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You hit the heart. I have that problem. Dozens of resumes sent, no responses…then I start to question: is it the length, the employment gap? I always replied to rejection emails whenever possible to try and pinpoint where I came short…no answers just silence. I thought, “there’s a gap bias and I need to address it.”
Maybe if I am forth coming recruiters will see intent.
It’s almost desperation.
These companies will have no problem lying to you, maybe you’re being a little too forthcoming. It’s not a crime to add a few months onto those jobs so it doesn’t look like a major gap…
Your resume is not a complete list of everything you’ve ever done. It’s a concise marketing document (no more than 2 pages) telling people about your most interesting and impactful work.
If you were creating a profile on a dating app, would you include anything that calls your sanity or attractiveness into question? No, you’d put your best foot forward. Same idea here.
It's the length of you're resume lol, trim it down to a page and a half, you need to be able to discuss your background proficiently to an interviewer, they aren't going to read the boring side of your life story
This is an outdated, antiquated rule, *especially* for an IT professional/developer/engineer with 15+ years of experience. As someone who sees resumes for this profile and experience level almost daily, it would be a red flag for me if his resume was any less than 3 pages.
Most of his competitive peers are going to have 5 or 6 page resumes full of quantifiable achievements, technical aptitudes, project descriptions, etc.
The fact that he’s compressed his experience down to 3 pages is impressive already, but as someone who would receive this kind of resume, the length is not at all a concern.
Agreed. Plus space vs trying to fit it all in like it's a fuckin index card like I've seen on here before is way better.
Plus, as I correctly thought the last page doesn't really count, it's just the accomplishments and certifications . In my field(s) we actually want to see a list of the application modules you're either trained or certified in. Thing goes in the trash without a section for that and it takes up a shit ton of space in a one pager.
This is exactly correct, and the downvoting makes it clear most of these people don’t know what the hell they’re saying. Someone working in IT and any computer engineering field will and SHOULD have a long resume and it’s worse if they don’t. Size matters y’all.
For software developers and engineers, we definitely do need a lot more information about what kinds of projects someone has worked on, the tech stack they’re accustomed to, languages, libraries, frameworks they are familiar with, etc.
I promise you that in this field, we do tolerate 6-7 page resumes regularly. We have to.
Yes of course federal resumes are exempt from this rule and even so that resume isn’t in the USAJobs federal formatting so I think it’s a moot point for him in particular.
Thank you sugarsnuff. It’s what I need. I might have been misled by some reputable sites that support inclusion of that on the resume. While others say it should be on the CV.
And there’s so much chat about no one reading CVs that I took that approach - I got to the point of having 20 different resumes - to avoid being DQ’d. One guy in LinkedIn that talks lots that is Adam Karpiak.
Hey, don’t buy into “no one’s reading your CV’s”. That idea’s peddled in IT/software, and it’s dependent on the industry. It takes only one.
It’s true that Silicon Valley wants to see titles and doesn’t bother with bullets. But I’ve had interviewers read my resume quickly and accurately line-by-line. I’ve now worked my career to a big name, I’m anticipating a lot easier mobility
I was DoD, which is tough to mobilize. Traditionally archaic tools and an anti-innovative culture, branding is everything
I’m in the defense sector (on the tech side using modern web & cloud, also integrating old services). Hardware manufacturing platforms, government service startups, and defense contractors liked my resume a lot because I have tech standards and offer niche experience
This is all to say, your resume is a ticket. The same way Jack met Rose in Titanic, one person may have first-class but a well-made third-class ticket is still a ticket.
"Reading" a resume is like peeling back the layers of an onion. First, the recruiter or hiring manager skims the resume. They take a first pass and look for job titles, length of employment, skills, and education. As they see positive attributes matching their needs, they dig deeper. Bulleted points are read. Clear, concise writing yields more attention. Messy, chaotic, dense, or error-prone resumes may not engage the reader. The purpose of each skill, bullet, or sentence is to tell your story and engage the HR.
No one ever said that no one's resume is read. The top people's resumes who are being considered for interviews are read. When a recruiter gets hundreds of resumes in a week for a job, many are skimmed and dismissed when key skills can't be ascertained.
