Ask HN: I'm confused, bigger or smaller resumes?
I was browsing HN and I found one of the biggest complaints I see is the tremendous amount of time and effort it takes to interview prospective job candidates. There's only so much interview time and a bad hire can destroy a team.
One obvious solution to this is send more information about what kind of person I am beforehand. Basically, a bigger resume package. A package which shows off what kind of person I am.
Then another thread appeared where a lot of people were complaining about these long resumes candidates were sending them. They mentioned how much time it took to read them.
I'm confused, what are we suppose to do as candidates to give the hiring company a better idea of what we are so we don't waste time during the interviewing process? What are we suppose to send?
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8 comments
| 5 points
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"There's only so much interview time and a bad hire can destroy a team."
You can write anything on a Resume to sell yourself initially. A bad hire is not due to resume filtering capability but it is due to bad interviewing in person and depends on the judgement of the interviewer(s) at the time.
After you pass the resume screening, you may want to follow up with a full CV. The difference between a CV and a resume, at least in the US, is that the CV is the unabridged version of your resume, containing all your experience. The resume should be a condensed version of it showing just the most impressive and enticing parts.
But when it comes to resumes (in America), 1-2 pages is the conventional wisdom, short and sweet as opposed to exhaustive. Highlight your big-win accomplishments and ability to get stuff done. Don't worry about tiny details that you're only putting there for completeness. Benefits, not features!
Treat it like a landing page: the goal of each header/paragraph is to keep the reviewer reading, and ultimately, to want to contact you because you are awesome.
You have, by the way, deftly identified the fix: shorter yet better. Twas Pascal who said, "I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time."
Take the time. Talk about your accomplishments clearly eschewing all buzzspeak. Make clear what you did. Too often I find myself reading resumes desperately panning for actual contributions.
hth
When on the other side of the table I have always preferred a single page. The resume is just an indicator of if you get an interview or not.
I think a short resume that goes exactly in what experience they are looking for would be best. Saves time, and at least shows your focus.