One page resumes – does size really matter?

The answer is YES! Maybe size shouldn't matter, but it does. According to a study by Dr. John Sullivan, on average 250 resumes are received for each corporate job opening and there is only a 1% chance that a person who submits a resume will be invited for an interview. This means a lot of competition. Knowing that many recruiters only look at the first 50 of their resumes, and they only spend 10 seconds on each one before deciding yea or nay, this situation isn't easy to swallow for job-seekers.

Dear recruiters out there, let’s assume you’re looking to hire a director with 10+ years of experience, ideally more than 20 publications, 3 different companies, and skills and knowledge in what feels like a million programs. If all of this is packed into a single resume, you’re looking at a a lot more than one page. Receiving more than 250 resumes for this opening will be a tough day…

Reviewing resumes is simply part of a recruiter’s job. The length of a resume shouldn’t matter as long as the quality and the information is relevant for the job. But fellow recruiters, let’s not lie to ourselves. There are many of us out there who avoid scrolling down on a digitized resume and who are too fast to put a resume in the “definitely not” pile (virtually of course).

Going off of what I prefer (and I am tempted to say that many recruiters are on my side here), if possible, applicants should stick to the one-pager. First of all, it shows that a candidate is capable of conveying info precisely and concisely. There is no need to pack every work experience, an entire life history and hundreds of publications in a resume. Cutting the resume down to match experiences to the job description makes it easier for a recruiter or a hiring manager to say yes. Reading one or two cutting-edge publications or groundbreaking experiences that are actually relevant for the job will be convincing that the person deserves an invitation for an interview. Everything else can be discussed then (and it will give you more things to talk about).

Sometimes for a candidate, this just doesn’t work without risking not getting the job. If a one page resume doesn’t provide enough substance, clarity or a well-rounded picture, candidates should be comfortable to exceed one page. Especially when the job involves special skills, I’d rather read two more pages than see a list of company names and job titles that would force me to call every single reference to find out more.

Reading resumes is a challenging task that ultimately decides not only the company’s future, but also the applicant’s. It is a skill that takes experience to become good at and it takes a lot of time and effort to interpret a resume in a valuable way.

As a recruiter or hiring manager, do you only look at one-pagers? What is your strategy to separate the wheat from the chaff? Comment, criticize and share your perspective!

Comment by Randall Scasny on July 18, 2013 at 10:24am: This issue comes up a lot of my customers(job seekers) -- the length of a resume. Especially with older job seekers (45 and over) who have been brought up on the 1-page only resume.

When I give a seminar, I approach this topic in a different way. The length of a resume is a moot point. Forget it.Rather, the length of a resume is a function of its depth (of information).

I will give my trainees two resume samples: a brief 1 page resume and a detailed 3-page resume. Then, I will ask them to highlight with a yellow marker all the keywords or unique 1-2 word phrases on each sample. Then we tally point the keyword count. In ALL cases, the long resume will have more keywords and a greater depth of detailed, job-specific, industry-specific, vendor-specific, client-specific, equipment-specific information than a short, 1-page resume. While I would not expect a recruiter to do this with her/his clients --after all my trainees pay me to teach them these things -- it is an objective way to make a job seeker understand how to write a compelling resume: Detail is king/queen and gets many more interviews than a 1-pager.

As an aside, I have found recruiters need only 1 page to size up a job candidate. But, a job candidates needs a 2-3 page resume of detailed information to overcome the intra-database competition. That is, to get in the final filtered resumes.

Randall Scasny

FS5 Consulting

http://fs5consulting.com

Comment by Michele Ridland on July 18, 2013 at 10:25am: When I write/rejig CVs I tell my candidates that they have seconds to catch a hiring manager's eye - but I personally hate one page CVs! The secret is in ensuring your layout, formatting and wording make it easy for hirers to find the information they're looking for and then when that interest has been engaged, give them enough information to back it up.

Comment by Mona Berberich on July 18, 2013 at 10:29am: Thanks for the interesting perspectives and good points. @Randall: I like your approach!

Comment by Angela R. Furbee on July 18, 2013 at 10:31am: I agree with Kelly. You speak with ten people and you will get ten different responses as to what format and length of resume they prefer. Realistically, 2 - 3 pages max is enough. Please remember, a resume is a "summary", not a book complete with one'e entire work history.

Comment by Terra on July 18, 2013 at 10:35am: I agree with Kelly, two pages should suffice, if you cannot summarize why your background and skills make you right for the position you are currently applying for in a concise manner, then I have real questions about your ability to verbally present anything in a concise way (for example this run-on sentence). Consider your 30-second elevator pitch a framework for your resume. I also see many people who responded handle technical positions, and yes those resume have to be much longer because often the technical part can be three pages and many technical people consult for short periods. However, the rest of us should be able to sum up our skills in one- two paragraphs, let alone 1-2 pages. Your resume is your calling card, it should say just enough to peak someone’s interest enough that they want to call you.

Comment by Randall Scasny on July 18, 2013 at 10:47am: Kelly,

You say:

"Please remember, a resume is a "summary", not a book complete with one'e entire work history."

Have you looked for a job recently? Try it, and you might have a different opinion regarding what a job seeker needs to do to get hired. A resume needs to be POWERFUL these days if it is going to be selected. This article stated 250 resumes to compete against. I have seen more than that. If the resume needs to be a book and MERITS being a book, then it should be a book. I have seen fantastic people rejected as unqualified. This system in general isn't all that foolproof so I will always pull out everything to get my customers a view. And, it usually works.

Randall Scasny

FS5 Consulting

Comment by Michele Ridland on July 18, 2013 at 10:51am: In my opinion a one page resume isn't a resume, it's a cover letter.

Comment by Jacob S. Madsen on July 18, 2013 at 10:58am: @Kelly and Randall

If a CV/Resume does not act as the applicant's own personal advertising board, and that every single aspect of criteria sought and capabilities covered, then a candidate will not stand out and with that have a chance of making it to the shortlist. If I see a Resume which only give me snippets of information, that does not allow me to have as much in depth insight as possible, it will leave with me too many question marks and will be rejected or bypassed. With more and more jobs now trying to combine more than one role, I need to see the entire width and breadth (of what is relevant for the role) of a candidate in order to make that assessment. Skill from a candidate's perspective is to encompass all that and allow an impression to be made, not easy.

Comment by Steve Myers on July 18, 2013 at 11:05am: Resume length doesn't matter. If the candidate has the experience I'm looking for, I don't care how long their resume is.

Comment by Edward N. Woycenko on July 18, 2013 at 11:06am: 250 resumes for each corporate job opening is the best argument for using a recruiter who specializes in your industry. By focusing on performance based hiring in a specialized market, a company can interview 4-5 qualified people in a short period of time and hire the best fit for their organization quickly and efficiently. Making the investment upfront may reduce turnover in America which currently runs around $5 Trillion/year according to recent statistics.