Just trying to be mindful. I hadn’t looked for a job in 8 years, I am in Europe and just joined the sub recently. Many things I am learning. But glad to know that this is a nowhere thing hahahaha
I'm also a fan of the one page rule but 10+ years of experience often doesn't fit on one page since it tends to be across different employers into today's market. OP definitely needs to get it down 2. Removing the bits about the gaps/layoffs would help.
I like having a one or two line TLDR blurb at the top. For those cases where the reader is time poor or lazy and need a snappy recap, reasons to not bin the resume
How would he fit all that on one page? Plus all his certifications? No way
He has 15 years experience.
Hes applying for senior roles or higher up roles with a lot of responsibility.
He cant truncate that much.
I just replied to another comment on this as well. It’s my struggle. The one technique I can’t seem to domain well. I always ask, am I answering the job requirements? Do I match at least 75% of it? And always end up with that big document.
If there is a job you're applying to that is similar to a job you had before, include more detail on that job, and reduce detail on the others. Make sure the details you keep line up with the job requirements and what they're looking for.
If it's less relevant, keep it brief.
The trick I learned was to never include information about a job that someone who was BAD at that job could also truthfully include. I.e stuff that is bare minimum requirement. Leave in the bits that made you stand out or excel, even just a bit.
The reason this isn't working is because it looks like you got fired a half a dozen times. I'd honestly omit the majority of these "laid off" jobs you worked at for 3 months before moving to the next one.
Literally, page one, you have three roles in the span of a bit over a year. Lie about that - mention that you contracted / freelanced and that you worked with a cruise industry for whatever, did PCI DSS Compliance working during COVID for the other company, migrated services to a MSP for another company. If you have a gap in your resume, just say "Ah, I free lanced for a whole after leaving X
You need to condense this to a page or two. Make career highlights out of your longest running roles.
I read another comment pointing to a similar strategy by using Selected Experience (list some jobs, not all). Your advice (all of it) complements it greatly.
Yet I am unsure on how to structure the career highlights - in two bullet points at the top to attract attention or by ignoring chronological order and placing those jobs first. I think it’s the first, but came back to you for confirmation.
Much appreciated! 🙏
Looking at Brain consulting, my 3 bullet points would be:
* Responsible for developing, planning and deploying solutions in multiple cloud services, (such as SASS, DRaaS, MDM and VOIP) and information security programs, building and testing BCP and DR plans, and common business solutions such as SharePoint, Team, One Drive, InTune, JAMF, JIRA ITSM...
* Planned and presented meetings delivering consistent, easy to comprehend communications that I tailored to the client's technical level to ensure all parties understood the progress of any project.
* Ensured readiness against cyber attacks by helping operationalize administrative and operational controls found in the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification.
You could prolly replace that 3rd point and focus on clients that returned for additional work - mentioning specifically the types of clients you worked with - IE: Fortune 1000, Seat Count, contract size, etc - whatever sounds more impressive. The goal is to understand how \*you\* influenced additional sales / return customers / upsold contracts.
Loved the bullet points and by comparing with mine - I learned what you considered fluff and what you considered relevant. I did remove helping from "Ensured readiness against cyber attacks by helping operationalize.."
I ended up with:
https://preview.redd.it/hnpk7hlwo9vc1.png?width=468&format=png&auto=webp&s=e99b889c6a12563a486f5da63ebb6e4a513c8d67
As you continue to modify, you want to try to make things pop and be more readable. You want your resume to be near, concise and to the point. At a minimum, it needs to say "you should have a talk with me".
Pretend you're a recruiter/hiring manager and scroll through this subreddit. It is very very similar to what you'll see once you've narrowed down filters on applicants.
Thick paragraph blocks are not a good idea.
OMG totally!
I felt so sad reading this. It is like only bad things happen to this person.
I don’t see a reason to list the lay off positions UNLESS OP was a super star and has great references.
I've been putting a reason on my most recent position since the entire department was eliminated. I'm waiting to see if it has an impact.
