How Far Back Should A Resume Go
Generally, you should not go back further than 20 years on your resume. Sometimes, even 15 years.
Imagine that you are applying to a job as a VP of Finance. Your time working at McDonalds 25 years ago will not help your resume at all.
It is great that you did it, but it wont be relevant.
Consider also the existence of recency bias.
A hiring manager will favor your rival if you present virtually identical resumes if they list their achievements more recently.
If you list your big wins as 20 years ago, whereas they list the same in the last 2 years, the latter will be preferred.
Also, if you go back over 20 years, you are talking about your past self. Experience from further back than this will not be considered relevant.
It says little of you today.
So how far should a resume go back?
It often depends on your resume length. Need to cut back on space? Go with 15 years. Need to add space? Go with 20 years.
Your main concern here is making it appear that you are not leaning on your past selfs accolades, but just showing your track record as you continue to achieve great things.
Top Tip: For any additional relevant experience that is older than 15-20 yeas, you can add them in a section called Additional Experience. Include only one line per experience.
The Final Word On Resume Length
In the end, the length doesnt matter quite as much as the content filling the pages. If you can capture your qualifications on one page, great. But if it takes two pages or more, thats OK, too.
Ive had new grads do well with two-page resumes and top executives do well with only one page, Isaacs says.
Just remember: Your resume should be a high-level look at your accomplishments that entices the hiring manager to want to learn more. A resume is like the copy on the back cover of a book, designed to make you want to read the book, Isaacs says. Its not the whole book.
Once youve nailed down the right length for your resume, it’s ready to go to work. Just like you.
Never Put Irrelevant Or Unnecessary Info On Your Resume To Make It Longer
Dont try to fill your resume with fluff or try to make it longer. No hiring manager is going to decide to interview you because you had a longer resume than someone else.
The only exception to the rule above is if your resume content is not even reaching the bottom of page one. In that case, try to make your resume fill a full page, because that just looks better.
But otherwise, you should be writing relevant skills, experience, and other qualifications that you feel demonstrate youll be a good fit for the role youve applied for.
But once youve put all the relevant info you can, stop. Adding irrelevant information just for the sake of making your resume longer is NOT going to impress any hiring managers or recruiters.
Your resume has one main purpose: To show the employer that you have the skills and experience to step into their role and be successful.
So if something isnt helping you do that, then its hurting you !
For example, if you held an irrelevant job 15 years ago and have built an entirely different career since then, take it off!
Or if youre listing 25 skills but only 10 are relevant to your current career, take those other 15 off!
By leaving them on there, youre just making it HARDER for the hiring manager or recruiter to find the relevant info that will make them want to interview you. So by leaving irrelevant info on your resume, youre costing yourself interviews.
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Can You Use A Two
To summarize the above â yes, you can.
You just need to make sure that your most critical pieces of information are highlighted on the first page.
If you’re an entry-level job seeker, than you won’t need an additional page.
Continue reading our tips and suggestions below to see how you can condense your resume space to stand out on the first page.
Can My Resume Be Three Pages Or Longer
ZipJob Team
5 min read
If you have an extensive work history, you might find yourself with a three-page, four-page, or even a five-page resume. Maybe you’ve held a lot of jobs, or perhaps you’ve been in the workforce for decades. You might also be adding a lot of detail to each job on your resume, trying to maximize your keywords for the ATS scan.
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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.
Sample One Page Resume
This is an example of a one page resume. or see below for more examples.
Career Summary
Seasoned and meticulous Financial Analyst offering 10 years expertise providing decision support to executives of global manufacturing companies. Highly skilled in clear-cut and concise storytelling through financials. Core Competencies:
- Financial Analysis and Reporting
- Quantitative Methods and Forecast Modeling
- Revenue and Expense Variance Analysis
- Data Mining and Visualization
ABC MANUFACTURING CORPORATION, Oklahoma City, OKFinancial Analyst, 02/2013-PresentPartner across all functional business units to deliver quantitative analyses and forecasts of expenditures, sales revenues, and capital improvements.
- Implemented and trained executives in use of new management reporting system that increased timeliness and accuracy of financial reporting
- Pinpointed and reconciled discrepancies in business unit financial reports, averting risk exposure by creating stringent new due diligence processes.
