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Use More Than One Page Resumes
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The old rule of keeping your resume under a single page is out the window for those situations where you’re submitting your resume because it’s no longer going to be seen by one person all at once – it’s going into a database that recruiters will be searching. EWeek gives a lot of helpful tips for techies (and non-techies) out there looking to land a new job but the two that I felt were most useful were:
- Ditch the one page format
- Use skills keywords
Number 2 is just like search engine optimization, for all you aspiring blogger media moguls, where you put your skills keywords in your resume so they get picked up by a recruiter’s search queries. If they’re looking for Java Developers, it helps to actually have Java on your resume (duh). I think the interesting thing about this article is that it gives you tips specifically designed for those resume databases recruiters always talk about and it’s worth a read.
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I used to do the more than one page focusing on keywords until listening to a Manager Tools podcast on the subject:
http://www.manager-tools.com/2005/10/your-resume-stinks/
Since then, I’ve reformatted and trimmed my resume down to one page and in doing so used it to apply for a job in which I am now employed.
It really depends on who you’re pitching to. Some places want monster resumes six pages long listing everything you’ve done everywhere you’ve ever worked in the field you’re in. Some places want the “executive summary of the executive summary” one-page version.
The places that prefer the long ones are usually the ones where HR is going to be the first department to see it. If it’s going directly to a hiring manager (the situation you want, but not always the situation you can get) you’re probably better off being brief.
And if you don’t know who’ll be the first person to see your resume at a particular company, you haven’t done enough research yet. Do more research before you apply.
The last time I was actually in the job market (and with any luck at all, the final time for my life), I actually maintained 8 different versions of my resume. One long one, covering everything I’d ever been paid for, and most of the stuff I’d done for free which related to things that somebody might someday _want_ to pay me for, and seven short ones, targeted to particular types of opportunities. (I had to customize because otherwise, I’d have to make the print in the skill listing as small as the print in the listing of jobs I’d had, or else go onto a second page.)