Re: Resume Length (2 pages ok?)

[John Posada <JOHN -dot- POSADA -at- EY -dot- COM>]

Di...

You are going to hear from a whole bunch of people with opinions on this, some
with no basis in reality.

If you need two pages to properly represent yourself, then use it.  The people
that believe one page was the maximum length are basing their decision on the
time when people had two or three jobs their whole life.

Between the fact that many people, especially in this field, change jobs every
two or three years, and the fact that most resumes are scanned and OCR'd where
length doesn't matter, two pages is fine.

My resume is two pages, and it has been tweaked by almost a dozen people that
are in the business of looking at resumes.  I used to be (till the beginning of
last June) the employment manager of an STC chapter and regularly corresponded
with almost 2 dozen shops.  I had some look at my resume (and one or two people
from this list who's opinion I respected) and offer constructive criticism on
what should be changed based on what they wanted to see.  What you want to say
doesn't matter if it's not what they want to hear.  Based on that input, when I
went on the job market last April, every job shop that forwarded my resume
forwarded it in its original form, untouched or edited (which many shops do to
your resume).  I didn't have one place that I talked to not compliment me on
the resume.

Size is not the issue here.  Content and wording is.   Use active voice rather
than passive.  Use power words, such as: created, responsible, reduced, saved,
increased, etc.  Make sure you have NO MISSPELLING (flameproof underwear on, so
don't bother), it will probably get scanned, so no fancy graphics, minimum
horizontal emphasis lines, no blocks of shading.  Clean, sharp text font. Make
the body text 11 or 12pt.

A resume is a selling document and the product is YOU.  The resume probably
won't get you the job, but it will get you the interview.  At that point, your
mouth and your portfolio will get you the job.

Demonstrate that you did things, not "were involved with" or "helped".
Instead, things like "I was responsible for the design and deployment of a new
printing process that reduced the turnaround from 3 days to 4 hours."

I could go on.  I have my resume online if you'd like to see it.  My test-bed
web is http://www.tdandw.com and I have a link to the resume part way down.
Note:  since I started a new job in June, I've been updating it, so please
understand when you look at the first entry.  The rest of the document is fine.

John Posada
Ernst & Young
Tactical Applications Group
Lyndhurst, NJ
john -dot- posada -at- ey -dot- com (work)
john -at- tdandw -dot- com (personal)
http://www.ey.com (work)
http://www.tdandw.com (personal)
(201) 842-2699

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment.  It's the impurities in our
air and water that are doing it."
  - Vice President Dan Quayle






        TECHWR-L @ LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU
        07/22/97 01:24 PM
Please respond to "DDA -dot- RFC-822=dweber -at- HARRIS -dot- COM/P=Internet/A= /C=us" @ X400
To: TECHWR-L @ LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU @ INTERNET
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Subject: Resume Length (2 pages ok?)

     I was always told as a rule of thumb, to try to keep my resume to
one
     page.....at all costs.

     By doing that, I find myself having to remove what I feel is
     impressive project descriptions that were completed in college.  To
     me, they show a more well-roundedness in experience, that I am not
     just limited to working in a defense/government environment (my
     current and previous employment).


     So, what's your opinion on a multiple page resume?  Tacky, or
     necessary?  I don't want to short-change my experience just to
squeeze
     it all on one page.  Appearance in a resume is important too, so
you
     can't overcrowd.    I'd like to hear from those who actually hire
tech
     writers and others.....what do you look for in a resume?


     Thanks in advance,

     Di

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