Why Long Resumes Don't Work

There is a good reason why long resumes do not work when you are looking for a job. To understand why, just look at it from the point of view of the person who is responsible for viewing and screening all of the resumes submitted for a posting.

In most cases, this task falls to someone in human resources. The HR specialist may receive one hundred or more resumes for an open position, and in larger companies, he or she is probably working on three or four open positions at a time. That translates to literally hundreds of resumes that must be screened, evaluated, and separated within a short time so that interviews can be scheduled and the hiring process can proceed.

Are you beginning to understand why a long resume does not work? The reader does not have time to read through a large number of long resumes, so you need to keep it short, clear, and concise.

Short is not enough

While a short resume is definitely better than a long resume, it takes a bit more to get yours noticed when it is one among many being considered. You must make the key points stand out so that the reader's eye is naturally drawn to them, and those points should be targeted to the specific skills and attributes the reader wants to see.

There are several ways you can make your resume eye-catching and effective:

Order of information - The order in which you present information in your resume is significant. The most important things related to the specific job posting should come first; the less important things should come later.

Layout - The layout of your resume should be clean and easy to read. Use wide margins and plenty of white space, a standard font sized to at least 10 or 12 points, and succinct headings.

Emphasis - Emphasize the key points you want the reader to notice. This is most effectively done with bold and/or italic type or with bullet points. Less is more when it comes to emphasis; if everything is in bold type then nothing stands out, so be selective and only use this tactic sparingly.

Big mistakes to avoid

Some job seekers make the mistake of keeping their resume to two pages by cramming as much information onto those two pages as possible. They end up with small type size, small margins, and just plain too many words. If you find yourself with a resume that looks like this, then you need to do some serious editing.

Other mistakes to avoid include:

• Spelling errors
• Grammatical errors
• Bright or unusual colors of paper
• Fancy, difficult to read fonts
• Big, complicated words
• Passive language
• Binding or other types of special covers

In the end, the most productive resume will be concise and readable, with key information noted in a manner that makes it easy for the reader to notice.

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