NWR: How long is your resume?

charcoalandblush · February 2015

I'm helping a friend edit her resume and cover letters and it got me to thinking. I'm an attorney, and all through law school we were told that your resume cannot be longer than a page. We even had people tell us "We throw away the second page and don't look at it."

My friend's is two full pages, and she only has two years of post-college job experience. I know it's different if you have decades of experience/many post-grad degrees/lots of publications, but is this one-page rule really a thing in other industries/geographic locations?

theartistformerlyknownas · February 2015

It is here (ETA and I got the same guidance in business school). If I see multi-page résumés with less than like 20 years of experience, I just assume you're full of yourself and a terrible editor.

FiancB · February 2015

I say always one page, unless you a really compelling reason to do otherwise. Two years of experience isn't compelling.

I think there are certain industries with certain types of resumes where it's more acceptable, but they still only want a brief intro with a lot of relevance.

Resume isn't the place for every detail about your life. The cover letter can provide more detail and really if they want more info, that's what the interview is for.

JCbride2015 · February 2015

Well, this won't help much because we're in the same field. But mine is only a page for that same reason. I think the only thing that should make it longer than a page is a list of publications or various schools where you have worked as a professor. Or I guess degrees, but how many degrees could you possibly have? If I can fit multiple jobs and two law schools, you can fit an extra Masters or PhD in there.

larrygaga · February 2015

Tell her to delete the stuff from high school because there is no way she has 2 pages worth of stuff from two years out of college

charcoalandblush · February 2015

Thanks all! Glad I'm not giving her terrible advice.

One thing that took up like 1/4 page was this "Objective" section that I've never actually seen before. I think I remember in this high school class I took that was basically "how to be an adult in the real world" they told us they're common in science and tech fields. But she's applying for state government/nonprofit/PR jobs. So if she should actually have that and I'm steering her in the wrong direction, let me know.

Also she only has 3 jobs on there, but her descriptions are REALLY long. Like 6-7 lines each. I'm really trying to help her pare them down.

I already got her to take 1/2 pages of references off (we were told never put your references or "References available upon request" because you're applying for a job... obviously you will give them references if they ask.

FiancB · February 2015

When I first did resumes they recommended objectives but since then I've been taught they're a thing of the past. Obviously, your objective is to get the job you're applying for, so they aren't really necessary. You can explain your goals in your cover letter.

LadyMillil · February 2015

I'm in science and I've never seen an "objective" section. My objective is to get the job. Anything more specific about skills to learn and career advancement is more suitable in a cover letter. I always have to submit a CV instead of a resume, which is much more detailed and a lot longer (4 pages right now). A two page resume with 2 years since college is too long.

buttercup1958 · February 2015

Yeah I'm a science undergrad and my professors also say just do a page. They also recommend a CV too, depending whether if you are going into the "industry" or continuing on with research/education. I tried helping someone's resume once and they had knitting on it and that she was in girl scouts.....I tried telling her that she should delete that but not sure if she did. Oh well.

charcoalandblush · February 2015

That's what we both said! She was like "my objective is to do whatever you're hiring for."

Also I don't think "objective" statements do anything to meaningfully distinguish applicants. They will basically always be a paraphrasing of the job description.

She has a friend who owns a software development company and he told her to put it on there. He said that everyone in his field uses them and he very seldom gets a resume without one. But we agreed that it needed to go.

AddieCake · February 2015

Once upon a time, the 1-page resume was the rule, but not so much any more. You should make it as concise as possible, but some people have more relevant experience than just one page. Mine is 2 pages.

lilacck28 · February 2015

I have a one page resume that I submit to most jobs, and a 2 page CV that I send to colleges where I apply for teaching jobs. The CV includes gallery shows, press (tiny as it may be

), and more thorough descriptions of the courses I've taught. I tend to apply for jobs in communications/ education/ museums/ galleries.

My FI is getting his MPA, and applies for nonprofit/ government/ politics/ policy jobs. He also has a one page resume.

ETA: He has 5 years of post college work experience.

loro929 · February 2015

One page is more than enough. All of the descriptive details that would elongate the resume can be elaborated upon on a webpage or a professional media site, such as linkedin, with a reference to the URL available on the actual resume in case the HR rep wants to pursue the candidate further.

Any more than one page is not going to be read. In fact, in many larger companies, there is a software that determines the candidates eligible for an interview. They are looking for keyword more than anything else.