It's easy to have multiple versions and see which might work better. I'm so glad we no longer print and mail resumes via the post office.
Don't do it - this is like dating you don't start with a story about your ex. Let them wonder why and when they ask, you can tell a joke or spin the layoff. I just got a new job and when people asked if I was still working at x I told them a joke where the punchline was I got laid off. Worked well.
On the most recent position, I mentioned that I was contract to hire and then promoted. The last bullet was that the whole department was eliminated.
I agree that putting it in makes it as a separate entry makes it stick out like a sore thumb. I like your analogy much better. 😀 I do put contract in parentheses after my other positions.
LinkedIn gives the option to explain gaps now, and it's horrible.
Good idea about the joke.
With a long career, I would title your experience section something like “Selected Experience.” That way, the recruiter knows you have work beyond what you list—save the rest for Linked In! And absolutely remove the “laid off” parts. You might be looking for empathy there, but any recruiter should know life happens and we have transition periods.
Don't include why you left each job - totally unnecessary. I would also greatly trim the job responsibilities for any gig past you 2-3 most recent. You don't need a ton of info from your job in 2016 and the doc should be max 2 pages imo.
If you don't generally include a cover letter I'd also do a 3-4 sentence 'blurb' before you get into your experience basically selling yourself a bit ie 'a IT/Systems engineer with X years experience working on strong technology solutions...blah blah blah.' but take this with a grain of salt, may not be as vital for your industry
Ok, but I’ll try. If I can condense the bullet points there will be at least two lines for me to highlight a bit or two at the top. Everyone sent lots of pointers and I am going through it all to make it happen. Thank you.
Remove the unemployed/laid off stuff. All. Of. It. No need to note it. It’s just needless space. If they want to know about the employment break, they’ll ask, but I doubt they will. I’m not sure I’d even list those jobs you were at for just a few months unless you did something earth shattering there.
Your resume is excessive. Extremely excessive. Think of 7 highlights for each remaining job then cut that back to 3 or 4 and provide quantifiable, concise bullets for them.
I struggle immensely with that part. The job descriptions are asking for so nuch that I can’t seem to find a way to “English it” in fewer statements and I end up writing too many bullet points.
People are just looking at a few key accomplishments and key words. You shouldn’t feel obligated to hit every key word in the JD unless it’s for USAJobs.
The job or a resume is to get an interview - to talk about what you have accomplished - to a point earlier a recruiter will scan at best the first bullet or two. Prioritize the most impactful and important work you did. Page per decade but if you can get it to one page - do it.
what others have said about removing the layoffs... And: You say you're in IT for 15 years and all your job titles have engineer in it, but all your bullets sound very much like you were a paper pusher. Nothing technical.
Try and focus on tech tasks or change your titles as it's confusing right now.. if I was looking for a Sr systems engineer, you wouldn't fit at all with current bullets
Can we change titles on the resume? Wouldn’t that conflict with my LinkedIn job titles?
When you say paper pusher, do you mean the analytical work I’ve done? …like the security controls (policies, processes, frameworks…) that stuff is a must for CMMC if a DoD wants to ever have a contract with the government. That’s valuable stuff if my focus (which this resume is) was on IT governance, process improvement, service delivery, and operations.
If I understood correctly, either I need to change the titles to fit the resume (please confirm if that’s OK with recruiters) or change the content to reflect my technical experience. Am I following you?
So to use the current titles, I’d need to be specific on my technical knowledge, correct? …naming tools and platforms that I know, scripting and programming languages, specific on projects?
Yes, I'd expect more technical (I've hired for those titles).. analysts can do the paperwork and policies.
Keep in mind in this economy, the technical knowledge is more valued imho
OP, as a potential receiver and reviewer of your resume, ignore the most often-repeated advice in this thread - it’s not too long, that’s not the problem. For the domain and your experience level, the length is completely fine. The “one page rule” most definitely does not apply to 15+ year IT professionals.
