The Basics: Is your resume too short?
Make sure you're putting enough in your resume to resonate with recruiters and hiring managers (and the AI helping them).
Photo by Alexandre Chambon on Unsplash
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“They” say that recruiters only spend 6-7 seconds looking at a resume therefore your resume should only be one page. I’ll agree that you should be efficient but don't make your resume too short. That isn't advice I've had to give often overall but it's come up multiple times with clients in the last few weeks so I wanted to share some thoughts. Sticking to one page with your resume might be why you aren't getting the response you want.
Here’s what your too-short resume is doing:
Indicating you didn’t do anything substantial/important
Not helping someone understand what you did, let alone what you accomplished
Not “filling” in the blanks for how one role led to another or how two roles with the same title differed
Leaving out the keywords given to screeners to indicate good candidates (esp. for those not schooled in that industry’s jargon)
Leaving out keywords used by AI or other automated methods
Rather than focus on one page as some magic length, the real rule with your resume is to make it present you best. To borrow a music expression, your resume should be "all killer, no filler." Look at your resume and ask if it's giving them enough information to really make that call. If it isn't, maybe it's time to flesh things out a bit beyond titles and durations.
If you're early in your career, fresh from school, or otherwise don't have a lot of experience to share, then yes, your resume should be one page. However, once you’ve got ~5-7 years under your belt then it's fine to go to a second page, and maybe even a third if there's enough content to warrant it. You don't need to include every job, every technique, every platform, or every project, but you should say enough to really indicate your progression and your experience. Don’t undersell yourself by not saying enough but don’t pad things out with nonsense either. Part of looking like the right candidate is respecting the time and intelligence of the person reading your materials.
Here are some ideas to keep in mind:
You resume should emphasize more recent roles more than older ones. Maybe only go back a decade or so and say more about the more recent ones.
Do more than describe the job. The point isn't to parrot the job description, it's to say what you did. Quantifiable results are best but lean on accomplishments more than explanations.
Job duration matters. if your most recent experience was a 3 month contract, don't stretch that to 7 bullet points if the following position of 3 years is only going to get 2. It creates confusion for the reader that isn't necessary.
It's fine to include outside projects, community affiliations, or other information. If that requires a new page use your best judgement. Going from 1 to 2 or 2 to 2.5 pages isn't the end of the world but make sure that everything you're including is helping you get to the next step. You don't need to share everything.
There is no perfect resume length. You don’t want to prattle on, but make sure that you're saying enough as well. The reader doesn't know you, what you've done, or who you are (yet). Your resume is part of your introduction. Say enough to make them want to learn more. Eventually you'll have plenty of time to share more once you get the job.