ETA. I work in a scientific field and have publications, which are all important and relevant to any person looking to hire me. If I included them on a resume, with their full citations, my resume would be several pages long. To remedy this issue, I created both a personal, professional website and a linkedin page. Having an online presence is a nice place to highlight your achievements without crowding up the first impression that you are going to make on a potential employer.

JennyColada · February 2015

Mine is 2 pages, due to job hopping between relevant work and employers and 9 years of experience in my field (which isn't THAT much, but see above).

For entry level positions (and maybe even 1 step above that), do one page.

The only time I out an objective is when I'm applying for a position outside of my regular work experience (in which I'll say that my object is "to find a position in which I can utilize my [years] of experience doing [skills] to [duty].").

WinstonsGirl · February 2015

Mine is about 2 pages, but I have to follow a school board specific format for leadership positions, and they specify the length.

Interesting about references as I've always been told to put them on (3 max) so the employer doesn't have to do the extra work of contacting you to get them.

I also had to submit one for Grad Studies. It was 2 pages. I could have used their template of 1 page, but it only asked for degrees you had, relevant work experience, publications you had and academic honours/scholarships, so being a first time Masters applicant, mine was pretty bare. I just cleaned up my school leadership one and used that

JennyColada · February 2015

WinstonsGirl said:
Interesting about references as I've always been told to put them on (3 max) so the employer doesn't have to do the extra work of contacting you to get them.

Why would you give your reference contact information so willy-nilly though? I mean, I don't need to be giving out the enail and phone number of people I respect to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that I send my resume to. The only contact information that's important at that point is mine. Once we get to an interview then I'll happily give reference information, but at the application part it's useless.

charcoalandblush · February 2015

JennyColada said:

Interesting about references as I've always been told to put them on (3 max) so the employer doesn't have to do the extra work of contacting you to get them.

Why would you give your reference contact information so willy-nilly though? I mean, I don't need to be giving out the enail and phone number of people I respect to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that I send my resume to. The only contact information that's important at that point is mine. Once we get to an interview then I'll happily give reference information, but at the application part it's useless.

----- why aren't the stupid boxes working ------

I can definitely see that. If I were a hiring manager I would almost wonder "If I hire this person, are they going to spam my contact info to everyone in the industry when they decide they want a new job?"

I've heard several different reasons why, but the advice I've always gotten is to never put your references directly in your resume. The places that really want one will ask for them directly, often in the job posting/application itself (I've applied to several jobs that ask for a separate one-page reference list with X number of references or whatever).

MadHops21 · February 2015

JennyColada said:

Interesting about references as I've always been told to put them on (3 max) so the employer doesn't have to do the extra work of contacting you to get them.

Why would you give your reference contact information so willy-nilly though? I mean, I don't need to be giving out the enail and phone number of people I respect to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that I send my resume to. The only contact information that's important at that point is mine. Once we get to an interview then I'll happily give reference information, but at the application part it's useless.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This. I never put references and it's a waste of space and giving out info. I get asked for it later, because usually the companies I apply for have a website to go to to fill out their reference page, so having it included in a resume is a waste of time.

huskypuppy14 · February 2015

What industry is your friend in? In science they usually want CVs because they are more detailed and list more than just jobs and schooling. My CV is 2 or 3 pages, but I have publications, presentations etc.

I interview a lot at my company, and we get CVs that are 3 or 4 pages long.

freebread03 · February 2015

My resume is 4 pages, but I also have nearly 9 years of work experience, and I've been in consulting nearly that entire time, with different types of projects and clients. However, I DO have a summary page-sort of non traditional, but it basically summarizes my major accomplishments, and I tailor it depending on the job I'm applying for. I figure if they want to know more, then they can read the rest of my resume. The first time I did this, it was for a dream job that I ended up getting, but turned down when I did some soul searching and realized that I couldn't do a 3 year long distance separation from my husband (the job was based in Geneva, we live in DC).

I also do a lot of hiring for my company from grad and undergrad programs. When college students have more than a page resume, it had better be something non traditional (like you served in the military before college or something). More than a page doesn't bother me, but it can't be fluff.

Cookie Pusher · February 2015

I worked for a staffing agency, and they tried to keep resumes to 1 page as much as possible. There were a few exceptions, but not many. My current one is two pages, but I rarely ever use it as such. I tailor it down to fit whatever type of position I've applied for. Most of my background is in sales/customer service/office administration but it's in multiple industries. Depending on what type of company I was applying with, I'd cut and condense to keep it relevant.

