Archive for the ‘Resume Writing Tips’ Category

How many pages are appropriate for Executive Résumés?

The one-page synopsis is a thing of the past. And now that I’ve said this, all you employers please put your teeth back in, take a valium and read on.

First of all, length is really irrelevant compared to content in  executive resumes. Put yourself in the shoes of a hiring manager for a moment and I’ll explain why. The hiring authority must sift through dozens, or even hundreds, of  executive résumés to choose a first list of candidates who MIGHT be qualified. Give him a break! And not by giving fewer words, but more meat. When you synopsize, you run these risks:

1. You assume the reader will read between the lines and come up with the correct evaluation of what it is you can do, or will do. As a recruiter, I get very frustrated with this. I can’t tell whether you are lazy, modest, or have no idea why anyone would want to hire you.
2. You assume the reader knows the size and structure, the product or service and the marketplace of your current employer.
3. You assume the reader will be impressed by your title(s) and know where you fit in the hierarchy of responsibility in your corporate structure.
4. You assume that using vague business platitudes on an executive resume will “sort of cover every possible job opening” and therefore, not limit your chances.
5. You assume the reader is in the business of using his own time and imagination to try to figure out what your potential could be within his company, in other words, what his company could do for you to help your career growth.

When you make these assumptions, you are putting the responsibility [of translating your executive resume content] onto the hiring manager. Your chances of being chosen for an interview are only 50 – 50, because the reader can only relate to your verbiage from his own experience in the business world, and his own pre-conceived ideas about certain companies, titles and résumés AND his own time table for filling this position. Don’t limit your job search chances by vagueness. TAKE CONTROL. BE SPECIFIC. Don’t make more work for a hiring manager than he already has. The only “limiting” this will do is limiting the amount of time wasted by you and the interviewer. Remember that executive resumes are  a tool to obtain face-to-face job interviews.

Appropriate Length for Executive Resumes:

Unless you have only 1 or 2 short jobs to relate, executive résumés can easily be 2 pages without being overkill. The longest executive résumé I have seen without any fluff is 8 pages. Of course, this included 3 addendum pages of appropriate publications, languages, and key business relationships, and was a paper customized for a Marketing position that called for detailed technical writing skills.

The point here is that if you write a very full, factual, chronological résumé you should be covered. A skimmer-type of hiring manager should be able to skim and see the important facts jump out. A detail person will be able to glean the answer to all his basic questions and also get a good sense of you as a person.

Don’t be shy. Executive resumes need details. Not only will a hiring manager “get you” on the first skim, but the online ATS (applicant tracking systems) will find all those keywords and phrases that will catapult you to the top of the pile of executive resumes.

Technorati Tags: business, correct evaluation, Don, executive, Executive Job Interview, Executive Résumé, Executive Resumes, hiring authority, hiring manager, JOB, manager, page synopsis, reader, Résumé, resume content, resume tips, resume writing, Resume Writing Tips, structure 4, time