Resume format

For quite while and a lot more recently, a lot of candidates ask about what formats they should use on their resume (length of resumes, format, how far back they read, etc). A lot of people still stick to the one page wonder while others freely mention everything since High School from thirty years ago.

I feel candidates should not worry about their resume being too long. If what they have been doing is relevant or they have transferable skills then I will take the time to read it. If you try to save real estate on your resume you may cut out vital knowledge and experience the client is looking for. Without the expounded knowledge on the resume I will move on to the next one.

I also think it is better to drop your experience from 30 years ago and go into a lot more detail about what you have been doing the last 10 -15 years. Even if the candidate has been in the same field and the client is not concerned with their age I would rather have more recent information that is going to get the hiring managers and HR excited about wanting to talk with the candidate.

With the market tightening there are going to be a lot more candidates available and I will call the ones whose resumes talk more about the details of what they did and not just a summary overview.

I still hear varying opinions from colleagues and tell candidates do whatever you comfortable with. Just remember that your resume is the only thing that will represent you in order to get an interview (especially if they are not working through a recruiter) and it is in competition with what other potential candidates who are posting on the web. Companies are not likely to spend the time and resources to get them into an interview just to find out what you have to say about yourself.

I have had a tremendous first couple of years but I always want to learn and am always curious to hear what others have to say. What are you thoughts on this?

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Permalink Reply by Julie Bouman on December 10, 2008 at 11:12am

Hello Jon,

I agree that candidates should not be worrying about the length of the resume, its more about the content. But to leave out the fluffy words and provide more detailed data and descriptions. As I say from time to time, "Hiring managers want to be looking at it, not for it" and that goes the same for recruiters as well. If in sales, for example, I feel a resume has many more advantages with quantitative data such as benchmarks, market shares, rankings, etc. I find that in our world of recruiting, strategic placement involves pairing together key words from resumes to job descriptions and the more keywords included in a resume the more apt the candidate is going to be called for an interview or screening.

Julie

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Permalink Reply by Jon P. Meredith on December 10, 2008 at 11:22am

Thanks, Julie. I agree with your keyword pairing between the resume and the job description. This can be done professional without using the same verbiage. No sense in re-inventing the wheel. If the candidate has been doing what the client wants then it needs to be in the resume. The more the better!

Julie Bouman said:

Hello Jon,

I agree that candidates should not be worrying about the length of the resume, its more about the content. But to leave out the fluffy words and provide more detailed data and descriptions. As I say from time to time, "Hiring managers want to be looking at it, not for it" and that goes the same for recruiters as well. If in sales, for example, I feel a resume has many more advantages with quantitative data such as benchmarks, market shares, rankings, etc. I find that in our world of recruiting, strategic placement involves pairing together key words from resumes to job descriptions and the more keywords included in a resume the more apt the candidate is going to be called for an interview or screening.

Julie