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.
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:
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Musical talent: if you play an instrument, sing in a band, or write music
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Physical activities: If you hike, swim, or kayak
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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:
When To Use A One
Caitlin Proctor, CPRW
6 min read
One of the most debated questions among resume writers: should a resume be one page or two pages long? A two-page resume has the room to include all the information you need for a lot of work experience, but the one-page resume is so tailored and compact. Which one is best?
The truth is that your resumeâs length should depend on a variety of factors. Moreover, your goal should always be to keep your resume as relevant as possible. The key is to know when to use a one-page resume, and when to rely on the two-page variety.
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In Most Instances A Resume Should Not Be Only One Page
Contrary to what you may have heard, a resume should rarely be only one page. Most professionals should use a two-page resume this applies whether you have seven or 17 years of work experience.
Only entry-level professionals those who recently graduated from college and are just entering the workforce typically use a resume that’s only one page.
In fact, thanks to a recent study that involved nearly 500 recruiters, hiring managers, and HR professionals, even entry-level job seekers no longer have to use a resume that’s only one page. According to the research, recruiters were 2.3 times as likely to prefer resumes that were two pages over resumes that are only one page, regardless of a candidate’s job level. That means if you recently graduated from college and have a number of relevant internships, co-ops, volunteer work, or extracurricular activities to boast about, then you may have enough information to warrant a second page. If you don’t have those resume boosters, then you’re better off using a resume that’s only one page.
Click on the following link to learn more about how to determine the optimal resume page length.
How Long Should A Resume Be: The One
Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to squeeze 15 or more years of work experience into a one-page resume. In fact, until recently, only entry-level candidates were urged to keep their resumes to one page, as most employers assumed someone who was new to the post-college workforce wouldn’t have enough information to justify more than one page of resume real estate. But, thanks to new data, this resume-length rule may no longer apply to most job seekers at any level, as career experts claim.
According to a study that involved nearly 500 recruiters, hiring managers, and HR professionals and nearly 8,000 resumes, recruiters are 2.3 times as likely to prefer two-page resumes over one-page resumes, regardless of a candidate’s years of experience.
So, why the change in opinion? I think there are two factors to consider.
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Your Job Target Keywords Are Easily Noticeable:
Your resume may differ for different jobs. For instance, if you have applied for two distinct kinds of jobs, then definitely your resume may also slightly differ from each other. Even the keywords for targeting that job will also differ.
So, if you have wisely used some really impressive keywords to easily target on your preferred job, then you would want the recruiter to notice them.
If there are limited words to read, then the recruiter can levy great focus on your targeted keywords. In case the total words in a resume are more, then the focus of recruiter will also diversify.
In Some Circumstances Your Type Of Work And The Job Opening May Merit A Two
The one-page résumé has long been considered the optimal approach for selling yourself in the modern job market. Its normally enough to provide recruiters with sufficient information to prove your suitability, and its short enough to hold their attention when they are sifting through hundreds of applications. But are there any occasions when a one-page résumé just isnt enough?
If you find yourself in any of the following situations, you may have a strong case for straying on to that second page.
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Use Legible Fonts At Smaller Sizes
Choosing a good font for your resume that works in small sizes will make sure your resume is legible and easy-to-read.
Fonts like Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, and Calibri are safe fonts to go with that will still look good at smaller font-sizes.
Even though you might be used to seeing other documents using a size 12pt font, you may even need to reduce your font size to 11pt or 10pt to fit everything in.
The key is to make it small enough that it can still be read clearly when printed and on the screen.
Are There Any Rules To Resume Writing
So, it seems the resume length rule is really not a rule about length at all. Length is not a measurement of quality content and content is what your resume is all about. The rule regarding the length is just an illusion.
But are all the resume rules worth breaking? Well, not exactly. There are certain golden rules you cant start jeopardizing. You cant do these things no matter how tempting it might seem so while you are free to play around with the length, do not try these tricks on your resume:
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Leave Out Your High School
Very rarely is your high school going to be relevant to a position youre applying for. Unless you went to a very specialized high school, or you know that the recruiter reviewing your application also went to your high school, theres no reason to include it.
Your work experience and college education say a lot more about you than where you went to school when you were 16, so just leave this out.
Understand The Reality Of The Situation
So far, I havent actually suggested cutting any content, but it had to happen eventually. Youre going to have to cut stuff.
Really think hard about whether or not each item on your resume is relevant for the job youre applying for. Try to be objective. If an experience would only potentially be interesting to a hiring manager, cut it in favor of the things you know will make you stand out. I knowits not easy to go line by line and kill your darlings. But in the end, youll have a better, cleaner document.
I must confess that I actually really enjoy trying to squeeze a persons professional identity onto one page. For me, its a fun little challenge. So, if youre struggling, try approaching this process as a mental puzzle or game. Now, go solve it.
Lily Zhang is a career counselor at the MIT Media Lab, where she works with a range of students from AI experts to interaction designers on crafting their own unique career paths. When shes not indulging in a new book or video game, shes thinking about, talking about, or writing about careers. You can find her on , , and her website.
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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.
