5 ms·

I’m not sure which trend I dislike more, this one, or the general throwing out of the “two pages or fewer” guideline. I regularly get CVs which are four or five

I’m not sure which trend I dislike more, this one, or the general throwing out of the “two pages or fewer” guideline. I regularly get CVs which are four or five pages long, listing everything the person has ever done back to high school. Learn to tailor your CV people, I don’t care that you worked at Subway for six weeks when you were nineteen. I would however love to hear more than a list of technologies used about the three years you spent working in a similar sector.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
siggen 7y ago
lol, I talk to people regardless of what they put in their resume. To me, a resume is more a “please call me” than an expectation that what’s in the resume precisely fits. I don’t expect folks to tailor resume to fit each time they apply to some position. Also, I’ve noticed people (including me) are really bad at writing good resume. Why lose someone who might otherwise be stellar because of their poor resume-writing skills?
- avip 7y ago
  Do consider some positions may get 1000s of applications and render your method impractical.
  - walshemj 7y ago
    You probably need to be careful about where you put your job adverts. If your job add is on monster and the other job sites with lower quality inventory your going to get a lot of applicants. In the UK I used to use monster etal as a way to hit my required quota of job applications - in the UK you have to in theory spend x hours a week and submit n job applications or you may lose your JSA (unemployment pay)
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    You are already screwed in that case without an internal rec. HR/recruiter resume filtering is extremely crude, maybe look at the prestige of your school, the prestige of your former companies, and some keyword matching.
    - avip 7y ago
      Sometimes all you need is a good toss https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140414044726-2259773-a-guide-to-grading-exams https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140414044726-2259773-a-guid...
  - wolco 7y ago
    Hopefully they are using screeners before they look at the resumes.
  - siggen 7y ago
    If you spent some time applying clearly it’s only fair I spend some time talking to you? I have yet to encounter a case where people applied and they weren’t even remotely a fit. When that happens I may consider changing this strategy.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago
  I will add to that that one of the best programmers I've ever worked with had one of the worst resumes I've ever seen. To the point where I asked my manager "why are we even considering this person?" I was told to interview him anyway since someone working there vouched for him and he turned out to be a great hire.
Aloha 7y ago
For someone mid career I'd expect a resume to cover the last 10 years of employment, which of you've done lots of contracting might take upwards of three pages to cover. Is this unreasonable?
- whatshisface 7y ago
  You could adjust the level of detail, maybe covering many clients in a sentence like "developed software systems for Drexler (1956-1957) NASA (1957-1958), Scranton Paper Products (1958-1959)..."
  - Aloha 7y ago
    Normally I'd want to include some level of detail about what I worked on at each position, technologies, technical accomplishments, etc
    - seattle_spring 7y ago
      You may want to include it, but most employers won't want to read it. A brief summary should be more than sufficient.
- avip 7y ago
  Yes.
- pseingatl 7y ago
  Initially, yes. If you grant the candidate an interview, require a follow-up c.v. with this information.
- cbanek 7y ago
  Yes. I have 10+ years of employment with so many projects it would take forever to list them. I have a 1 page resume. (I've also given up on .pdf and .doc, and just give it out as plain .txt) Figure out what experience is useful for the job and write a cover letter. Most of the experience a seasoned employee has probably isn't relevant on the surface level to a hiring manager. Something like: "It sounds like from the job description you're looking to do <X>. I've done <Y> which is very similar to <X> in most respects." </C3PO>
lettergram 7y ago
I review hundreds of resumes a quarter, I find most resumes are under two pages for people straight out of college. People with 5+ years of experience will often hit two pages, which IMO is fine. I just expect everything to be on point. The reality is people with these kind of resumes are trying to game the word search systems, which look for specific experience. It’s a sound strategy for automated systems, not so much for humans. I personally think 2 pages is enough to get you in the door. So I expect 2 pages or less, but don’t penalize too much for large resumes. I just won’t read past the first page.
wolco 7y ago
This point of view confuses me. If you single one three candidates I would rather have the entire profile. Sales experience could be a proxy for leadership / sub store experience shows a basic level of dealing with various people and the unexpected. If the problem is you don't want to read everything by everyone then just read the first three and make your decision. You don't have to physically scroll if you feel you learned enough. Try asking for a summary of the important information in the job ad. How many years - ruby. last three jobs, school. It will be easier to filter them that way.
Swizec 7y ago
I’ve been getting paid to write code since before I finished high school. All that experience feels relevant when looking for a coding job ... I don’t think it’s gonna fit on 2 pages if I want to tell you anything useful about the positions.
TheRealSteel 7y ago
"I don’t care that you worked at Subway for six weeks when you were nineteen." Unfortunately if you don't, you'll get people asking you "what were you doing in 2009??" Because apparently the thought of giving someone a job who might have once not had one, regardless of their relevant skills, is the worst thing a recruiter can think of.
- NullPrefix 7y ago
  >giving someone a job who might have once not had one, regardless of their relevant skills, is the worst thing a recruiter can think of. Is that not right though? If you had a gap you might decide to have another. Regular employees get offers from competitors and use that to get salary upgrades. Gap-enabled employees do not need the offers and can just leave your company whenever they want.
- astura 7y ago
  For a high schooler? I have a 10 month gap between graduating college and my first permanent full time software job. Nobody's ever asked me about it and I don't have trouble getting interviews. I have a lot of work experience though.
kd5bjo 7y ago
The advice that I was always given is that the term “CV” generally refers to your unabridged work history and the term “resume” indicates a 1-page executive summary of that work history. They are not the same document; pay attention to which the potential employers asks for.
- ShroudedNight 7y ago
  Unfortunately, most employers are as aware of this distinction as the average applicant. I would not recommend reading too much into the minutiae of job postings, as they have precision approximating a blunt weapon.
- Silhouette 7y ago
  The terms also mean quite different things depending on where you are. For example, roughly speaking, a CV in the UK is like a resume in the US, a (hopefully) concise summary rarely exceeding 2 or maybe 3 pages even for the most experienced and qualified of applicants. Certain positions, such as academic research roles, are exceptions to this definition, and providing a complete and therefore often much longer history more like a US-style CV is typical in those cases.
jjeaff 7y ago
I think an un-focused resume is more a result of the trend we have in most large companies to constantly be accepting resumes even when they aren't really hiring. And then of course never contacting or following up with those candidates. So there is obviously little effort put into the review process, so it makes sense that candidates don't make effort to customize their application for each potential company.
kurtisc 7y ago
That guideline doesn't exist everywhere. You may just be seeing CVs from non-UK applicants.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

