One Page Résumés
– Fact or Fiction
- Michele
Angello, CPRW
A question I am asked over and over again as a professional résumé
writer is, “Does my résumé have to be one page?”
I’m not sure where this idea began, but maybe some poor, overworked
Human Resources person had a meltdown one day over the 3 foot high
stack of resumes on her desk. Perhaps she decided that if everyone
sent her just one page, she’d have half as much work to do,
could get her weekends back, and see daylight again. So she decided
to start spreading the word and from there the urban legend was
born. (This is just a fanciful little story – but I’m
sure you get my point.)
So, does a résumé have to be one page? In short,
the answer to this question is “No!”
The one page “rule” is not true.
After all, having a one page résumé only suits the
person that is reading it, because it may force you to leave out
essential information. And the most important thing about your résumé
is to sell you and your skills, which you can’t do if you
are leaving things out because of some random, arbitrary rule about
one page.
Your résumé needs to be as long as it takes to sell
you, no longer and no shorter. If your résumé is succinct,
relevant, and has a format that flows, your résumé
can go to two pages. Some (not all) students applying for their
first job may have a one page résumé. For people at
the executive or director level, three pages are not unusual.
This is not a license to throw irrelevant minutia into your résumé
because you have more room. (Remember that day when you walked past
the copier and put more paper in it because it was beeping? –
this is not the type of résumé material you are looking
for!) Think about what is going to be important to your next employer,
what’s going to help the company make money and how you can
help them do that. That is the type of relevant material that should
find its way onto your resume.
Maybe you can help me start a new urban legend, you know, how it’s
OK to have a two-page résumé? Pass it on...
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