If you are updating your resume or even writing a new one, you are probably faced with a daunting task. You know that it has to be well-written, concise and to include all necessary information. When there is a job opening, managers receive hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of resumes, so you have to ensure that yours won’t get overlooked. In the following text, we are going to give you some tips on how to write it and also discuss how important is its length.
The first piece of advice we have got for you is to never send the same resume for different job applications. If you use a generic one, it will never stand out from others and it might never be inspected. When you write or customize an existing paper, it is a good idea to have a job description nearby. What’s more, read it thoroughly before writing the resume. This way you will know what the requirements are, thus what information you should include and what to omit. The CV should not be overcrowded with unnecessary information, because not only will they make it too long, but the chances are no one is going to read it.
This brings us to our next point – the length. If the resume is too short it might seem that you have no experience, therefore, the company cannot benefit from your work. On the other hand, if it is too long, the managers will not lose precious time reading it. Even though there are no specific rules when it comes to this and there is no right answer, there are some things that affect the length of your CV.
The biggest debate is whether one should write one-page or two-page resume. The first one should be used by people who are hunting for their first job. This includes recent college graduates, people who only have a small amount of experience in that field or even those that are making a career change. In order for your resume to make a good first impression it has to be concise, include important keywords, and list your achievements. On the other note, employees who have experience of 10 or more years and thus have many accomplishments in their careers should write the two-page resume. It is always better to format a CV to be readable and professional instead of cramming everything onto one page. Just keep in mind that the second page of it probably won’t get as much attention as the first one, so you should organize it in a way that all the important information are easily detected. Take a look at some great resume examples at The Ladders.
Lastly, many people opt for hiring professional writing services to complete this task for them. Since they fully understand the importance of the CV, they perceive themselves as not capable to rise to the challenge, so they ask others for help, which is okay. If you are considering this option, from this CNBC article you will learn some things you should know before employing a writing service.
All in all, as you can see, although there are no specific rules when it comes to writing a CV, there are still some guidelines that you should follow. Use the job description as guidance, customize a resume for every job application, use specific keywords and also apply bullet point to highlight the important words or phrases.