siggen 7y ago

lol, I talk to people regardless of what they put in their resume. To me, a resume is more a “please call me” than an expectation that what’s in the resume precisely fits. I don’t expect folks to tailor resume to fit each time they apply to some position. Also, I’ve noticed people (including me) are really bad at writing good resume. Why lose someone who might otherwise be stellar because of their poor resume-writing skills?

avip 7y ago
Do consider some positions may get 1000s of applications and render your method impractical.
- walshemj 7y ago
  You probably need to be careful about where you put your job adverts. If your job add is on monster and the other job sites with lower quality inventory your going to get a lot of applicants. In the UK I used to use monster etal as a way to hit my required quota of job applications - in the UK you have to in theory spend x hours a week and submit n job applications or you may lose your JSA (unemployment pay)
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  You are already screwed in that case without an internal rec. HR/recruiter resume filtering is extremely crude, maybe look at the prestige of your school, the prestige of your former companies, and some keyword matching.
  - avip 7y ago
    Sometimes all you need is a good toss https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140414044726-2259773-a-guide-to-grading-exams https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140414044726-2259773-a-guid...
- wolco 7y ago
  Hopefully they are using screeners before they look at the resumes.
- siggen 7y ago
  If you spent some time applying clearly it’s only fair I spend some time talking to you? I have yet to encounter a case where people applied and they weren’t even remotely a fit. When that happens I may consider changing this strategy.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago
I will add to that that one of the best programmers I've ever worked with had one of the worst resumes I've ever seen. To the point where I asked my manager "why are we even considering this person?" I was told to interview him anyway since someone working there vouched for him and he turned out to be a great hire.