XYZ GROUP, Norman, OK, 06/2008-02/2013
Skillfully researched and prepared business cases, performed cost benefit analyses, and structured quarterly forecasts to optimize business planning processes.
- Played instrumental role in creating a business case and performing due diligence key to a $4.5M merger and acquisition.
- Formulated recommendations for long-term planning that ultimately produced a 17% increase in business growth.
Education and Credentials
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How Many Words Should A Resume Be
Counting the words on your resume is not beneficial in obtaining a new position. This is not a relevant factor for hiring managers and will not help you get more job interviews. Because of this, there is no exact number for how many words your resume should be and there is no reason to be tracking your word count when writing a resume.
Focus on highlighting past work, accomplishments, and skills to prove youll be ready to step into this next job and succeed. Word count is not relevant.
Tailor Your Resume To Each Application
Many job-seekers assume that their resume should list most of the jobs theyve held in their lives. However, this is only the case if youre writing a job-seeker CV outside of North America.
The best way to ensure you achieve the proper resume length when writing your resume is to tailor it directly to the position you want.
Every job you apply for has different requirements and qualifications. Whenever you apply for a new job, your resume should change to reflect these requirements.
For example, service industry jobs can teach highly valuable soft skills. However, if youre writing a , including information about your experience waiting tables is irrelevant and should be left off.
To tailor your resume, start by looking at the job description, and remove anything that isnt directly mentioned in the listing. In particular, look out for specific skills theyre looking for, and how many years of experience they want.
Reducing your resume to only the most relevant information not only helps you fit it on one page, it also makes you look perfectly suited for the position.
Additionally, remove any positions that you held a long time ago. If youre unsure how far back your resume should go, just omit anything over 1015 years old.
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Remove A Hobbies And Interests Section
âSometimes listing your hobbies and interests can help you stand out from the job-seeker crowd,â says Jennifer. âBut tread carefully: Some hobbies/interests can have a negative effect based on the personal biases of your audience.â
If you feel strongly about your hobbies or interests, include them in your summary section as opposed to their own section, and stick to the main one or two that make you stand out as an applicant and a co-worker.
Safe hobbies or interests that can set you apart from other applicants:
-
Musical talent: if you play an instrument, sing in a band, or write music
-
Physical activities: If you hike, swim, or kayak
-
Community-focused work: if youâre involved with charity work, Eagle Scouts, or local theater
Steer clear of anything with a religious or political affiliation.
A better way of including hobbies or interests is to join LinkedIn groups related to the topic, or posting about your passions on LinkedIn or another blogging forum. You can also establish yourself as an expert or thought leader on Reddit and Quora, which will likely come up when an interested hiring manager looks you up online before calling you in for an interview.
Example: Including interests/hobbies in a resume summary:
Do You Put Your Name On The Second Page Of A Resume
Add a header to the second page of your resume. Include your full name, phone number, email address and the words “Page Two” to make it clear that this is part of your resume. The font should be the same style that you used on Page One, but should be smaller than the font you used throughout the rest of the resume.
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Play With Size And Font
When you are trying to make a one-page resume, but your information overflows onto a second page, there are many ways to shorten your resume. First, change the font of your resume . If your headings are a very large size, try making them slightly smaller. However, you probably still want them to be slightly larger than the rest of the text.
How Many Pages A Resume Should Be
How long should your resume be? The answer is that the length of your resume depends on a number of factors. It depends on how much experience you have and what level candidate you are. If you’re an entry-level candidate, a page should be plenty.
For more experienced candidates, it’s fine to have a longer resume. Read below for more detailed information on how long your resume should be, and tips for making your resume the perfect length.
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Resume Length: How Long Should A Resume Be
How long should a resume be? is one of the most common questions asked by job seekers.
And rightly so. No recruiter wants to wade through pages and pages of your resume.
And similarly, if your resume is too short then it looks like you havent really done much worth while, and will bring little to the new role.
So how many pages should it be?
Here at the Job Search Bible were lucky enough to work with 3 job search and career experts to provide their view on the optimal resume length.
The latest question put to our experts is:
How long should a resume be?
