Tolstoy never wrote a resume

I received a 10 page resume today. While not unprecedented, it is unusual. I get 6+ page resumes at least once a week, but pushing into the double-digits is something that happens only once or twice every three months. The worst offender in my 15 year recruiting career was a 26 page resume complete with a Table of Contents.

I have to review dozens of resumes a day. Without getting into the finer points of how to get my attention, I will tell you a 10 page resume gets enough attention to deserve a Top Ten Resume tips post.

One: A resume is designed to spark interest and studies have shown you have six seconds. Get the reader's attention with information relevant to the job at the very top of your resume. Short and impactful statements to earn you more than six seconds.

Two: A resume is not going to get you a job so you don't regurgitate every experience you've had since you were in junior high school. Targeted, relevant information for the reader is all you need.

Three: Hotlink to your LinkedIn Profile which is more powerful than your resume and gives you more "creative license" to tell your story. 

Four: If you're a fresh college grad your resume will have a different "voice" than if you have 20 years of experience.

Five: Most resumes are a recitation of tasks. I'm more interested in what you can do for us.

Six: Ditch the objective. They all sound like "Desire to use (talent / skills / background) to (add value / advance at / benefit) my next employer."

Seven: If you can't say what you need to say in 2 pages or less I'm out.

Eight: Ditch the business speak and use some of your creative writing ability. Read every sentence aloud - if it sounds off in the natural course of speech re-visit how you're expressing your thought on paper.

Nine: Spell check doesn't catch they're / their / there type grammar issues. Proof read it, have someone else proof read it, then proof read it again.

Ten: Challenge yourself to get a job without using a traditional resume. There's no rule that says you must have a Word document at the ready or there is no job for you.

Send a well thought-out and written one to two page resume targeted to the specific job and employer and you'll be amazed at the results.