The resume’s only job is to inspire a recruiter to call so they can learn more about you.

2-page resume format

“Is the 2-page resume still in vogue?”  “Is a 2-page resume too long?”  “I have been working for 20 years. Is two pages long enough?” I am rarely asked this question because most of us understand what a resume should look like. We have been writing resumes since we applied for our first part-time job in high school, using the same format repeatedly. When it’s time to update the resume, we pull the version used to land our last job, add the most recent experience, and trim to fit. Most of us list the following and don’t give it a second thought:

1. Contact info
2. Objective statement / Mission
3. Job experience in chronological order
4. Education
5. Extracurricular activities, clubs, associations, and continuing education

Too much info

All of the above is standard. Today’s post is about resumes that list too much information in every category. This is causing our resumes to be discarded by the hiring managers. Listing everything in the kitchen sink results in a 2-page resume when a single page is enough, three pages when a two-pager is enough, etc.  This is the wrong approach. With the new economy in mind, today’s post answers the question we all wonder about, “Just how long should my resume be?”. 

Bolted on Experience

The traditional way of writing a resume is what I refer to as the “ Bolt On Recent Experience.” This method keeps making the document longer. The resume that got us the last job at Acme Publishing is saved until our manager pisses us off and “We cain’t takes no moze!” At this point, the frustrated employee becomes a motivated candidate and enters update-my-resume mode. We pull out the resume that got us into Acme Publishing, bolt on the Acme Publishing accomplishments, and call it good. 

The result of the BORE resume is that it keeps getting longer. We end up listing everything we have accomplished in our professional careers. Ninety-five percent of the resumes I read have jobs, titles, or accomplishments unrelated to the position of interest.

If this post surfaced more questions, the book “Before the Interview | An Insider’s View of How Resumes Are Interpreted Before Anyone Talks to You” goes deeper into how these and other resume decisions are actually made.

The mindset of BORE

1. We don’t want to leave out any details or skill sets. Candidates are concerned that the company may value this secondary skill. “This accomplishment might be important!”
2. Although unrelated to the job, we are proud of a particular accomplishment, so we are keeping it listed.  
3. Some candidates believe that the longer the resume, the more impressive it is.  

This brings us to two classic schools of thought. Guess which one has a shot at an offer?

Look ma! See my 4-page resume! I have done some shit!
Vs.
Quality, not Quantity

As someone who has reviewed thousands of resumes, I believe that the first attitude only dilutes your skill set. As candidates, we end up looking like a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. We become the proverbial broad-skilled set, lacking depth in any area. Very seldom are hiring managers looking for a jack-of-all-trades. Hiring managers are looking for dedicated specialists to solve specific problems. 

But HRNasty, I have 13 years of experience.  Am I screwed?

You are not screwed

Today, we will reverse-engineer a resume to align directly with the hiring manager’s and recruiters’ needs and preferences. Recruiters are only intersted in what will help fill the position. The exercise aims to clarify what the hiring manager is looking for and what they couldn’t care less about.

When I work with candidates, I make the same tweaks to the resume

1. The document should be as clean, easy to read, and easy to understand as possible.
2. We don’t want to bore the reader with information unrelated to the position.  The technical HR term for this type of information is gobbly-gook.
3. Only list what will get us the callback.  If the listings won’t be missed, we should yank them.   

The Usual Suspects

Contact info:

We list only the information needed to contact us. 

Objective statement

Hiring managers don’t care about your career “Objective.” Managers want to hire a living, breathing clone of their job description. State who you are, not who you want to be or what you like to do. I am in a different state of mind if I get the impression you ARE the person who has done the job, rather than someone hoping to acquire (on the company dime) Acme Publishing’s required skill set.

Focus on job description bullets

Our focus should be on the bullets in the job description and job requirements. 

If your accomplishments are the same as those of every other candidate, they won’t set you apart.  

Quality not quantity

Add as many quantifiable examples as possible. We weren’t just the cashier, we were the “cashier responsible for 1200.00 in sales a day with a perfect balance for 42 days straight, and a company record”.   

Clean up extracurricular activities

Extracurricular interests are valuable because they demonstrate personality and character. Outdated interests fall flat in phone and in-person interviews. 

The quiet truth

You may be fully qualified.
You may even be the best candidate.

But if your resume introduces friction early, it won’t reach the stage where qualifications are debated.

This post describes a few of the signals recruiters notice instinctively. In Before the Interview, I explain the broader system behind those signals: how resumes are actually read, what they compete with, and why interpretation happens the way it does long before anyone talks to you.

Understanding that system changes how you write, not just what you write.

Want to go deeper on this topic? Check out the book, “Before the Interview, An Insider’s View of How Resumes Are Interpreted Before Anyone Talks to You.“

See you at the after party,

HRNasty

nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.

Ongoing writing and context live on LinkedIn and Bluesky.

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