Resúmè length? Forum

[Teflon_Don]

Met with a "professional Resúmè writer" yesterday trough my school's career center. My resume looks nice but he designe it to be one page. I always thought two pages was the norm? Do you think one page will come off poorly for Ad Coms? I don't want to give the impression havent I haven't done much, because of the short length.

[luthersloan]

Unless you have won a Nobel, or have multiple publications, your resume should never exceed one page.

[rinkrat19]

Unless you have 5+ years of experience with multiple jobs that require explanation (i.e. not barista or book store cashier), or multiple publications, there is no reason for your resume to be over a page.

[EvilClinton]

Never more than a page ever.

Also, use the search function. This question has been answered many times.

[dingbat]

Met with a "professional Resúmè writer" yesterday trough my school's career center. My resume looks nice but he designe it to be one page. I always thought two pages was the norm? Do you think one page will come off poorly for Ad Coms? I don't want to give the impression havent I haven't done much, because of the short length.

you thought wrong. I have done far more than you and still squeezed my resume onto one page. Unless you have patents or publications to your name, or you've managed to get a C title, you should not have a 2 page resume.

[AMW2016]

Never more than a page ever.

Recognizing that I've made zero posts (until now) and haven't selected an avatar, even, let me seek to qualify my dissent.

I attended a 'mock admissions panel' at Hall Choate & Stewart (Boston) a couple of weeks ago. Deans of admission from Chicago, Michigan and Penn presented three composite applications and debated the merits of each candidate, entertaining questions throughout (and after).

The candidates' résumés (or one of them, at least) spanned two pages. This was a person recently removed from undergrad studies with some low-profile work experience and a few internships / service-and-leadership positions. It could've been condensed to one page.

The question was posed to the deans -- and fielded by Dean Renée Post from Penn, IIRC -- and I was surprised to hear her respond that two pages are (paraphrasing) totally fine and, in fact, the norm. It was stated, further, that the résumé one includes with their law school application is not expected to be the same -- or in the same format, even -- as one's job-search résumé.

Let me be clear, none of that is reproduced verbatim. It was a direct answer to a direct question, though, so I'd urge y'all to reconsider the acceptability of two pages.

IMHO, if you have enough content to span two pages, go for it. Don't compress it or exclude pertinent details to ensure that you're fitting within the cozy confines of a single page.

[JCFindley]

Unless you have 5+ years of experience with multiple jobs that require explanation (i.e. not barista or book store cashier), or multiple publications, there is no reason for your resume to be over a page.

This is dead on. Everyone else is using hyperbole and you don't HAVE to have a Nobel or patent to have two pages and there are in fact MANY reasons to have two but almost all of those reasons start with Rink's reasoning above.....

[presh]

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[AMW2016]

It seems like this destroys your point though. They were talking about acceptability for a ls app. This thread is talking about acceptability for jobs.

The OP asked if his résumé "will come off poorly with Ad Coms," no?

[presh]

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[cinephile]

Probably depends what you're applying for. We've been told over and over that public interest jobs want a demonstration of your commitment and they'd much rather you go into two pages than fail to list your relevant public service work.

[Teflon_Don]

Yeah it's for a law school app

[ns2675]

Just want to second what AMW2016 said. Last week I attended a panel with the deans of admission from Stanford, NYU, Duke and Cornell. During her segment about the personal aspects of the application, Stanford's dean specifically recommended submitting a résumé with the application, and also mentioned (without being asked first if it was ok) that this resume should be longer than the one you'd typically use to apply for a job. She said 2 pages would be appropriate, and that you should take the opportunity to write more than just one line about a given item on the résumé. Basically, the point that she seemed to convey was that you really couldn't give them too much information. The other deans were emphatically nodding their heads, so I assume that different rules apply when submitting a résumé for LS apps than for a job.

[bp shinners]

Just want to second what AMW2016 said. Last week I attended a panel with the deans of admission from Stanford, NYU, Duke and Cornell. During her segment about the personal aspects of the application, Stanford's dean specifically recommended submitting a résumé with the application, and also mentioned (without being asked first if it was ok) that this resume should be longer than the one you'd typically use to apply for a job. She said 2 pages would be appropriate, and that you should take the opportunity to write more than just one line about a given item on the résumé. Basically, the point that she seemed to convey was that you really couldn't give them too much information. The other deans were emphatically nodding their heads, so I assume that different rules apply when submitting a résumé for LS apps than for a job.