Aloha 7y ago

For someone mid career I'd expect a resume to cover the last 10 years of employment, which of you've done lots of contracting might take upwards of three pages to cover. Is this unreasonable?

whatshisface 7y ago
You could adjust the level of detail, maybe covering many clients in a sentence like "developed software systems for Drexler (1956-1957) NASA (1957-1958), Scranton Paper Products (1958-1959)..."
- Aloha 7y ago
  Normally I'd want to include some level of detail about what I worked on at each position, technologies, technical accomplishments, etc
  - seattle_spring 7y ago
    You may want to include it, but most employers won't want to read it. A brief summary should be more than sufficient.
avip 7y ago
Yes.
pseingatl 7y ago
Initially, yes. If you grant the candidate an interview, require a follow-up c.v. with this information.
cbanek 7y ago
Yes. I have 10+ years of employment with so many projects it would take forever to list them. I have a 1 page resume. (I've also given up on .pdf and .doc, and just give it out as plain .txt) Figure out what experience is useful for the job and write a cover letter. Most of the experience a seasoned employee has probably isn't relevant on the surface level to a hiring manager. Something like: "It sounds like from the job description you're looking to do <X>. I've done <Y> which is very similar to <X> in most respects." </C3PO>

lettergram 7y ago

I review hundreds of resumes a quarter, I find most resumes are under two pages for people straight out of college. People with 5+ years of experience will often hit two pages, which IMO is fine. I just expect everything to be on point. The reality is people with these kind of resumes are trying to game the word search systems, which look for specific experience. It’s a sound strategy for automated systems, not so much for humans. I personally think 2 pages is enough to get you in the door. So I expect 2 pages or less, but don’t penalize too much for large resumes. I just won’t read past the first page.

wolco 7y ago

This point of view confuses me. If you single one three candidates I would rather have the entire profile. Sales experience could be a proxy for leadership / sub store experience shows a basic level of dealing with various people and the unexpected. If the problem is you don't want to read everything by everyone then just read the first three and make your decision. You don't have to physically scroll if you feel you learned enough. Try asking for a summary of the important information in the job ad. How many years - ruby. last three jobs, school. It will be easier to filter them that way.

Swizec 7y ago

I’ve been getting paid to write code since before I finished high school. All that experience feels relevant when looking for a coding job ... I don’t think it’s gonna fit on 2 pages if I want to tell you anything useful about the positions.

TheRealSteel 7y ago

"I don’t care that you worked at Subway for six weeks when you were nineteen." Unfortunately if you don't, you'll get people asking you "what were you doing in 2009??" Because apparently the thought of giving someone a job who might have once not had one, regardless of their relevant skills, is the worst thing a recruiter can think of.

NullPrefix 7y ago
>giving someone a job who might have once not had one, regardless of their relevant skills, is the worst thing a recruiter can think of. Is that not right though? If you had a gap you might decide to have another. Regular employees get offers from competitors and use that to get salary upgrades. Gap-enabled employees do not need the offers and can just leave your company whenever they want.
astura 7y ago
For a high schooler? I have a 10 month gap between graduating college and my first permanent full time software job. Nobody's ever asked me about it and I don't have trouble getting interviews. I have a lot of work experience though.

kd5bjo 7y ago

The advice that I was always given is that the term “CV” generally refers to your unabridged work history and the term “resume” indicates a 1-page executive summary of that work history. They are not the same document; pay attention to which the potential employers asks for.

ShroudedNight 7y ago
Unfortunately, most employers are as aware of this distinction as the average applicant. I would not recommend reading too much into the minutiae of job postings, as they have precision approximating a blunt weapon.
Silhouette 7y ago
The terms also mean quite different things depending on where you are. For example, roughly speaking, a CV in the UK is like a resume in the US, a (hopefully) concise summary rarely exceeding 2 or maybe 3 pages even for the most experienced and qualified of applicants. Certain positions, such as academic research roles, are exceptions to this definition, and providing a complete and therefore often much longer history more like a US-style CV is typical in those cases.

jjeaff 7y ago

I think an un-focused resume is more a result of the trend we have in most large companies to constantly be accepting resumes even when they aren't really hiring. And then of course never contacting or following up with those candidates. So there is obviously little effort put into the review process, so it makes sense that candidates don't make effort to customize their application for each potential company.

kurtisc 7y ago

That guideline doesn't exist everywhere. You may just be seeing CVs from non-UK applicants.