Select A Resume Format
Choosing the correct resume format can help you effectively highlight your strongest professional assets and abilities. You can select three primary resume formats, and they may benefit you in different ways depending on your skillset and your amount of relevant industry experience. You can decide to use a functional resume, a chronological resume or a combination resume.
A functional resume can be useful if you have gaps in your work experience or are changing careers as it prioritizes relevant skills and qualifications over years of professional experience. Alternatively, a chronological resume is appropriate if you have several years of experience and have worked consistently with upward mobility in one industry. If you have relevant professional experience and various professional skills, consider using a combination resume format that highlights both your work history and capabilities to provide a broad overview of who you are as a professional.
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Should A Resume Be 2 Pages
Much as everyone has their own opinions about job search etiquette, there are very few unbreakable rules about how you present your content. People who insist that resumes should be either one or two pages are likely the same sorts of people who insist that you must wear a tie or heels to an interview.
Your resume can be two pages if you feel that your career story warrants it. Equally, if you decide that you want to go for a focused and powerful impact, one page will often also be enough.
Focus On Your Most Recent Experience
Your potential employer wants to see your most recent skills and experience. You donât need to include an internship from 15 years ago! If you havenât used those skills since then, they are not going to help you land this job.
This applies to the work experience descriptions on your resume, as well. If you had the same responsibilities under multiple entries, consider including it only under the position you held most recently.
Put the focus on your most recent professional experience. In general, you shouldnât include any jobs from over 15 years ago. This will help you keep the focus on what youâre capable of now, as well as minimize age bias.
Exception: education. Your hard-earned degrees are almost always relevant, no matter how long ago you earned them.
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When To Use A Three
Most people believe resumes should fit on two pages max, no matter how long youve been working. However, as with all rules, there are some exceptions.
For example, if you work for the federal government youre a senior-level manager with a long track record of accomplishments or youre writing an academic CV for a research or scientific position and have an extensive list of publications, speaking engagements, professional courses, licenses, or certifications then you may need to extend your resume to three or more pages.
How Long Should Resume Be For Entry
When youre just starting in your career, its tough to score a job interview. But a mistake all newbies make is that theyll put on every piece of experience theyve had in their life.
You have to understand that recruiters are busy people, so if you have less than five years of professional experience, you should keep your resume on a single page. Omit anything that isnt valuable to the recruiter and relevant to the position youre applying to.
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My Resume Is Two Pages I Feel Like I Committed A Crime
Democratizing Career and Academic Success Through Evidence-Based Practices
You are now a year out of college, or maybe five years out of college, and thinking about looking for a new job. You add your current experience to that awesome resume that your college career office helped you put together but. . .GASP! . .your resume has bumped onto page 2! Everyone knows that you never have a two-page resume! What have you done? Your career is over! Your resume is two pages! Dont you remember all of those warnings from your management professor, and your career coach, and your athletic coach, and your mom, and your Aunt Agnes? Youre a lawbreaker!
Are two-page resumes a universal bad?
No. Lets clear it up from the beginning. A two-page resume, in-and-of-itself is not universally a bad thing. To believe so, misses the entire point of a resume, and the purpose of the advice to try to stick to one page. Heres how I like to say it:
A resume is not about everything youve done. It is about the most recent, relevant things you have engaged in, skills you have built and experiences you can share, expressed in the most impactful, concise and consistent manner.
If you can get all of that done in a page, then thats great! If you cant, then you have to think through some things.
The reasons for the one-page resume rule-of-thumb.
Try to focus on this point:
Its not the two-page resume that is the issue. Its whats pushing it onto two pages that requires thought.
Can My Resume Be 2 Pages
Yes, your resume can be 2 pages or longer if you have a lot of relevant information to put on your resume like work experience, certifications, educational details, and skills.
Its not bad to have a 2 page resume if making it one page would hurt your chances of landing an interview. In that case, instead of struggling to fit everything on one page, add a second page to your resume.
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Remove A References Section
References are assumed and donât deserve to be mentioned on your resume . Donât list them out, and donât include the line âreferences available upon request.â
Instead, make a separate reference document to provide when asked. A hiring manager doesnât need this early on in the application process. Your resumeâs goal is to get you a phone call, and then to schedule an interview. Keep it focused on you and the value you would bring to this company.
