I keep hearing conflicting things about this issue. Could someone tell me what is the ideal length of a resume ? how much should it include? Im talking about a generic resume, not for specific places i’d want to tailor it for.
profile right now is masters level graduate with around 2.5 years of experience (cumulative). im spilling into three pages 
btw
Re: resume workshop!
wiht 2.5 yrs of actual experience. It should be no longer than 3/4 of a page. Education should be no more than 3 lines. No one cares what classes one takes in college.
Re: resume workshop!
hm.. might that vary between tech and business? see I always thought that two pages max is the limit but one recruiter showed an EIGHT page resume and told a friend (same profile) to model his along those lines.
Re: resume workshop!
ravage,
you're right about the 2 page limit... that's the safe thing to aim for.
That being said, when I was in management consulting, I did use a 3 page resume' from time to time.
In academia, you need to highlight your publications, community service as well as your industry and academic experiences, so the standard format is a little different and should strictly be referred to as a "Curriculum Vitae" - I currently have a 7 page CV, but if I were applying anywhere outside academia, I'd stick to 2 or max. 3 pages.
Re: resume workshop!
one page is quite standard. career services advisors in college used to say one page MAXIMUM.
which recruiter will sit there reading an essay of a resume?
Re: resume workshop!
^^ nikhil that's more typical of an undergraduate student with little work experience - having worked in HR for over two years, most resumes' I came across were 2 pages, for both undergrads and grads... but yes, you're right w.r.t. being able to quickly scan a resume' for relevance and that's why its important to carefully construct:
Re: resume workshop!
^ yeah thats quite rite.
i remember giving my 2 page cv to a human resource manager and she saying "itna lamba cv"
Re: resume workshop!
^^ haha - most people don't even realize the difference between a resume' and a CV. A CV by its very definition is supposed to be longer than a resume' and its not uncommon to have a 10 page CV. My Ph.D. supervisor has a 12 page CV, and I'm at 7 pages right now myself.
As far as a resume' goes, I'm having a hard time to keep it to 3 pages.
Re: resume workshop!
^ certainly it is meant to grow with experience, my retired military officer uncle also have 12+ pages of CV.
no big deal
Re: resume workshop!
The bottom line is - You are advertising/selling yourself and resume is your first tool. I have seen many resumes and writtern many myself and have come to the conlusion that there is no right or wrong. But there is one thing that everyone will agree upon .... if the first page, actually the first half page is not going to get the readers attention, no matter how good or related your experience is, you are not going to get the call.
Another point I would like to make is that you cannot write a resume that fits all job advertisement and that is true for fresh college grads as well. You should always go back and tweek your resume to highlight your 'fitnees' for the job.
Last but not least is that .... less is more ... just write enough to qualify yourself for the position. In other words your resume is only the first step, your goal is to get an interview and your resume should have enough items that the hiring manager will give you a call.
Hope this helps
Re: resume workshop!
thanks.
being concise helped but so did being comprehensive. in the end i decided on a two pager and almost all interviewers at my open house went through it and each was interested in something else.. so im grateful i didnt cut much content out.
thanks all.
Re: resume workshop!
As a general rule, the guy reading your CV to decide whether or not to call you for an interview / assessment test will spend a total of 30 seconds looking at it, given that he'll have hundreds or to get through.
If your important points fit within 2 pages, he's likely to skim over them all.
Beyond 2 pages, it's unlikely you'll keep his interest.