to love most. 

So I always keep mine at 1 page for that reason. 

andyandhillary

Unless you are a super cool high up bad ass, your resume should be one page.  I feel the same way about cover letters unless it is truly going to move me to tears.  When I read cover letters I look for a few key points, including that they mention the company (or in my case organization) and what we do and why they like it.  They should also mention why they would do well with our organization particularly and what their skills are.  When you mention your skills don't copy and past from your resume, just quickly summarize them in a sentence or two.  I personally did bullets (4? 5?) for my resume. 

It also depends on your industry.  My friend works in journalism and what they want in a resume seems to be totally different from any other resumes I've seen.

Nattie24

It should be one page like PP say. Don't have any jobs that you weren't at for long, or that have nothing to do with the job you are applying for. 

kpwedkk

In the engineering field, we use bulleted resumes as well

[Deleted User]

I don't think it should be more than 2 pages, but it's really hard to get it down to one if you've been working for a while or held several jobs. And in today's recruiting world, most resume reviewers look at resumes through an online recruiting application, so they don't really know how many pages it is, if that makes any sense.

I think cutting out vital info to get your resume to one page is just cutting off your nose to spite your face. The best advice I can give is to high light your accomplishments, not just your job duties. I don't give two fucks about all of the minor details of your job. I want to know how you contributed to the bottom line of the company for which you worked. I want to know how you made a difference or stood out from your peers.

zippityb

What if, you like, haven't really accomplished anything? Can you put "managed to not get shit-canned?"

[Deleted User]

Zip- that reminds me of the scene in Step Brothers where they are trying to get a job and Will Ferrell says that he's got tons of job experience because he's had like 30 jobs.

JennaV26

Mine is one page, but I think if you have more experience and can fill two pages with quality information you should be fine.

As for the cover letter, I elaborate some of the important components on my resume, i.e. my resume might list that I "Designed and ordered production of all sales and marketing collateral," but on my cover letter I might state "In my most recent position I worked directly with the sales team to develop the best possible marketing strategies for their goal of increasing sales by X%. These strategies included a 10 week direct mail and email marketing campaign..."

Night_Sprite

Cew, do you do HR for a living?

zippityb

I've just realized that I've accomplished jack squat in my working years.

[Deleted User]

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_resume-thoughts?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:a06ba42e-9791-4b0e-9dd9-a7ac25262566Post:2152b864-8b3f-46c7-92d1-c8f470a1f9c0">Re: Resume thoughts</a>:
[QUOTE]Cew, do you do HR for a living?
Posted by Night_Sprite[/QUOTE]

Yes ma'am.

JennaV26

Another idea for promoting yourself, and this is purely based on whether or not this vibes with your field, is making your own Website and putting the address with your contact information on your resume and cover letter.

I'm in marketing and I do a lot of design work and writing so it's an easy way for me to display my portfolio & experience without adding a bunch of bulk to my resume. Employers are usually impressed that you've taken an extra step to promote yourself.

This works with other fields too, for example if you do work with non profits you might think of keeping a blog about your experiences and successes. Just a thought!

andyandhillary

Also, if you have gaps in employment that are extensive (like more than a few months) it maybe side eyed.  I personally get concerned with big gaps.  If you get an interview with someone just have answer ready for why you weren't working. 

ros3392

The general rule of thumb is one page per 10 years of experience. Your cover letter should not be a run down of your resume either, it should reference key points of the position you are applying for.

JadziaDax

For a resume, anything over one page is unnecessary unless you have many, many years of experience and you hold a position such as executive director of a company.

For the cover letter, have a general one summarizing your qualifications but add details about the company/organization you are applying for to make it look more personalized. I always liked to read the company's mission statement and incorporate it into my own personal goals/beliefs.
I work with individuals looking for work and I always tell them it is better to apply to fewer jobs- maybe around 2 or 3 in one day- with a very detailed, personalized cover letter, than to just send a resume and generic cover, or no cover letter at all.

missy68

Mine is 2 pages. I've been working for 20 years. 
I detail my overall skills at the top, then briefly state what I did/was responsible for at each position. I stopped at college summer jobs, but I do list the job I held for 4 years while I was in college (work study) since it was office-related and I did a lot of event prep work and event work.

katiewhompus

My normal job one is 1 page, my Archaeology CV (which is currently collecting dust in my file cabinet) is a 2 page resume followed by an 8 page detailed list of individual sites/projects.

I normally just list the relevant jobs as well. I've had a bunch of jobs since I was 16 but don't think lifeguarding or horse training is relevant to my future are this point.

My biggest thing is getting references. Most of the supervisors I had with PetSmart are long gone, and I only have 1 current supervisor. For the job I have now I actually asked my college profs (who also were bosses for projects) if I could use them as my recommendations, even though they haven't worked with me for 4 years.