Pro tip: bring a printed copy to your interview, and keep an email draft with names, contact information, current job titles, and your relationship to the person.
A Quick Guide To Help You Determine If You Should Have A Two
Our team created a flowchart to assist you in deciding whether or not your resume should be one or two pages long. Simply start at the top, answer each question, and follow the path to see where it takes you! The series of questions will force you to look at your document objectively to see if your circumstances warrant a two-page resume: how long have you been in this field, how many relevant positions have you held, and how many unique accomplishments can you list for each position?
If you followed the blue Yes from question to question, you ended up at the Consider 2 Pages option. If you had a mix of answers and ended on a red No, you should strive for a single page. Theres no right or wrong answer both of these are suggestions and everyones situation is different! And, while it might seem obvious, being in the workforce longer doesnt necessarily mean you should have a longer resume.
And before you use the chart, be sure to note the assumptions at the top: you might have more important issues to fix before you decide whether your resume can be 2 pages.
Only use this chart if:
- You are not writing an academic CV or a federal resume
- Youre following our recommendation to use a body font that is 10-12pt
- For a 2-page resume, you can cover at least half of the second page
The most important thing to remember about your resume is that it is a way to market yourself to potential employers. This chart will simply guide you towards a decision that gets you there.
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Simple Professional One Page Resume Template
This Simple Professional Resume Template and CV Template is straightforward and effective. It uses design to stand out in a good way. Like the Modern one-page resume template above, its divided for easy readings, with attention-getting headings. The big name and dark heading give it oomph.
Expert Hint: Not all Free Resume Builders are ATS friendly. To make sure your creative resume reaches a human reader, send it directly to the recruiter’s inbox.
How To Format A Resume That Goes On To A Second Page
Related
It can be hard to fit all of your relevant experience on a one-page resume after you have been working for awhile. Two-page resumes are acceptable as long as they are formatted to be easy to read. Be sure you really do have enough information to require a second page, however. If you cannot fill at least half of the second page, it may be better to condense the details so your entire resume can fit on a single page.
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Whats Wrong With A Two
There might be some readers out there for whom two-page resumes are the norm who are wondering why this article exists at all. To those readers, we extend our congratulations so far, youve been lucky enough to avoid lazy or harried interviewers who consistently receive far too many applications for them to read.
While everyone who applies for a given job position deserves a fair shot, the truth of the matter is that at the end of the day, hiring managers and recruiters are just people. And people are flawed, stressed out, and above all usually in some kind of hurry.
Thats why two-page resumes have historically been viewed as bad for a hiring manager at a large company who might typically receive over a hundred applications for any given listing, reading every resume closely just isnt feasible.
But that doesnt mean that two-pagers are always a bad thing. In fact, there are a lot of situations in which a second page might be preferable, even with the added time this might take to read.
Youre Hoping To Attract The Attention Of A Recruiter
Many senior managers and executive-level professionals work with recruiters to source coveted positions. The same is true for companies that are looking for very specific candidates to fill critical roles. This makes it important for job-seekers to find effective recruiters to land them dream gigs. And in a competitive market, you need to stand out more than ever.
According to Amanda Augustine, a career expert for TopResume, a 2018 study revealed that recruiters typically prefer two-page resumes over one page, regardless of their job level. Though this doesnt mean you should automatically try to fill two pages if you dont have content, it should alleviate some of the stress you feel when going from a single to a double-sided. Many believe since recruiters spend only a hot second blazing through resumes, it should be as short as possible. The opposite is actually true, Augustine says. You want your resume to cover the important details that support your candidacy as succinctly as possible, she continues. However, the last thing you want to do is cram valuable information into a single page with a tiny font size and narrow margins. Given that recruiters skim over resumes in such a short amount of time, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to quickly pull out the details that matter most to themwithout going cross-eyed in the process. A two-page resume will often allow you to create the necessary white space to strike this visual balance.
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Format Tips For A Two
There are a few considerations for a two-page resume that are worth some thought:
All the reasons to hire you need to be on the first page. Just as the summary should contain the key messages of your resume, the first page should contain the very best bits. It should be reverse-chronological to show the most recent roles, the skills section needs to be here and ideally a couple of your most recent roles.