Remove Unnecessaryinformation About Your Education
Only freshgraduates need to include their graduation year on a resume. Working studentscan benefit from including their high school information. But thats no longerneeded once you get your degree.
Those whohave a few years of employment under their belt need no longer list theirgraduation year. Just write the degreeyou’ve got and where you got it. Employers want to make sure that you’ve got adegree, thats all.
If you’re a new graduate, though. You may want to feature your education a bit more. Here’s an article to help with that:
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The Recruiter Understands That You Believe In Delivering Important Information Only:
Your resume is most responsible for you creating the first impression over the recruiters. If your resume contains only vital information about your professional life and highlights aspects that are pertinent to your focus then even the recruiter gets an idea of how you prioritize things.
A well designed one page resume can successfully create your positive image in front of the recruiter.
Using The Right Keywords
As an online marketer, I use keyword research all the time. As a job seeker, you need to know how this process works in principle, to fully understand why you need to spend time on it.
RECRUITERS SEARCH FOR KEYWORDS. When a recruiter searches , Indeed, Monster.com or any of the other career oriented networks/portals, or even their own applicant tracking system, your resume is scanned for very specific keywords which come from the job description that you’re being considered for. This is similar to how many forms of online marketing works in principle. It all comes down to matching keywords with searches very often.
HOW CAN I USE THIS TO MY ADVANTAGE?Use the exact keywords and keyphrases from the job description in your resume. Its that simple. Copy them from the job description, and paste them into your resume, and write words around them to make them fit there. Make sure it all fits together well. Then bold this stuff. All the bold phrases and words in my resume relate to exact phrases or bullet points from job descriptions that I was targeting.
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When Space Is No Longer An Option
Your content is impeccable. Youve edited, downsized fonts, tweaked margins, and finagled text boxes to abide by the one page golden rule. But unfortunately, space is no longer on your side.
Once you get to this stage, its fine to go ahead and supersize your resume to more than one page. Trust me, you will not be cast away to the Island of Misfit Resumes.
Honestly, the hiring manager will grant you extra brownie points for not assaulting his or her eyesight with eight-point fonts or instigating what I call the eyeball cha-chawhere your eyes have to dance all over the page to find information you need.
A resume that has text scattered everywhere or is so condensed it looks possessed by hoarders can send the wrong message about you as a candidate. If employers have the impression you cant organize your thoughts effectively on paper, they may second guess how youll perform in the role. Better to be safe than sorry and spread your wealth of experience to a second page.
When Is It Acceptable
Several instances were discussed above where a resume can be longer than 2 pages.
A federal resume is often 4-6 pages long.
If the role you are interested in requires a CV , it will likely be over 2 pages long because of the additional information you will need to include.
As a freelancer or executive, sometimes 2 pages is not quite enough space, and going to a third page is necessary. Just keep the information applicable to the role you are applying to.
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You Can Include Less Vital Information In Your Cover Letter As Well:
If there is more information that is not very much crucial, but still you want it to present in front of the recruiting team, then surely you can include it in your curriculum vitae.
This way you will not only able to outline a well informed vitae but will also able to differentiate between what is most important and what is least required.
How Many Pages Should A Resume Be: The Golden Rule
If you have been in the workforce for a number of years, you’re entitled to a maximum of two full pages of resume real estate. This rule applies to most senior professionals, whether you’ve been in the workforce for seven years or 27 years.
The reality is that most recruiters spend less than 10 seconds reviewing a resume before deciding whether the applicant should receive further consideration. With so little time to make the right impression, it’s important to present a succinct document that highlights the recent and more relevant parts of your professional experience, skills, and education.
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Who Should Use A One
The first page resume is good if you do not have a long work history. You might be a recent graduate or a student. You may be looking for your next job after holding one to two roles. It could even work for you if you are exchanging career paths completely.
It might be better to focus on the transferable skills rather than listing the jobs, youve previously held and therefore, a single page might be enough for you. Its really down to the relevancy of those positions youve had and the new role you are looking for.
Case Study: Daniels Two Page Customer Support Resume
Daniel had been involved in remote work for over two years.
Two years of experience doesnt sound like a lot. But the impact hes had during that time was huge, which left him with a lot to say.
The nature of his work requires more detail on who he is and his ability to fit company culture despite the distance. It was also necessary to explain the reasons why hes gravitated towards remote working too.
His less than 10 years of experience would typically lead us to a one-page resume. However, in this case, two pages were needed.
The hiring manager wants to see the value you can provide for the company. Even if you dont have as much experience as Gal does and youre someone like Daniel, you want to talk about the results you were responsible for.
When the employer sees what youre capable of, its more likely theyll hire you for the job posting since they understand how valuable you are.
If youre like Daniel and you want a proven two-page resume template to secure your new career, click the button below to get started for free!
It only requires minimal effort. Its that simple!
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General Tips For Job Applications
Even though you are adding a second page, you still need to be as concise as possible to hold the reader’s attention. Keep the most important information on the first page. A busy hiring manager may not be interested enough to get to the second page of every resume.
Tailor your resume for each job application and include a cover letter to relate your skills to the open position. Always be truthful about your past experience. Employers will check your references and uncover any misrepresentations.
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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