Winning Resume Tips
Today’s question is about resumes. How long should your resume be? How many pages should a resume or a CV be?
Resumes, and CVS are remarkably interesting documents and they’ve evolved over the years. I’ve been in business now for 26 years, writing CVS and resumes for a global clientele across the world. The length of the resume or CV varies depending on how long you’ve been in your career.
Here’s a tip for you. A one-pager is dead. Never, ever use a one-page resume or CV. Why? Because this is your sales platform. This allows you to market yourself. You cannot market yourself on one page, as an executive.
You also need to make sure it’s ATS, friendly (Applicant Tracking System).
Applicant Tracking System is covered in another post but you need to know to make it ATS friendly so that it attracts the eye and the Applicant Tracking System; a one-pager doesn’t afford you that opportunity.
So as an expert in resumes and CVS, I would suggest you go to two pages or three pages. Now, here’s another tip for you. Don’t do two and a half, two, and a third, two, and a quarter. What message is that going to send to the reader? This person hasn’t got enough to fill three pages. Of course you have to think about your sales proposition.
Think about your stories that you want to tell your performance-driven stories. Consider your keywords. Describe about your community involvement and also write about your education. They all go into a resume. This is your chance to shine.
So go to three pages for an executive resume. There is , however, an exception to the rule in the U S. Generally, they only want two pages, but everywhere else in the world, you can do three. Don’t listen to other people who tell you they want one page; that is dead. We haven’t seen a one-page resume that works for about a year. So, make sure you sell yourself in two pages or three pages but don’t do half, third, or quarter pages.
I would love to help you!
If you are in career transition, I’d be happy to help you. I am passionate about helping you reach your career goals and so I have an offer for you, a free resume critique, and a LinkedIn audit. I will give you 30 minutes of my time, no obligation, no sales pitch, to go through your LinkedIn and your resume from top to bottom. However I will tell you, I am tough. I say it as it is. I will tell you how to eliminate any red flags and have a bank of green flags. That means you will sail through your job search and through your career transition. Are you interested? If so, email me your resume on LinkedIn, or send it to me by clicking on the button below. I’d be happy to help you. Cheers!