Both pages should be packed with relevant keywords and achievements. While the first page is important to grab a clients attention, this doesnt mean that page two should drop off in intensity. The roles might be a little less recent, but that doesnt mean that your accomplishments are worth less.
List additional information education, certifications, etc, on page two. Your future employer will definitely be interested in your education and personal development, so they will certainly move on to page two to find these aspects of your application. It is expected that they are at the end of any resume they will be found.
Dont feel that you have to fill page two entirely. This is a controversial one. Some people might say that if page two is not full of content, an employer could conclude that you do not have much else to talk about. Others feel that it is more important to only include the most relevant parts of your application as that will dictate the content of the interview. Dont include unimpressive filler phrases.
When You Have Extensive Career Accomplishments Certifications Or Technical Skills
If you are in certain industries, such as IT, engineering, academia, or scientific research, employers will want to review lists of your professional certifications, tech skills, key projects, and publications. These industries still privilege professional credentials as much as they do qualifications, and so a second or third page is necessary in order to provide a comprehensive account of ones training background and work history.
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Change Your Resumes Formatting
If your resume has wide margins and a large font, youâre going to have a hard time fitting all the information you need on two pages. After clarifying the content, read our advice on resume margins and font size, as well as the top 10 resume fonts. This will help your resume appear balanced, relevant, and easy to read.
Many people opt to use templates they find online. The templates you find on Etsy, Canva, or other sites are often very visually appealing and use a lot of white space however, multiple columns can confuse ATS scans so proceed with caution.
âIf your resume includes more than a square inch of white space at any point, adjust your settings. Thatâs valuable real estate! Play with the margins, tabs, and justification settings,â advises Caitlin.
Note: white space refers to spaces without content, no matter what color youâve opted to use or any lines youâve incorporated into your resume.
Finally, be wary of any site or resume builder that offers a subscription service for resume templatesâtheyâre notorious for charging unknowing job seekers month after month. When in doubt, DIY your resume or hire a reputable service.
What About The Extra Space
If the text on the second page is only one or two lines, you may want to consider reformatting and sticking to the one page rule. Otherwise, dont be overly concerned about the extra space on the second page. Recruiters have short attention spans and wont want to scan more information than they have to.
But if you feel compelled to fill that space, be strategic and make sure the information is relevant. If you havent already done so, add information on your leadership, organizations, volunteer work, hobbies, or sports activities. This will show employers you have a life outside of work and give some insight into your personality.
Also keep in mind that this information doesnt have to be in text format. Ive seen some great resumes recently that have outlined these items using pie charts, timelines, and graphs. Just remember these fancy formats dont always translate well when applying online and can wind up a jumbled mass of code.
So, whats the moral of the resume length debate? In the digital application world, size doesnt really matter. As long as you tell a compelling story about your employment history thats easy on the eyes, your page breaks will be forgiven.
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How Do I Shorten My Resume To Fit On One Page
As proud as you may be about your career, it still needs to be kept to the recommended length.
Remember, the hiring manager has plenty more resumes to go after yours.
After you have listed out your past work experience and history, you may find yourself needing to shorten it down to your desired length.
Below are a few key tips to help you condense your resume length.
Tips For Writing A Two
- Place your most important qualifications on the first page: Both applicant tracking systems and human hiring managers want to see a candidates most relevant skills given pride of place at the very beginning of the resume. The best way to do this is to use a resume summary to provide a brief synopsis of the expertise and professional skills that make you a strong candidate for the job youre applying for.
- Incorporate keyword phrases: Use keywords in your resume summary, and then rinse and repeat throughout your Professional Experience section. Applicant tracking systems calculate the number of years youve practiced a particular skill, so industry-specific keywords need to be repeated in each job description.
- Showcase quantifiable achievements: One of the primary advantages of using a two-page resume is that it gives you space to highlight your career accomplishments. Do this in the Professional Experience section by describing your work responsibilities in a brief paragraph, and then providing examples of important contributions in a three- or four-item bulleted list.
- Length of page two: Although you dont have to fill the entire second page of your resume, you should have enough text to fill at least a third of the page . If your text is running short, try to add more relevant information, keywords, and bulleted accomplishments . Play with font sizes and margins. If these strategies dont work, however, you should probably stick with a one-page resume.
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