I know there is a lot of info out there on the web on this subject and I’ve tirelessly researched it, but never found anything on this point…
For someone with a lot of projects under their belt, when you list your work experiences, do you include some highlighted projects or just a summation of what you did at the company? I’m finding it looks like too much info, if I include some project highlights, even though my gut is to include them because I think they show specifics you can’t get into the summary, it also helps with matching more of what they say in the ad, when you give some specific highlights.
Thanks.
Go for just writing a brief summary of what you did at the company. Resumes should just be a short overview of your experiences and you can include specific projects in your cover letter (if necessary) and obviously your portfolio. That way you can tailor specific projects to different companies in you CV without having to change your resume every time.
A resume should not be longer than one page unless you have extensive experience. You should include a brief summary (about 5 sentences) and bulletpoint projects/instances (atleast 3) which highlight your time at the employer. As you go further back into your career, you can use less detail.
Most critical information (name, contact info, core competencies, summary, etc.) should be on the top half of the page. Most resumes are initially reviewed in less that a minute. It’s only the second review in which it is looked at in more detail. You only need enough info on your resume to communicate who you are and entice them to contact you. Once contact is established, you can the elaborate on items you didn’t include in the resume.
In the UK I think it’s commonly accepted that a CV should be 2 pages.
Yes, I’ve read that U.S. resumes can be two pages, even more, if the relevant experience warrants it. I used to adhere to the 1 page rule, but I feel I have a lot of relevant experience, but I am questioning if it is T.M.I. I also include a skills section to break it down right away for the employer what I can do, so this adds 1/2 page. I don’t know I might kill this too.
I don’t think length is necessarily the biggest factor.
Moreso, does the length accurately represent your experience, and does the layout help reading? Overall what is the density of visual/written content?
I’ve seen one pagers that are cluttered with content and visually. I’ve seen two pagers that felt like 90% filler.
My format (PDF link)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2074253/rkuchinsky_CV_028.pdf
has a skills section and relevant info on each of my previous and current positions. I’m reaching the end of trying to compress to 2 pages however with all I have going on, but will likely delete some older experiences next revision to keep to 2 pages max.
R
A good cover letter can cover your skills, hobbies, and other information that might crowd your resume onto a second page. However, if you’ve had 10 jobs it’s impossible to keep it to one page. Be reasonable.
I like one page resumes because they are easy to scan. These days we get so many applicants for every advertised job. The applicants that go out of their way to explain why they are a good fit and make it easy for me to go through their resume and portfolio stand out in the crowd. Just the other day we receive a stand-out that we all really appreciated. An experienced designer that was incredibly concise and well organized with his resume. A thing of beauty! If you can design your own brand well, I can only just imagine how well you are going to do for our clients. I want to hire him now. Too bad I don’t have the funding yet…
2 pages? Leave out jobs past 15 yrs (or 5 positions) ago or just list the companies chronologically in a group called “More Work Experience” Your resume should showcase your ability to edit yourself, and 1 page is enough. To be perfectly blunt, chances are all the detail you think is critical is bullshit. You can get into it in the interview. No one wants to read 2 pages of dense small font type, they want to get a general feel for you and make the call on whether you are interesting enough to meet.