If you are a recent graduate, applying for your first position or have a limited work history, you can still create a resume length that employers will take notice of.
Firstly I want you to realise that a one-page resume is perfectly acceptable. Plenty of clients I have worked with have successfully obtained work through a one-page resume. This includes having a good amount of white space and not having excessively sized font, fancy borders, graphics etc.
If you are not sure about which length is right for you, see my previous post on the ideal resume length.
A one-page resume length works when it is clear that all information on the resume is supposed to be there. Don’t just add information for the sake of having a longer resume, and don’t feel you have to push your information out to get two pages or more.
Case in point:
One of the shortest resumes I wrote was for a client returning to work after a back injury. She’d only had one job and it was cleaning bins in a factory. I put in as much information as possible to pad out her resume but in the end, we ended up with 3/4 of a page.
Her resume included:
- Her name and personal details
- A summary – 2 sentences
- 6 bullet points on her key skills
- The name, company and dates of her position
- 4 bullet points on her responsibilities
- 1 reference
I’d like to highlight, that this client was successfully hired on the spot after walking into a department store and handing in her new resume. Her resume was simple but tailored to exactly the position she was after.
Tips to Extending Your Resume Length:
Include A Summary
Create a summary and “summarise” your years of experience, industries you have worked and qualifications you’ve held. This should be 2-3 sentences long.
Key Skills
Look at the job ad and see if there are any key skills that the employer is looking for and add these to your resume.
Affiliations
Are you part of any professional affiliations, sporting groups etc? If they are relevant consider adding them to your resume.
Community Involvement
Do you volunteer on a regular basis? There are many transferable skills that come from activities you complete in the community. See my article on How Volunteering Can Boost Your Career for more
Formatting
If you have limited information to add to your resume, then consider using a bigger font size (up to 12pt). Use bullet points to break up information, and consider making your heading sizes 14pt.
Action Steps:
- Review your resume and see where you can create length by adding some of the points above
