Resume Question: Always one page or does experience dictate? Forum

[H]

If you came straight from undergrad, you have no reason for a multi-page resume.

Word. In fact, it may speak negatively of your ability to synthesize information and be succinct.

Prioritize, get rid of the least important/relevant stuff.

[nymario]

Just to continue to beat this horse in case it's not quite dead: I'm 33, have 10+ years of WE including (but not limited to) military service + investment bank experience, hold a DoD TS/SCI Security clearance, am currently an RA for a professor and have an additional legal position -- I have a one page resume. OP: it would be idiotic to use two pages. Full Stop.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

I never understood the one page rule. Especially if you are not a K-JD. If you have real experience, you can go over one page. Use good judgment and include information that will highlight your experience and intellectual ability.

[Kochel]

In interviewing lawyers to work in my company's in-house legal department, I can't remember the last one-page resume I saw. I actually want to see details about the work you've done as a lawyer, as I'm generally looking to hire somebody with specific skills and experiences. But when I was an associate at a firm reviewing OCI resumes, I would have rolled my eyes at a two-page resume.

[pleasetryagain]

I never understood the one page rule. Especially if you are not a K-JD. If you have real experience, you can go over one page. Use good judgment and include information that will highlight your experience and intellectual ability.

I think the one page rule is a product of group think. It is what all OCS people tell their students, and they in turn tell other people.. etc etc. I never understood it either.. I always thought two pages with all your work experience is better than cutting some stuff out and telling the interviewer "well I also did this, this and this but I REALLY didn't want to burden you with 14 extra lines of reading."

[rayiner]

I never understood the one page rule. Especially if you are not a K-JD. If you have real experience, you can go over one page. Use good judgment and include information that will highlight your experience and intellectual ability.

I think the one page rule is a product of group think. It is what all OCS people tell their students, and they in turn tell other people.. etc etc. I never understood it either.. I always thought two pages with all your work experience is better than cutting some stuff out and telling the interviewer "well I also did this, this and this but I REALLY didn't want to burden you with 14 extra lines of reading."

The issue is that 10% of people will throw away a 2-page resume or not read past the first page, while nobody will throw away a 1-page resume.

Anecdotally. I used to help recruit for the software company I worked for and I'd absolutely hate to see people with 3-5 years of experience with multi-page resumes. 99% of the time it just showed they were bad at being succinct (which is not what you want in a programmer!) Everyone does particular tasks in certain jobs. If I had to wade through bullets and bullets of that generic stuff just to get to the one thing that made that experience unique, I'd not only likely gloss over the salient detail, but I'd be pissed off in the process. "You're a summer associate who did doc review? No shit, tell me more!"

My dad, who does a lot of hiring, also hates multi-page resumes. When he's staffing a project, he'll have to hire 5-10 people. HR will pull 70-100 resumes from a database that match some profile. He can spend maybe a minute or two on each one (times 100 resumes times 10 positions).

There is almost never a good reason for a young person to have a 1 page resume (the stuff you do as an SA is incredibly generic). Older people who work in highly specialized practices often have a 1-page resume and a longer CV.

[ggocat]

99% of the time it just showed they were bad at being succinct (which is not what you want in a programmer!)

... or a lawyer.

[downstream]

You should only have a 2 page resume if you are a 3-4 star general

[shoeshine]

This guy used two pages.

[goodolgil]

This guy used two pages.

haha, where the hell does that come from?