Please Sir, Can I Have More Words?

Mostly when I write resumes for clients, they have very few changes or revisions. But the most common change request is for more words.

This "worditis" is a common disease among job seekers. It's the desire to tell all the details of your work history in your resume. It can take the form of adding lots of extra bullet points ('you didn't mention the IT project I worked on in 1987'), it can be a desire to add details to projects that are already listed ('I think we need to point out the ad campaign ran for 5 weeks in 6 major markets'), or it can manifest itself in the need to list every skill ever acquired.

But no matter what form it takes, it IS a disease and it must be beaten! No busy recruiter wants to read a pile of dense, wordy and long-winded documents. If you include too much information, the likelihood is that none of it will be read.

Think of your resume as a brochure rather than the product catalog. It should communicate your key selling points in an attractive, easy-to-read format. It should tell the reader who you are, clearly and concisely, and compel him to take action (in this case, calling you in for an interview.) During the interview process, you will have lots of time to explain the details of your projects and to outline all the great things you've accomplished. Your resume is not the place for that.

But how do you choose what to include and what to omit? Two suggestions:

1) Put yourself in the shoes of the person who will read your resume. Ask yourself what his or her chief concerns are. What do they want in a new employee? What problems do they need to be solved? What opportunities do they need to capitalize on? Look for clues in the job posting, or just use your general knowledge of your industry and field.

2) As you write your resume, ask yourself 'does this piece of information make it significantly more likely that I will get an interview, given what I know about my target audience?' If the answer is 'no,' out it goes!

Less really IS more in a resume. By creating a concise, easy-to-read document that gives an overview of your accomplishments, you will make it so much easier for recruiters to understand the value that you bring.

Comments

[Jennifer]

Great post and great advice!

What has worked for me in the past is to make a list of each and every accomplishment for the jobs I am placing on my resume. I then go through to figure out the most relevant and only include those. I have potentially weeded out about 50% worth of information that may have made the employer look the other way.

Thanks for the post!

[Louise Fletcher]

Great advice Jennifer. I do the same when I write a resume for a client - I generally start with 3 or 4 pages and then weed it down.