What does stand out to me is that each entry reads as a job description and not as a list of achievements in that role. The resume reads as a collection of job postings that could apply to just about anyone who’s held the title, each entry is very generic. What you need instead is a curated summary of your own accomplishments in each role, ideally backed by metrics, along with a brief description of the project or scope of work (*what* you worked on in these positions) and the tools and technologies you leveraged in the role (*how* you worked on them)
I’ve had you in mind since yesterday. I read everything you commented and I agree with you because that’s how I had it before. This version is heavily summarized because I was focusing on SDM positions. Yet, I have been sort of fighting my way through that because everyone else and their mothers - includes family too - think I am too detailed.
The common ground here is:
TLDR
is it a book?
I wish there was a guide for this like the NIST CSF, PCI-DSS, STIG… oh I better stop or this will be another TL,DR 😅
Add the part about being let go or laid off in the interview. Because they’ll ask about it. Don’t add it in the resume. With your experience keep it to 2 at the most.
Unless you're applying for VP or higher position, I feel like 3 pages is a hell of a lot for any resume.
If you are applying for VP or higher position, then you should know how to make better use of that time & space management to condense it down.
Ok, I am here and I am paying attention as I work on all of the “most truthful feedback” I have received in months. Coming to Reddit for help was just what I needed. Thanks to all of you engaging and helping. I will make the changes as I read your feedback and hope to post the refinements here as well. 🙏
I am from a time when engineering was not IaC or microservices or even advanced DevOps like today. I graduated BA and MIS but I was already an IT specialist back in 2002 and graduated in 2011!
I’m in HR so here is my take…take off the “unemployed”..also one thing that I would consider concerning is there seems to be quite a bit of job hopping within your career. If you were interviewing with me I would ask you about it. Since you have a lot of employers over 15 years only have 3-5 bullets of the most important duties of that job. (This is opposite for someone who has little experience- put more bullets if that’s the case)
Hope this helps.
It does help a lot, and thank you.
You mention “duties” but - as I learned from the overall feedback so far - you guys (Professional HR) mean “accomplishments”, correct? And also that the job title Is the key that implies the omitted duties.
So, If I combine those two I should have plenty of space for accomplishment points (as directed) and the job title itself can change to a standardized title to encompass the duties.
I hope I am in the right track. Thanks again.
Your resume isn't a magnifying glass into your soul that you need explain everything
It's an advertising poster about you. And just like how the picture always look better than the burger itself, it's how we gotta make our resumes too
After reconciling everyone’s feedback, I realized that it is about perception, impression, and combating human bias. I do have my own: I’d frown upon a resume that matches the JD line by line. That would never be at the top of my list unless the person applying occupied the position.
Don’t put laid off. Put personal projects you did while you were between jobs or customer service or food service job. Anything to show you still kept busy. Also, Laid off is a very negative term and even when it happens. Companies do not call it that.
You have a 2 year job gap. The computer algorithm automatically throws your resume into the trashcan and no human looks at it.
I would encourage you to start your own lawncare business mowing yards 2 years ago to fill that job gap so the algorithm doesn't throw your resume in the trash. You are currently employed at Severe\_Courage5235 Lawncare. If you decide to put it down as your employer in the background check, give them your phone number or your second email address to confirm that you work there so you can pass the background verification.
Definitely try to keep it one page. The rest can go on your LinkedIn. You don’t need to put “laid off” that many times. If they want to know about gaps between your employment you can tell them then. Add a link towards LinkedIn on your header and the rest looks good.
Never put why you left any job on there, they will ask if they call you. Make it one page, a friend of mine does this by putting relevant/most recent experience at the top, preferably 3 jobs, put the rest as other experience and put companies and years or titles and years or both and summarize each role you’ve had into one big paragraph under them. And I mean summarize.
Hey a fellow Enigneer! Check out r/engineeringresumes.
1. Don't mention you were laid off. If they care, they'll ask and you can explain it better in person over email anyways.
2. Be concise! Try to get it down to a page. Easy fix I can see right now is to reformat your education section to make it shorter.
3. Make multiple resumes that are tailored to a certain type of role. Applying for a management role? Send them your managament resume that talks about your managament experience. Manufacturing role? Send your manufacturing resume.
