Your résumé is your personal advertisement. The purpose of a résumé, therefore, is to sell you, not to describe you. In order to grab a recruiter’s interest and create a positive impression within a few seconds, your résumé should be comprehensive and tidy.
One-page résumés are appropriate for college candidates (entry-level candidates, to be more specific,) and candidates with less than ten years of work experience. Such candidates rarely have substantial accomplishments to justify a résumé of more than a page in length.
More-experienced candidates may use two pages to describe their accomplishments. Even here, one-page résumés are recommended. Recruiters will survey the second page only if the contents of the first page are appealing.
A one-page résumé acknowledges the importance of a recruiter’s time. A two-page résumé is a sign of disregard.
Compact your Résumé
Follow these guidelines to consolidate your résumé content into one page.
Comprehension is crucial. Recruiters hate wordy résumés. They first glance through the organization of a résumé and quickly skim over particulars in key sections. A strong, comprehensive presentation is consequently appealing.- Avoid a tell-it-all résumé. Avoid the common mistake of providing too many details. Leave some details for discussion in a potential interview.
- Restrict accomplishments under each position held to two or three bullet points only. Weed out unimportant details. Use phrases if necessary.
- Do not cram. Do not reduce page margins and font-sizes or eliminate white space. Résumés crowded with information are hard to read.
Conclusion
A one-page résumé is usually long enough to present all the essential information concisely and captivatingly. It can easily engage a recruiter and convince him/her that your background merits further consideration.
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