Feature Article: The Scoop on Resume Length: How Many Pages Should Your Resume Be?
Special feature: Avoid These 10 Resume Mistakes
Bonus Feature: New Grads Must Dig Deeper to Beef Up Skimpy Resumes
Q&A with a Career Expert: Georgia Adamson
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
QuintZine is four years old this month. Both QuintZine
and its parent site, Quintessential Careers, have seen significant
growth and change over these four years, and we thank you, our
readers and visitors, for our progress.
A recent development has been the addition of our new search portal
in association with Indeed. Go to our new
job-search portal. We're delighted to offer this free service.
We're also delighted to offer in this issue three articles about resumes -- one of our
most popular topics -- as well as a Q&A with a resume expert.
Thanks for sharing these four years -- or any part of them -- with us.
--Katharine Hansen, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: The Scoop on Resume Length
The Scoop on Resume Length: How Many Pages Should Your Resume Be?
by Katharine Hansen
Once upon a time, someone came up with a "rule" that resumes
should not exceed one page. No one really knows who came up
with the rule, but a great many job-seekers still seem to
live in fear of this supposed edict.
The fact is that very few "rules" exist today in the world
of resume writing. Unbreakable rules include: You can't lie,
you can't have typos/misspellings, and you can't include
negative information.
Just about every other rule you've ever heard about resumes,
however, is breakable, including rules about how many pages
your resume should comprise.
Times have changed, after all, as Grant Cooper, president of
Strategic Resumes, notes in the Resume Critique Writer software
that he authored. "Brief resumes are simply no longer effective
in today's increasingly competitive job market," he said.
"The advice
that 'They only want to see one-page resumes,' is perhaps the single
most outdated and incorrect statement job-seekers hear today."
But if you've come to this article looking for the definitive word
on how long a resume should be, you'll probably be disappointed. We
informally surveyed experts -- members of Career Masters Institute
and the Professional Resume Writers and Research Association --
about resume length. And their consensus:
It depends.
This situational view of resume length is pervasive among resume experts.
The comments of Marnie McCown-Guard of Profile Career Services are typical:
"I have written one-and-a-half-page resumes for senior-level people with 20+
years of experience, and I have written a three-page resume for a recent
college graduate."
Virtually every expert in our research said each individual situation
dictates resume length. From their expertise, however, we developed some
guidelines to help you determine the right length for you.
Find them
in our article.
Special Feature: Avoid These 10 Resume Mistakes
by Katharine Hansen
As a resume writer, I see hundreds of resumes,
and the vast majority of them are much weaker than
they could be. I see the same mistakes over and over.
Our article
describes the 10 I see most often. All are easy to fix.
Bonus Feature: New Grad Resumes
New Grads Must Dig Deeper to Beef Up Skimpy Resumes
by Teena Rose
With technology advancement, a resume that lacks keywords
or key phrases relevant to your career field may hinder
your job search. Referenced in Resumes in Cyberspace,
by Pat Criscito and published by Barron's, the author writes,
"According to U.S. News & World Report, more than 1,000
unsolicited resumes arrive every week at most Fortune 500
companies, and before the days of applicant tracking systems
and resume scanning, 80 percent were thrown out after a quick review."
Criscito also informs readers, "Instead of opening
and reading thousands of resumes, companies can now scan them
and sort them by keywords."
What do you do if you're a new graduate with limited experience?
You dig deep, very deep. Covering all the bases will ensure your
resume reflects key information that is relevant to your career.
It's important to focus on the assets you bring to the table,
and it's even more important not to forget any career tidbit.
QuintZine's Q&A with Career Expert Georgia Adamson
Georgia Adamson founded A Successful Career/Adept Business Services.
When it comes to preparing resumes, Georgia
Adamson advises job-seekers to ask themselves:
"What is your value-added message to prospective
employers, and what/how much do you need to tell them
in the resume to communicate that value to them
strongly enough so they will be motivated to pick
up the phone and call you?"
Commenting on the age-old question of resume-length,
Adamson said in the Q&A we did with her: "The resume doesn't
need to -- and shouldn't -- contain your entire work history without regard
to potential value, but it does need to
convince employers that you could be an active contributor
to their ongoing success. It must sell your value to them,
early and often. It should also avoid unnecessary repetition
of same or similar items, which increase the length without
enhancing the message you're trying to send."
