Keep it short ?resume length guidelines

Keep it short ?resume length guidelinesOne of the main questions asked about resumes is,o I have to include everything on one page??Themost common misconception of resume writing isthat your entire professional history has to fitwithin one 8 x11?page of white paper. The truthis, the resume should be well written and concise,and should promote your qualifications in thebest possible light. This is sometimes impossibleto do in one page. Thus, a resume can extend tomultiple pages, with some considerationdepending on your career level.

?Be concise. This is critical. Do not use lengthysentences and paragraph forms to disclose yourexperience and your education. Employers wantstraight forward statements that highlight yourqualifications. A resume is not a place to showyour creative writing skills.?Perfect your resume. You have second to catchyour potential employer attention. Make sure thatyour resume is properly formatted, and you are nottrying to fit too much copy on a single page ofpaper. Create appropriate and professionalsections for your resume. Your potential employeris more concerned with the look and content ofyour resume than with its length.?Longer is not better when you donot have theexperience to meet your career objective. If youare new to the job market, are changing careers,or you have only had one job, stick to a one pageresume. If you donot have the experience to meetyour career objective, no matter the reason, donot apologize for it. Donot try to fill up your

resume with irrelevant content; instead do yourbest to highlight your transferable skills, andstick to the hort and sweet.??Unless you are applying for an executive-leveljob, or are composing curriculum vitae, yourresume should not exceed two pages. The purposeof a well-written resume is to sell you as the bestcandidate for the job with a confident and astraight-forward approach. Do not oversell yourskills. Do not list more than three to fiveprevious positions you have help. Stick to thoseskills and experiences that best meet the jobrequirements and your career objective. The mostrelevant information has to be included on thefirst page. The second page should be numbered,with your contact information included as well(just in case the pages are separated when printed,you donot want your potential employer to discardthe second page of your resume completely). If youfind yourself going over two pages, review yourresume and make sure that you are notincorporating information that is irrelevant to

your goals or to the position you are seeking.?Make sure that your professional historywarrants a resume that is three pages or longer.As mentioned above, unless you are a senior- orexecutive-level professional, or you arecomposing curriculum vitae, your resume shouldnot extend to over two pages. If you have a longerresume, you will have to make sure that everystatement on the resume is applicable to yourcareer goals. If you have had decades ofleadership experience for example, demonstratethat using the reverse chronological resume styleand only list those jobs that best qualify you forthe position you are seeking. If you need toinclude an extensive list of publications orcertifications, your resume can take up more thanthree pages. Make sure that the importantinformation is still listed on the first page.This includes your career objective andprofessional profile, and your current or mostrecent professional experience. All subsequentpages need to be numbered, and include your

contact information in the heading.