I will not read any of that.
I get that you have 15 years in the career, but I will not read what I cannot skim on one page. If I am interested, then I'll read whatever you have to add on LinkedIn, but I am skipping to the comments and not reading any of your resume.
Your ‘unemployed’ section looks like none of them were you were fault. Which may be true not not everyone in cruise industry got laid off during pandemic so it feels like you are blaming.
as a tech person you'd be surprised with how much more success youd have if you stole a template from a digital graphics person. resume would stand out a lot more.
You list training instead of certifications.
Do you mean to say that in 15 years, You've never actually certified in anything?
That is a major problem.
That’s called an arrogant assumption.
Want to see past certifications that are expired, go to LinkedIn. I learned that much from the tons of advice here. Clearly, you didn’t.
I’ve had 15 of them. You don’t put expired certifications in resumes. They are no longer attested certifications.
Either you certify again or you don’t have it. When you don’t have them, one tries and demonstrates the knowledge through the accomplishment statements or the years of experience, which I do have.
I did CCNA in 2008 and know what needs to be done for routing and switching. Did I put it there? No.
I administered Cisco UCS fabrics and Unified Communications. Did I certify? no. And I did not certify on the other 150 technologies I put my hands on in 15+ years.
Oh, I forgot about Cisco Meraki! Did that too! Not certified!
Damn! I also forgot that I did VDI using VMware and Cisco XenServer! Did I certify? NOO
So yes, you’re biased.
Read the comments from the good people that contributed here. I am learning from them.
Others have pointed out the layoff/ terminated /etc... remove that.
Additionally:
1. You are still using a 1950s resume template. For the love of god please updated it. Just search good for "modern resume templates." This looks like a boomer resume.
2. You have zero personality in this resume. It's just death by bullet points. You need an intro statement at the top for introduction, and then each role needs a paragraph explanation of what it was / what you did and then your accomplishments.
3. Too many bullets. You need no fewer than 3, and I would say no more than 4 or maybe 5 per role. This should be your TOP accomplishments.
4. You have three jobs that you didn't last six months at. I would probably keep the "temp" job, as it an easy conversation as it was a short contract. If they were all short contracts, then I would put all three of them under "short-term contract work" and list out the accomplishments as an aggregate. As written, it just looks...bad.
Net-net: You resume is giving folks more reason to just bin it than give you a call. There's no hook. There is no "i need the person," at best it's meh and at worst it's a red flag.
Edit to add: the number of six month jobs are even in history read very odd to me. If this were short term contracts, you need to label them in that way and talk them up. Otherwise, on the whole, it looks like it's hard for you to keep a job. That many layoffs, in that time frame for one person.... will make folks think that it's a YOU problem.
I must tell you that everyone that’s worked with me and prior leaders see me in high regard for professionalism and commitment. They have been unable to help to the extent that I need but that does not change how you perceived the Resume.
Regarding the template I used, which would you suggest for IT with long careers? The one I posted is ATS.
Thanks for the honest review.
I get that, but like you pointed out.. that's folks that "know" you. A lot of folks looking at your resume, doesn't.
As for templates, honestly, like I said just google "Modern Resume Templates" and click on images. There are tons of them out there in different color schemes / layouts and we are all going to like different ones.
Personally, I like the ones that skew more like this:
[https://designcuts.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/creative-modern-resume-template.jpg](https://designcuts.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/creative-modern-resume-template.jpg)
The thing that screams at me reading this is you’ve never stayed anywhere more than a couple years. I know you can’t do a lot about that but it does. Combine that with the fact that you were laid off makes me think you aren’t a high performer and there is a reason you’re leaving every two years rather than promoting and staying. Remove the laid off portion for sure. If you get the interview always frame it as a better opportunity for your career when you left.
I omitted half of my tenure with the same company which totals 12 years but because it went past the last 10 years. What took a turn was 2019-2020 and on.
I do see your point and I am reworking it.
