3 ms·

> 3-4 page resumes That's way too much, even for a long career. Two pages is enough. The more resume there is, the more bullshit you have to read. The career h

> 3-4 page resumes That's way too much, even for a long career. Two pages is enough. The more resume there is, the more bullshit you have to read. The career history part should be a list of job-titles and dates, with a brief description of each role, noting any salient achievements. Many recruiters will set aside any resume longer than two pages.

smallerfish 5y ago
I once had a candidate submit a 20 page(!) resume. They were so full of themselves. That one I actually did spend 5 minutes with to see what they found so fascinating about their history, but it was otherwise an instant reject.
- astura 5y ago
  Was it this guy? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_Is_Nothing_(video_r%C3%A9sum%C3%A9) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_Is_Nothing_(video_r...
- Cd00d 5y ago
  That may be a cultural/experiential difference. You may not be familiar with CVs as opposed to resumes.
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  A 20-page resume bespeaks someone inexperienced in job applications. One of the important skills I would be looking for in a recruit would be the ability to express themselves clearly, concisely, and persuasively. Clarity and conciseness are marks of the ability to think. Persuasiveness is actually something that makes me suspicious, but in many jobs the ability to persuade others is an asset (leadership positions, for example). So YMMV. I've always struggled with conciseness; I'm in love with the sound of my own voice.
- HWR_14 5y ago
  In some industries (or academia) a 20 page resume listing every project, publication, patent, etc. is considered normal and desirable. If could be that case.
derwiki 5y ago
I feel like one page is enough unless you have a truly remarkable career. At this point my earliest roles just don’t earn their keep; no one cares any more that I was a Micro Computer Support Specialist in undergrad.
em-bee 5y ago
all right, i am guilty of that. my resume has 5 pages, but it is split up in clear sections that i can easily remove if appropriate: page 1: general objectives current occupation summary of the most important or interesting skills and projects page 2: skills (that's the list of all tech i ever worked with. just the names, no details. only the most important ones are bold.) work history (list of companies, dates and titles) page 3: education detailed work experience (that's a long list of every project i ever worked on, and the role i had there, split up in multiple subsections that i can include as appropriate) software development sysadmin work page 4: mentor and teaching experience presentations and workshops page 5: organizing events experience working with kids (that i only include for relevant ed-tech or training jobs) so technically, you could stop reading after page 2. and only scan the rest if you want more details. do you think it would be better to just skip the project list? i think it's better than a list of projects on github (which wouldn't have any of the interesting projects)
- tqi 5y ago
  From what I've seen, a few things that could be helpful are: - Skip the objective, they are often really generic so people have become accustomed to just skipping ahead rather than reading carefully. - Presentations and workshops, especially if they are at bigger conferences, could be worth highlighting for more senior roles. - Education is good to keep just in case there is some kind of automatic filtering. Personally I have an extended version of my resume that has every job / project written out (that I plan to keep adding to over time), but when I submit a resume I pare down the items to only the ones most relevant to the role.
- theandrewbailey 5y ago
  > skills (that's the list of all tech i ever worked with. just the names, no details. only the most important ones are bold.) Only put down skills and technologies that you want to work with. I used to put Pentaho on my resume, even though it was the most frustrating thing I've ever worked with (before or since). A recruiter messaged me once about a Pentaho role, which I declined. I dropped Pentaho from my resume immediately. > summary of the most important or interesting skills and projects Aaand you can stop right there. Pages 2 and onward can be safely omitted.

smallerfish 5y ago

I once had a candidate submit a 20 page(!) resume. They were so full of themselves. That one I actually did spend 5 minutes with to see what they found so fascinating about their history, but it was otherwise an instant reject.

astura 5y ago
Was it this guy? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_Is_Nothing_(video_r%C3%A9sum%C3%A9) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_Is_Nothing_(video_r...
Cd00d 5y ago
That may be a cultural/experiential difference. You may not be familiar with CVs as opposed to resumes.
denton-scratch 5y ago
A 20-page resume bespeaks someone inexperienced in job applications. One of the important skills I would be looking for in a recruit would be the ability to express themselves clearly, concisely, and persuasively. Clarity and conciseness are marks of the ability to think. Persuasiveness is actually something that makes me suspicious, but in many jobs the ability to persuade others is an asset (leadership positions, for example). So YMMV. I've always struggled with conciseness; I'm in love with the sound of my own voice.
HWR_14 5y ago
In some industries (or academia) a 20 page resume listing every project, publication, patent, etc. is considered normal and desirable. If could be that case.

derwiki 5y ago

I feel like one page is enough unless you have a truly remarkable career. At this point my earliest roles just don’t earn their keep; no one cares any more that I was a Micro Computer Support Specialist in undergrad.

em-bee 5y ago

all right, i am guilty of that. my resume has 5 pages, but it is split up in clear sections that i can easily remove if appropriate: page 1: general objectives current occupation summary of the most important or interesting skills and projects page 2: skills (that's the list of all tech i ever worked with. just the names, no details. only the most important ones are bold.) work history (list of companies, dates and titles) page 3: education detailed work experience (that's a long list of every project i ever worked on, and the role i had there, split up in multiple subsections that i can include as appropriate) software development sysadmin work page 4: mentor and teaching experience presentations and workshops page 5: organizing events experience working with kids (that i only include for relevant ed-tech or training jobs) so technically, you could stop reading after page 2. and only scan the rest if you want more details. do you think it would be better to just skip the project list? i think it's better than a list of projects on github (which wouldn't have any of the interesting projects)

tqi 5y ago
From what I've seen, a few things that could be helpful are: - Skip the objective, they are often really generic so people have become accustomed to just skipping ahead rather than reading carefully. - Presentations and workshops, especially if they are at bigger conferences, could be worth highlighting for more senior roles. - Education is good to keep just in case there is some kind of automatic filtering. Personally I have an extended version of my resume that has every job / project written out (that I plan to keep adding to over time), but when I submit a resume I pare down the items to only the ones most relevant to the role.
theandrewbailey 5y ago
> skills (that's the list of all tech i ever worked with. just the names, no details. only the most important ones are bold.) Only put down skills and technologies that you want to work with. I used to put Pentaho on my resume, even though it was the most frustrating thing I've ever worked with (before or since). A recruiter messaged me once about a Pentaho role, which I declined. I dropped Pentaho from my resume immediately. > summary of the most important or interesting skills and projects Aaand you can stop right there. Pages 2 and onward can be safely omitted.