Hiring Woes

[Melxb]

I'm going to go against the grain and say that 1 page resumes are preferable in nearly all the jobs I've had since I was 15. Even more recently, the job I have now strongly discouraged more than a 1 page resume...and I work for a large government agency.

Also, I do some freelance work for corporations, and for each corporation that I've submitted a bid for has flat out said that more than a one page resume would be tossed in the circular file automatically. I understand that for certain technical or academic positions a multi-page resume is acceptable and more than warranted. For most corporate or managerial job, both in the public and private sector, I have never heard that a 2-page resume is necessary, or will even be looked at.

[Imogene]

Oh and why do people apply to jobs they're not qualified for? Half the applicants don't know Illustrator which is first on my list of requirements!

Damn, if you weren't in California, I'd have applied... (although, my resume ended up four pages, somehow, after a professor of mine asked my permission to try to make it look better...) I know Illustrator, PhotoShop, all the good stuff.

My Dad always tells me: the requirements in a job posting are usually just a "we'd really like someone who can do this..." list.

[CrazedClerk]

Okay, I can see two pages IF you have a lot of experience. But most of these people are in college and younger than me (I'm 25). But the one I'm glancing at right now has 8 previous jobs and is only one page. And the two page one looks like 12-14 pt with 1 inch margins. And it's ugly, which is bad if you're going for a design position.

So really, I guess, its not the length I have a problem with but the appearance.

I also have a THREE page one here, which was pasted into the body of the email.

And I agree, objective is stupid. Well, duh, you want experience in this field, otherwise you wouldn't be applying!

Oh and why do people apply to jobs they're not qualified for? Half the applicants don't know Illustrator which is first on my list of requirements!

I'm just waiting to start the interviews. Last time we had a guy that looked like he had just rolled out of bed. And had slept in his clothes. I hired the guy in a suit who had taken out his piercings. (I don't have a problem with piercings or tattoos, but for an interview...)

Some job searchers are pretty mindless in what they do. They send the same resume out to 100s of different places regardless of what specific qualifications said places might be looking for.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I've always read that you should keep to 1 page, unless you have a lot of relevant history or technical qualifications that require an extra page. My brother has background in graphics and art (he majored in art) but has been mostly employed in programming and has several certifications. His resume is 2 pages just because of all the extra technical stuff he has. His work history itself doesn't require a second page. (He sucks...he's the type of person who can pick up SQLXPABCDEFG for Dummies, read it, and go ace the certification test.)

A lot of companies (especially larger ones) will run resumes through a computer program that searches for keywords. You can be the most qualified person on the planet but if you don't have the right keywords on your resume you're not going to get flagged.

I also would think a really long resume, especially for lower-level positions, might get passed on just because the hiring manager is too busy to read it all. Totally qualified or not, keep it well written and concise and you're more likely to get a second look.

[OfficeSlug]

I don't think I've heard "one page only" for resumés. It makes sense, but what if you have a lot of pertinent information?

I professionally wrote resumes for nearly 2 years... one page only unless you're the head of some major corporation (and I'm taking Boeing or IBM) and have a SHIT LOAD of accomplishments ($MILLIONS for instance)....


I write a different resume for EVERY job I've applied to. I find OUT and highlight what THAT JOB requires & what I've DONE that RELATES to that position....

[draftermatt]

You could always print out one page, and put on that page:

"More information available upon request"

[Silvercat]

I thought about updating my resume thusly:

Objective
...we both know this is nonsense. I want a job. Obviously I'd like a job in this industry, otherwise I wouldn't be applying here.

(etc)

[Gurndigarn]

I thought about updating my resume thusly:

Objective
...we both know this is nonsense. I want a job. Obviously I'd like a job in this industry, otherwise I wouldn't be applying here.

(etc)

Just skip the objective. That's what the cover letter is for.

[HYHYBT]

So what's the point of resumes as things are? What I mean is, just from reading this thread: You have to put something for "Objective" or your resume goes in the trash. No, if you *do* list one it will go in the trash. It has to be only one page. No, two. Or five. But in any case if it's not the right length it goes in the trash. Why are they even used if companies have hard-and-fast, but random and unknown, requirements? Why don't all businesses either announce in some way what they're looking for, or just use some sort of form that asks what they want to know?

And since when did 12-point type cease to be normal sized?

[Silvercat]

12-point is rather large (depending on the font). If you have a long resume, you can shrink the font size to 11 or 10 (and reduced the margins from 1 inch, sheesh) and fit it on one page.

Also 12-point Times with 1 inch margins implies that you didn't think about it at all and just went with the default. Not a good thing for a design job.

[Knifeman]

I turned my resume into a comic book page, and it got a huge response.

[trunks2k]

Since when is it okay to have a multi-page resume? I always heard one page only. Except it was more Voice of God "ONE PAGE ONLY."

I've been told by my advisors that more than one page is OK if you can fill an entire second page. I had that problem when I got out of school. Through school, I had three 6 month full time jobs that related to my major, plus I had a part time job at a 4th company during my last year. So that meant listing 4 jobs right there, which took up most of my space. By the time I added everything else, I found myself running about one and a half pages. I couldn't add enough more to get a full second page, so I had to cut out a lot, decrease margins, font size, etc. After a lot of work I managed to get it just down to a single page. I had other people look at it, and then sent it out.

Then I find out that there was a mistake on it that nobody caught. I had put the wrong period of time I worked for a company on the resume. According to my resume I went back in time. I actually think that really hurt me on a couple of interviews since it was obviously a typo.

[Sofar]

And since when did 12-point type cease to be normal sized?

Twelve-point is much bigger on a page than it is on your computer screen. Ten-point and nine-point, whereas unreadable on your screen are a very legible on paper. And I find five ninths-of-an-inch is a good margin width.