Resume length and history

[Drew Van Zandt]

On the reviewing/receiving end, I generally find that unless it's a recent
grad, one page is insufficient for a technical resume, two is about right,
and a third page is generally only useful if the first two were pretty good.

On the other end, I figure that's exactly what I'll write.  Two pages of
meat, one page of e.g. nonprofessional experience that might be germane (I
have technical hobbies).

Trying to write a one-page resume is unbearable.

Again on the receiving end, if a resume from a recruiter looks like hell
but has a few interesting items, I'll sometimes email the prospect and ask
for a copy of their resume that has not been ruined by recruiters.

To any engineering recruiters on the list: Don't screw up your guys'
resumes unless you are SURE you know what you're doing.  It gets in the way
more often than not, in my experience.  I don't want to hear YOUR voice or
get things in the format you think is important, I want to know what the
ENGINEER thinks is important, in their voice, because that's what I'll be
working with.

Second/third putting education last unless you just graduated.  Mine is
last except for a one-liner indicating I've had a Secret clearance before,
in case it's germane, and a standard references-on-request tag.

*
Drew Van Zandt
Cam # US2010035593 (M:Liam Hopkins R: Bastian Rotgeld)
Domain Coordinator, MA-003-D.  Masquerade aVST
*


On Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 12:06 PM, David Hardy <belovedbold357 at gmail.com>wrote:

> I'm nearly sixty and have had a bunch of jobs over the decades, not all of
> them IT and not all of them Linux.  So I tailor the resume to the specific
> position and keep it to two pages, max.  I then expand on whatever in a
> cover letter and interview, if I get one.  I've seen other peoples' resumes
> and it is as you describe;  no consistency and everything from cryptic
> geek-speak acronyms to web-based sound-and-video productions to eight pages
> of small print listing the person's detailed life history.  I have also
> help to edit/fix resumes for people and had them down to nice, concise,
> informative two-page deals and then they insisted I hadn't included enough
> info and gone back to their four- and six-page horrors and never got called
> for an interview thereafter, because....yes....the screening HR drones
> tossed them instantly.
>
> It is also worth noting that the last stat I saw on this indicated that
> there is a roughly four-percent retention and examination of resumes in
> general.  The rest, 96%, are tossed.
>
> In my half-century of experience, jobs are gotten by getting via hook or
> crook to the hiring manager and showing them how you can help them/make
> their job easier.  Period.
>
> Regards from northwestern Vermont, under the F-16s
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 11:49 AM, Kenny Lussier <klussier at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> Not specifically Linux-related, but I was wondering what other people are
>> seeing/doing with resumes these days. I have seen everything from a 2-page
>> resume for someone with 20 years of experience to a 15-page resume for
>> someone with 2 jobs over 3 years (it looked like the output of cat
>> ~/.bash_history). How far back should a resume go? How long should it be
>> before you stop reading it? I'm seeing absolutely no consistency in
>> resumes, and the ones that come from recruiters seem to be the worst
>> formats.
>>
>> C-Ya,
>> Kenny
>>
>>
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>
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