Resume
Writer Matthew
Greene
Resume Length Is Crucial
for Selling Yourself!
by
Matthew Greene, M.Phil.
Author of Winning Resumes – "Sure-Hire"
Tactics ... (Penguin)
What is the best length for your resume? Sorry, but there's no
"rule of thumb" to help you decide. For experienced job seekers, a
one-page resume may be too crowded. There won't be enough room to
include your valuable "Can Do's" or "sell". A one-page
resume may also look too "entry-level". But a properly designed,
well-written two-page resume could be far better. Recruiters will
appreciate a beautiful two- or three-pager! Times have
changed.
The length of a resume is actually a question about how best to market
your value because your resume needs to be the best marketing
tool it can be. How many pages will you need to show what you can
do, what you have done and how well you have performed? Can you
sell yourself strongly on one page or will you need two or three to
include all of your best "selling points"?
Let's face it. How much can you cram into 30 lines of laser print?
If you have seven or more years' experience, where will you record your
track record, skills, strengths and accomplishments – your best "selling
points"? (Nowadays, you should not save up this "sell" for a
separate Cover Letter.)
In every resume, the first 10-15 lines are the most important.
They will motivate a recruiter to read on or to stop. Longer
resumes need to be carefully designed to "sell" you up front – in the
top half of Page 1.
Surprisingly, a two-page resume that "breathes" and is pleasing to the
eye, that "sells" you up front and is easily scannable, will
often work better than one crowded page without "sell"! Many
one-pagers are so boring!
The weakest resumes are produced by people who have worked for many
years but now try to get it all down on one page – to "please" the
reader. They condense their job descriptions into three to seven
gray paragraphs with run-on sentences that are very boring. (These
look like globs of mashed potatoes!) Valuable accomplishments lie
hidden in the text. Worst of all, to save lines they leave out the
most important sections of a resume – the "sell" or "value" statements
that must appear in the first 10-15 lines. And there are usually
20-50 black bullets that do nothing to help!
[Brevity will often backfire with senior-level job seekers because an
employer might feel that if you've managed to squeeze 10-20 years' work
experience on one page, what you're offering can hardly be valuable!]
Every resume must have "eye appeal" and should be easy to scan or
read. Whether one page or two or three, your resume needs to be the best
marketing tool it can be. That is what really matters!
How Does
a Resume Get Read?
The first reaction to your resume will depend on your first 10-15
lines. This is where you address the employer's needs – in a
focused Job Objective that states what you are seeking and also
offers your best "selling points". Or in a bulleted Summary
that targets the employer's requirements (as stated in job
advertisements).
In Round 1, the top portion of any resume may be the only section
that gets read. After this, recruiters will merely scan your
job titles to see how closely these support your Objective and for
evidence of how well you have performed or where you made a difference.
This is why your accomplishments need to stand out or be
indented. (In addition to the usual "numbers" or percentages,
Performance Evaluations contain valuable material.) In particular,
keywords need to be highlighted. Above all, your resume
needs to be easily scannable by a human reader – in seconds.
"Experts", teachers, business executives, or friends will
all offer you their opinion
about the "ideal" length of a resume. They may even claim to
"know" what employers prefer. But experienced resume writers don't
have to guess. They have already improved hundreds of resumes
which includes making them longer or shorter. Each time they
receive feedback from the client as to how well the resume was
working. Such professionals have learned what length (and format)
might work best in your particular case. One page or two or three.
Resumes for top executives and consultants may be even longer.
(John Lucht suggests 2-6 pages!) Only Lee Iacocca can market
himself effectively on one page!
Creating a resume of
the most suitable length (and format) will involve an array of skills
that most people don't have. This is why a skilled resume writing
professional may be your easiest and best answer.
mattgreene@aol.com
Tel.: 718 436-3504
[ Home ] [ A winning resume is a 'smart' resume ] [ How a Sample Resume or Template Can Help or Hurt ] [ Resume writing services: How to check them out ] [ A better resume for hard times ] [ A management resume has to market your 'selling points' ] [ An executive resume must have an effective value statement ] [ Resume testimonials from executives.... ] [ Resume package options ] [ Fees ] [ Writing a resume may cost you jobs, valuable time, and income! ] [ Resume length ] [ Don't fax your resume! ] [ Resume bullets must be 'smart' and strategic! ] [ A successful resume has to impress the screener ] [ Resume questions & answers ]
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