It drives me nuts when I hear self-described “experts” carelessly dispense their simplistic “absolutes”. I often wish I could assess contributing writers a $250 tax on the use of the words “never” and “always” in articles they pen for media outlets. Perhaps, then, they might not use these words so carelessly.
Today, I read the following gem – from a self-proclaimed “communications expert” – aimed at a few hundred thousand innocent readers of our local newspaper:
“A resume should never be more than one page”.
Before I explain why this isn’t necessarily the case – let me reflect on an old quote my father often repeated to the Newsom family, “Prescription before diagnosis is malpractice.” In other words, you risk hurting people when you offer solutions – or dispense advice – without first considering all the factors and individual circumstances.
Telling the world “a resume should never be more than one page” is like saying…
“Brochures should never be longer than one, single-sided page.”
“Television commercials should never be more than 15 seconds in duration.”
“Magazine ads should never be more than one-quarter of a page in size.”
As a former marketing executive, turned executive recruiter, I’m happy to report that there are no absolutes when it comes to the proper length of a brochure, the size of a print ad – or even the number of pages for a resume.
TIPS ON RESUME LENGTH:
Use as many pages as it takes to tell a persuasive story – but no more.
Only those with significant qualifications and strong resumes are even invited to interview. As a result, more, not less, relevant information is now needed on the resume. However, don’t confuse a resume with a biography. Everything on your resume needs to support your personal brand. And remember, the primary objective of a resume is to generate leads that result in interviews.
Don’t try to stuff six pounds of flour into a five-pound bag.
It’s actually less taxing to read a well-formatted two-page resume than a crammed one-page resume.
When it comes to electronic resumes, key words are king.
For resumes in electronic formats, that are intended to be placed directly in online databases – whether it be for a large employer or a commercial job search web site (e.g. Monster.com, CareerBuilder, etc..,), page-length is immaterial. When it comes to electronic resumes – key word searching drives results.
New grads and entry-level candidates
As a general rule-of-thumb, resume length depends on the level of the position. Resumes for new grads and entry-level candidates are often, but not always, one page. Most undergraduate career-placement centers tell students to limit their resumes to one page. In most cases, new grads don’t have enough relevant experience to justify more than a page. However, some new grads have lots of relevant internships, summer jobs, extracurricular and leadership experience that certainly justifies a two-page resume.
The two-pager: The choice for the majority of job seekers
A two-page resume is the smartest choice for the vast majority of job seekers who are above entry level, but below the executive level. Once someone has been in business for 10+ years – it is very difficult to keep everything on one page.
Resumes for the corner office dwellers
When it comes to senior-level positions (COO, CFO, etc.) decision-makers have a much larger scope of need than just skill sets or even accomplishments. The hiring company will be making an enormous investment and betting the future success of the company on the candidate, so they need to know much more about the candidate than can typically fit on even two pages.
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