And here are their expert answers
Why Was One Page The Right Choice
Catching attention
Gal had all the experience in the world, but his aim wasnt listing as much as possible in his work experience section, skills section or education section.
His aim was to catch HRs attention.
Recruiters can look at resumes for less than 7.4 seconds. Having a long, drawn-out resume might be the difference between the No and the Maybe pile.
Gals one-pager gives a quick, non-exhaustive record of his work history and talents. He knew once he secured an interview he could get the job. Catching the attention of the recruiter with a succinct resume was therefore vital.
Staying concise
There was no need to include multiple pages as Gals descriptions were concise and to-the-point.
He went into detail on his most recent job and kept other relevant experience down to two bullet points. His industry expertise was conveyed quickly using one-word visuals too.
Business development is rooted in your ability to communicate and do so as effectively as possible. Gal knew recruiters would be looking for a short few words on how he has led previous businesses to success.
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Q& a: How Long Should A Cv Be
Employers look at resumes and CVs to find qualified applicants for open positions. Your CV should focus on the achievements you’ve had in previous educational and professional roles. You need to ensure that your CV is long and detailed enough so that the hiring manager understands the experience you can bring to their organization.
In this article, we outline frequently asked questions about the ideal length for your CV.
Read more:Curriculum Vitae Format Guide: Examples and Tips
How Long Should A Student Resume Be
If youre a student, you should never, ever, go past the one-page limit. You barely have any work experience, so whatever information youre adding that goes past one-page, its probably not that relevant.
If youre having difficulty fitting everything into one page, look at every point in your resume critically.
Do you really need to let your prospective employer know about every single one of your volunteering experiences and extracurriculars, or make your summer lifeguard job occupy one-third of your resume?
The answer is no, not really.
Instead, focus on your most impressive qualifications, best academic achievements, and fields of study relevant to the job you are applying for, and youll find out you probably dont even need a full page.
Want to learn more about how to write the perfect student resume? Check out our complete guide with samples & tips!
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How Long Should A Resume Be Its Up To You
Your resume should be exactly as long as it needs to be and no longer, while also being as brief as possible without selling yourself short.
Resume length is a tricky one. If youre having trouble figuring out how long your resume should be, try focusing more on highlighting your top traits in the most reader-friendly way possible regardless of page count. If youre frustrated trying to smoosh all your experience into a single page, try a two page resume.
Most importantly, dont keep doing the same thing if its not working. Seek out new advice, try different techniques, and use all the tools at your disposal.
Whats The Ideal Length For A College Application Resume
Most people applying for college need a one-page resume. Be sure to include specific details so you can highlight your best and most relevant achievements. Use more pages if you need to list extracurricular activities, academic awards, leadership positions and other things that can boost your chances of getting admission.
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Only Include Degrees Under The Education Section
List only the degrees you earned during your academic career to keep your CV concise. You might need to delete information about your dissertation, committees you served on and training you received while getting your education. Add this information to your educational background if it directly applies to the employer.
The exception to this would be if you’re applying to an academic position. In these cases, you’ll want to list your dissertation if directly applies to the future research or teaching you intend to do.
You Want Recruiters To Focus On The Most Important Parts
Keeping your resume concise is key but why? The answer is, hiring managers just dont have enough time to read every resume in detail. Most recruiters will spend only 15-30 seconds on each resume they read and thats a generous estimate.
This number doesnt magically increase if you send in a two- or three page resume, which means that the longer your resume is, the less time a recruiter will spend on each page, and the higher the chances that theyll miss a key piece of information.
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Why Your Resume Should Be Three Pages
You could have more than two pages if youâre a high-level or senior-level executive or in a very complex, technical field. For example, a scientist may need more than two pages to showcase background, education, published work, and studies. An executive resume usually shows a clear progression of responsibility and job titles with many related experiences.
Your professional document can be three pages if you are actually writing a Curriculum Vitae . This is more common if youâre applying for jobs outside of the USAâread more about the difference between a resume and a CV here. In the US and Canada, there are some other industries that use CVs such as academia and medical.
Federal resumes also follow a different format and can easily be three pages or more.
Read our article on for more information.