WinstonsGirl · February 2015

JennyColada said:

Interesting about references as I've always been told to put them on (3 max) so the employer doesn't have to do the extra work of contacting you to get them.

Why would you give your reference contact information so willy-nilly though? I mean, I don't need to be giving out the enail and phone number of people I respect to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that I send my resume to. The only contact information that's important at that point is mine. Once we get to an interview then I'll happily give reference information, but at the application part it's useless.

No Boxes

I guess that's just what I've been taught by everyone in my past - teachers, parents, resume building classes. Whenever I use a reference, I've asked them for permission and told them where I am applying and what contact info I can use for them. I guess to me, this person knows that _______ company may contact them by whatever means they've put, so they've given me permission to hand out their information to these companies.

I've never put it on applications, just the 3 lines at the bottom of my resume. They've also been on most of the resumes I've read through at my old retail job from applicants.

JennyColada · February 2015

Oh man, résume building classes are the worst. It's always been my experience that people who are "supposed" to know about this stuff FWBs to know the least. Don't even get me started on teacher and parents, who all seem stuck in resume tips from the '70s! No ma, "email" is not a skill, neither is "web browsing". And really, no one cares where I went to high school when I graduated in 2002!

AddieCake · February 2015

JennyColada said:

Oh man, résume building classes are the worst. It's always been my experience that people who are "supposed" to know about this stuff FWBs to know the least. Don't even get me started on teacher and parents, who all seem stuck in resume tips from the '70s! No ma, "email" is not a skill, neither is "web browsing". And really, no one cares where I went to high school when I graduated in 2002!

I teach resume writing to my seniors, and I am not stuck in the 70s. Please don't suggest all teachers are incapable of teaching/helping others to write resumes.

JennyColada · February 2015

AddieCake said:

JennyColada said:

Oh man, résume building classes are the worst. It's always been my experience that people who are "supposed" to know about this stuff FWBs to know the least. Don't even get me started on teacher and parents, who all seem stuck in resume tips from the '70s! No ma, "email" is not a skill, neither is "web browsing". And really, no one cares where I went to high school when I graduated in 2002!

I teach resume writing to my seniors, and I am not stuck in the 70s. Please don't suggest all teachers are incapable of teaching/helping others to write resumes.

Congratulations on being someone that I've never encountered in life?

I mean, I'm sorry that you can't understand a literal "all" and a generalization based on my personal experiences.

jenna8984 · February 2015

I have 8 years experience out of college at 4 different companies and I keep it at one page. Each job was about 7 bullets and as I added new jobs I'd adjust and take stuff out so now they are only about 3-4 bullet points per job.
I've never been asked for a CV or references. I don't really even know what goes on a CV.

jacques27 · February 2015

If I saw a two page resume from someone with only two years work experience out of college, I'd shred their resume and not bother giving them an interview. Unless those two years were spent working as POTUS' chief of staff or curing cancer, there's nothing that horribly interesting you did in those two years that I'm going to care about, let alone want to read seven lines worth a piece. And a quarter page objective? No.

That resume tells me she's trying to blow smoke to make her seem more qualified than she is and/or she's unable to read her audience to determine what information is important and edit accordingly. This is technical writing, not the next great American novel - companies get hundreds upon hundreds of resumes and aren't going to read a fluffy fictionalization of her work experience. Two pages for that little work experience is absurd.

Couggal12 · February 2015

I look at resumes all day long and my suggestion is 1 page MAYBE 2 at the very maximum. Looking at 4-5 page resumes is exhausting and is usually filled with unnecessary information.

lyndausvi · February 2015

I have 30 years of work experience. My resume is 1 page.

Someone with only 2 doesn't not need a 2 page resume.

buttercup1958 · February 2015

This thread was the kick I needed to create a resume. I used to have several already made but my old computer got fried and I didn't back them up. Derp. So now I can see how someone may have two pages if they did a little more spacing than they should. I didn't include all my jobs (and other useless info) but I still had to reformat it several times to get it to a page.

floridabride44 · February 2015

One page, for sure, especially with only two years of post-college job experience. I've had four jobs post-college and mine fits on one page.

I've always heard that an "Objective" is a waste of space.

If she has high school information on there, that can go. No employer cares where you went to high school. And put college information at the bottom. Employers care most about experience, so that should be at the very top.

Also, I don't think "References available upon request" is even necessary. I feel like that's a given. Employers know you'll have references if they ask for them.

NWR: How long is your resume?

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