Career TOOLBOX #41: Resumes – 5 Reasons Why Brevity Matters

Get to the Point. Quickly.

Recently a friend of mine interviewed a candidate who showed up with a 12-page resume. How this person even got through the doors of HR still baffles me. If it takes you 12 whole 8 1/2 by 11 sized pieces of paper to signal why you’re a good candidate, it probably means you don’t have what it takes.

Lots of questions on how long a resume should be and shouldn’t be. Here’s what I tell my clients and students: give yourself a page for each decade of experience. Of course there are exceptions, especially if you’ve built yourself a nice media platform, but unless there’s something magical about you, keep it short. Here’s why:

1. Managers Don’t Have the Time. It’s not because they’re bad people or because they don’t care. It’s because corporations answer to shareholders. Which means companies keep staff lean. Which means that when that under-staffed and over-worked manager is taking the time to interview you, she’s also missing three other meetings on her calender. Help her find your gold.

2. Smart Managers Smell B.S. If you’re padding your resume with accomplishments you didn’t truly achieve, in today’s high-network world, one phone call or social media post will refute all the pretty language you thought will help you get hired. Besides. Unless you’re David Geffen, chances are you won’t be able to fake your way too long. So show what you know. That’s it.

3. Signal the What. Get Invited for the How. The verbose resumes that go on and on and on about all the ways a candidate reached a certain milestone — what I call the War & Peace approach — give the firm zero reason to invite you in for the actual interview. Don’t be the boring narcissist. Instead, tease people with your impressive (and clear!) credentials. Then share your stories once you’re in front of them.

4. Presentation is Everything. Regardless of industry, getting up in front of hiring managers, investors, key executives and other very busy people is the difference between professional growth and cubicle world. Being able to sell your ideas or yourself, quickly and effectively, is critical. So show people upfront that you can do so without taking up too much paper space or too much of their valuable time. It’ll signal confidence.

5. Got you there in 4.

Reprinted with permission and gratitude from CoolCleveland.com.