See more of Adamson's thoughts on resumes, the off-shoring of
jobs, how to focus your energy and enthusiasm on a targeted job, and how mature job-seekers can
avoid age discrimination in our full Q&A with her.
The CareerOneStop portal is a powerful suite of tools that includes America's Job Bank (AJB), America's Career
InfoNet, and America's Service Locator. According to the site, "each product offers a unique solution to the
overwhelming demands of today's labor market from the perspective of the job seeker, the employer, and the public
workforce community."
The portal offers resources for job-seekers/workers, business/human resource professionals, students/learners,
and workforce professionals.
CareerOneStop offers access to sites such as Workforce Tools of The Trade, GovBenefits,
Career Voyages, National Business Partnership, DisabilityInfo.gov, O*NET OnLine, GetTech.org,
Advanced Learning Technology Resource Center.
Information is available on the general employment outlook, wages and trends
what it takes to do various jobs, state information, jobs and employers,
and extensive career tools, including an Employability Checkup, Employability Profile,
section on licensed occupations, a Certification Finder, Employer Locator, Employer Report,
Job Description Writer, Skills Profiler, Financial Aid Advisor, Scholarship Search,
career exploration section, a Reading Room, and a Resume Tutorial.
The Career Resource Library provides a set of links to other useful Web sites.
You can also search for jobs and post your resume through the CareerOneStop portal.
CareerOneStop, along with the National Toll-Free Helpline (1-877-US-2JOBS) and the local One-Stop Career
Centers in each state, combine to provide a wide range of workforce assistance and resources.
James writes: "I'm searching for a guide on how to write my resume, but I can't seem to find anything. If you could give me some tips,
or a site that I could go to, that would be greatly appreciated."
Gabriel writes: "I am a graphic artist just starting out. I have been asked to give a salary history but really do not
have a salary history in my field. How can I get around this and still prove I am very able candidate for the job?"
Rebecca writes: "I currently have a full-time job but am looking for something new. Unfortunately, in just the few phone calls I
have made, it seems as though most companies interview between 9 and 5. How should I handle this? Is it rude to try to make an
appointment for earlier or later? For companies near my office, I can schedule an interview during
my lunchtime, but some places that are farther away might take half a day of travel. I have only a
limited amount of vacation time, and while one or two days for a viable job option would be fine,
I don't want to waste all my vacation days on jobs that might not pan out! What is the typical protocol on this?"
Rosie writes: "I am hearing-impaired and have been in search of jobs with no luck. I don't know whether employers are not
hiring me because of my hearing impairment or they just don't want to be bothered about it. I have long history of office-related
skills. What is the purpose for employers to limit who can be hired?"
We've recently launched the Quint Careers Weblog (Blog).
It consists of career and job-search news, trends,
and scoops for job-seekers, compiled by the staff
of Quintessential Careers.
Check out the Career and Job-Hunting Blog.
We'd love your input and suggestions.
Latest Additions: New Sites Added to QuintCareers
BioBums.com -- a nice little job posting site
for the life sciences profession, including job listings for all types of jobs in biology,
biotech, chemistry, and others. Job-seekers can search job classifieds by state, keyword,
or company. Free to job-seekers.
CareerOne -- for job-seekers searching
for jobs in Australia and New Zealand. Job-seekers can search job-listings (by industry, location,
and keyword), as well as post your resume and sign-up for job email. Also includes a nice collection
of career resources. Free to job-seekers.
IFSjobs.com -- a niche job site for the insurance
and financial services industry, where job-seekers can search for jobs (by industry, location, job category,
and keyword), post your resume, and register for a job alert notification. Free to job-seekers.
RegionalHelpWanted.com -- a network of local
job sites across the U.S. and Canada. Job-seekers simply click on a map of the U.S. or Canada and follow links to local job sites, where
you can search for jobs and post your resume. Free to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Ad: Electronic Versions of Documents Included Free
Electronic versions now included with all resume and cover
letter products at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters at
no extra cost!
An electronic version of your resume for sending via e-mail and posting to Internet job boards
is an absolute must these days because 80 percent of resumes are now placed directly into keyword-searchable databases.
Read more here.