My experience with this:
1) Law school deans of admissions say things that don't always pan out with the rest of the admissions committee (especially faculty who read through applications)
2) Top law schools are not typical, and they do want you to submit as much info as possible
3) Even so, most people should fit their experience on a single page, as that's more than enough space to fit everything you've done with a full explanation (if you write in a concise manner)
4) If you have experience so interesting that it's taking up more than enough of the page to push your resume on to a second page, you should probably write a shorter explanation on the resume and write your PS about that experience
5) If someone reading through your application gets a resume with 2 pages, they spend as much time reading it as they do reading a 1-page resume; in short, the 1-page resume ends up conveying more information
6) Career centers at even top schools are very, very bad at putting together a good-looking resume

[rad lulz]

Just do a one page resume, because if you're like 95% of the applicants here on TLS, you don't have enough to make a 2 page resume without sounding ridiculous. No one cares that you were a "child care specialist" for 4 hours on weekends.

[alwayssunnyinfl]

Don't forget to title it "Resúmè" at the top.

[firm administrator]

This is simple- one page.

[MT Cicero]

Glad I searched and found this. I'm basically at 1.4 pages and was considering whether I should be moving toward 2 or 1. My resume is also for law school applications.

The tough part is that I have a decade of experience as a military officer (enlisted 2.5, officer the last 7+). I initially started putting down all the squadrons I've been in as a separate entity with 2-3 bullets a piece. The more I think about it, the more I think the average civilian will not give a fig about whether I was in the 576th, 333rd or 389th (probably doesn't mean much to anyone reading this). I think US Air Force will suffice, with a concise amount of bullets that can still provide some detail as to what I've been doing for a decade.

So, I'm going to 1 page. Although this is already the way I was leaning, nice to hear others echo the 1 page with gusto.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

I have more than 5 years work experience, multiple publications, different awards etc. and everyone has told me for jobs to create a single PDF with my 1 page resume and my transcript. So that's what I'm doing. I agree with some people above it feels weird bc the last year of my life takes up about 1/2 of the page and then everything else is super condensed.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I think for admissions it really doesn't matter much - that document's called a résumé but I see it as more like a vita, which is completely comprehensive; my sense is adcomms are more interested in seeing everything, you're not as targeted or focused as you are in a job app.

(I also used a 2 pp resume all through school, but I'd spent 15+ years in another profession. Ironically, the next time I have to submit a resume anywhere, post-getting a permanent postgrad job, I'm more likely to pare it to one page.)

[jrf12886]

Glad I searched and found this. I'm basically at 1.4 pages and was considering whether I should be moving toward 2 or 1. My resume is also for law school applications.

The tough part is that I have a decade of experience as a military officer (enlisted 2.5, officer the last 7+). I initially started putting down all the squadrons I've been in as a separate entity with 2-3 bullets a piece. The more I think about it, the more I think the average civilian will not give a fig about whether I was in the 576th, 333rd or 389th (probably doesn't mean much to anyone reading this). I think US Air Force will suffice, with a concise amount of bullets that can still provide some detail as to what I've been doing for a decade.

So, I'm going to 1 page. Although this is already the way I was leaning, nice to hear others echo the 1 page with gusto.

I was a naval officer for a few years. I cut out all the details and just have two bullet points describing what I did in general terms. The very fact that you were in the military is enough to impress employers/adcoms.

Also, I totally agree with a 1 page limit. Create a seperate CV for jobs that might want that, but keep the resume to 1 page.

Also, call it a resume instead of a resúmè.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Ha, my phone auto-adds the accent marks.

[jbagelboy]

I did 2 pages unless specified as 1 page (like USC). I regret this, despite being able to include more info. 1 page is more professional. Id stick to it.

[20141023]

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[kay2016]

Mine was about the length of the Resume 3 Regulus posted...

I took my normal resume and expanded some of my activities/volunteering to provide some context since there aren't really LS interviews...

But I wouldn't stretch it to 2 if you've got a lot of detail in one page, and I wouldn't use a 2 page resume for anything other than LS apps.