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Could your resume actually be too SHORT?
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Not exactly the desired reaction you'll want from your resume!
Ages ago, hiring professionals warned job hunters to stick to a classic, single-page format or be quickly eliminated from consideration.
Back then, many candidates had just 1 or 2 jobs to list, and downsizing wasn’t even a commonly used term.
Today's rapid-fire job market, however, is different--and it seems that plenty of people still sell themselves –and their resumes—short.
Consider the case of Richard* (fictitious name), a client that recently came to me with a long tenure in the financial services industry.
He wanted to go after sales positions both inside and outside his industry, and possessed a solid history of investment industry experience, sales awards, and business-to-business relationship-building skills.
Yet, for all his experience, Richard was still cramming more than 20 years of sales proficiency into a single page. His resume didn’t even do the honor of providing sufficient metrics on his sales performance.
Naturally, we worked together to extract some impressive numbers (4 years in President’s Club, multimillion-dollar revenue growth, Top 2% sales associate awards, etc.).
Assembling these facts made it easy for his resume to stretch out and breathe—giving space to shout his value proposition and clearly tell a story of success.
If this situation sounds familiar, it’s time to break out of your comfort zone and advance your resume into the 2-page arena. Keep in mind that the best resumes use a clean, easy-to-read design surrounded by plenty of white space to showcase your achievements.
Start by asking colleague and friends what your value proposition looks like to them, then pull out major themes and write specifics. Dollar figures, percentages, awards, operational metrics, and the like are all fair game.
Skip the platitudes and boilerplate phrases, and instead describe what YOU do best – cultivate strong client relationships, boost revenue, motivate teams, and the like.
Before you know it, you’ll easily reach a full 2 pages of information and can start the more rewarding task of cutting out mundane details, leaving a strong brand message inside a just-right amount of space.
Laura Smith-Proulx, CCMC, CPRW, CIC is an award-winning, published executive resume writer whose work has created successful opportunities for leadership professionals throughout the world. A credentialed resume expert and former recruiter, she is the principal of An Expert Resume, and frequently blogs on effective, powerful resume writing techniques that open doors to top jobs.
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