That's why electronic versions are now included at NO EXTRA COST with all our resume and cover letter
products!
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
Here are some of employers' pet resume peeves, according to Sharon Gould Afforde,
business-development manager for Manpower International:
Spelling errors
Small fonts
No dates
Pointless objective
Third-person voice
Letters of reference
Long sentences
Long resumes
Fancy formatting
Pictures and graphics
Confidential employers
Gaps in employment
As the economy slowly yields more jobs, it's important to be ready. Focus your search on a fairly narrow area,
specialty, and range of companies, advises Kemba J. Dunham in The Wall Street Journal Online. "It's a
better use of your time, and likely to be far more effective, to concentrate on
those areas where your strengths and experience give you an
edge, and those jobs and companies that are likely to need
more workers in an upturn," Duncan writes.
Duncan suggests that once you've identified what you want to pursue, make sure your resume is updated. "Identify 15
or so of the companies in that industry you've targeted and start tracking them so you're up to date on what's happening
on the inside," Duncan writes. "Check out professional organizations within that industry.
Duncan notes that targeted networking is also key. She quotes Cincinnati resume writer Louise Kursmark, who notes:
"Making phone calls and setting up meetings is tough, but that's what really pays off." Duncan advises reaching
out to recruiters you've previously connected with to remind them of your skills and capabilities.
"Treat every meeting like an interview, and be mindful of all the common-sense steps you take in such a situation," Duncan
writes. "That includes learning beforehand what the hiring manager is looking for and how your own skills fit."
When sending your resume as an e-mail attachment, don't give your resume the file name "resume," advises
Jobseeker News. "Recruiters get 100s of resumes a day, so if you name your resume attachment "resume.doc" or
"myresume." the recruiter's computer will automatically assign your resume in numerical sequence to the already
thousands of resumes in the computer. So your file will now become "resume58742.doc" or something similar. Name
your file with your first and last name and the word "resume." Your file name should look like this: "johndoeresume.doc".
That way the recruiter can find faster you in the system, and you won't become "just a number."
No. 8: Next, Where to find a job, which is based on what you want to do and you can get. Ask everyone you
know to start a network on your behalf for support and job leads. Tell your network members what you want to do
and where you'd like to work. Get organized with lists of names, telephone numbers, job titles, email addresses, and
any other information that helps you in your job search. CONTINUE to build your referral network. Make appointments
to TALK about your campaign for a new job. DO NOT ASK FOR A JOB. Get people working for you and
build your referral list. Talk, listen and act! ....to be continued ...
Based on years of research, the Jackson Vocational Interest
Survey (JVIS) accurately measures your interests, showing how
they relate to the worlds of study and work, and mapping out
your route to an interesting career.
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Dining etiquette
* Moonlighting/Holding Multiple Jobs
* Career Focus Quiz
* Overcoming a Lack of Qualifications/Credentials
* Fighting the Overqualified Label
* Surviving and Moving Beyond Low-Wage Jobs
* Pre-Employment Testing
* 10 Things for High-School Students to Remember
* First in a Series Tracking College Plans of a High School Student
* Importance of Junior Year of High School
* How to Make a Temp Job Permanent
* Temping Your Way to Career Change
* Mastering Second (and Subsequent) Interviews
* Interview Damage Control
* 10 Interview Mistakes
* Exude Confidence in Interviews
* Job Satisfaction Quiz
* Job-search Time-Management Skills
* Reinvent Your Career at Midlife
* Working Beyond Retirement
* Workaholic Quiz
* Building Your Brand
* Pros and Cons of Nontraditional Careers
* Nontraditional Career Paths for Men and Women
* Make Your College Application Shine
* Changing Landscape of College Admissions
* College Admissions Annual Report/Panel Discussion
* Internet Jobhunting Annual Report
* Top 5 Networking Strategies
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
the email version of QuintZine by completing our
subscription form.
Quintessential Careers Announces Career Coaching
We now offer two types of career-coaching services!
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looking for a solution to job-search obstacles?
desiring to bounce ideas off of a career expert?
trying to discover the keys to career success?
Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
issues, and problems. He has helped hundreds of teens, college students, and experienced job-seekers identify obstacles, develop
action plans, and achieve success -- and he can help you!
And for an economical online-only career-coaching alternative,
visit The Career Clinic.
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