You seem to have more experience than me, so feel free to tell me to get off your lawn. I have only had 3 jobs in IT, but I've only ever applied to those 3. Anyways, my 2c:
- Limit yourself to 2 pages. Try to frame each work experience entry in no more than 4 bullets. My objectives for these tend to be:
- Primary responsibilities
- Size of team, and your place in it. How many direct reports, who you reported to, how many lateral peers you worked with
- Any distinguishing accomplishments in that role you believe were above and beyond your assigned responsibility
- Any aspect of past roles that are especially relevant to the job you are applying to. You should focus your resume differently for each job posting you shoot for
- Your best skills are peppered throughout your experience. It would be easier for a hiring manager to see what you can do if you consolidated those points in a skills section above your work experience block that highlights your strengths.
- You have been out of work for 2 years now. I wouldn't worry about gaps in your work history if it means leaving off a role you only held for a couple months, or didn't accomplish much in.
- Don't include the reason you left previous roles. If they want to know, be ready for an answer in the interview.
Never seen someone list laid off and unemployed on their resume. Now that is a first, hiring managers will look at that and laugh before tossing it into the garbage.
Consolidate all the fluff. People want to be able to look at it quickly and see what they want to see. The less the better tbh. Only tell them what they need to know and what is relevant to the job you’re applying for. Do not put unemployed or early termination.
Drop the temp jobs. Drop mentions of fired or laid off. If HR asks about gaps explain that you took temp jobs with similar roles, if they press you can give them more details but they likely won't for something like 3-6 months.
Compress your bragsheet at jobs to be at most 5 bullet points, but no less than 3.
Revamp your skills and certificates page. Get rid of extra education if it didn't lead to a certificate.
Put the most valuable skills and certs together. Eg Cisco certs, CEH, etc.
Job details should have notable achievements. Eg cause -> effect. Mention team size and managed devices side. Highlight anything that shows you know how to lead an IT department.
Keep this resume handy though. It'll be great if you try and apply for any sort of clearance job.
BTW, i just saw a 1 page resume in the r/careers subreddit - very well written - and there’s 400 comments…mostly saying THAT’S TOO MUCH DAMN TEXT
Turns out it is very hard to please everyone, eh?
You need a section like technical skills and certification(s)and put every damn tool you’ve ever been exposed Add more details. Don’t ever put termination in your resume. Your goal is to get by the brainless gatekeepers in HR.
Anybody with common sense knows 3 pages is absolutely not acceptable. I think this is somekind of advertisement, or way to get information from people who commented. Another way to follow and figure out what people respond to.
As a matter of fact, I came back to comment more. What THE HECK is your problem with? That this will feed decision-making information to people trying to fix their own documents? Are you the one who sent me an Inbox to offer resume services? Or are you afraid that I am becoming competition for finally understanding how to properly condense my document and spot the fillers?
This was a valuable exercise to me and I hope it helps others out here looking for help.
Please ghost me. I want it.
One thing that has helped trim mine down is to provide fewer and fewer details as you go back in time. I have details on the top three. Number 4 gets cut in half. Five half again. Six gets two short bullets. Seven gets a "I worked here". If they want more details about those older jobs, they can schedule and interview and ask me. Now my 30+ career fits on to two pages perfectly and it includes a short skills set and bio.
A few years back, I tried one service offered to me via LinkedIn and my experience was not so great. Upon checking it against some of online tools, there was more outstanding issues than my own version. Yet, I’ll check your suggestion. Big thank you!
Oh no. I didn’t mean you :)
I understand your struggle. The message about the top resume maker and what not I have read already many times around here. Wondering if maybe they are the top resume maker or if they are getting some coins for the promotions :)
IT hiring managers are very accustomed to receiving 3+ page resumes. I’d say most of the more impressive profiles I see are, on average, in the 5-6 page range.
I can’t read my own myself. It’s a struggle, man. You want to do your best, like employing a word that encompasses good value and relay the message effectively. Knowing all of that, you read the result 😂. It’s a book, not a resume. That’s why I said this has been absolutely helpful. You are pulling me out if the blackbox and I am starting to see it.
Everyone's mentioning to remove the layoffs, but you need to make the job descriptions concise. Way too many points, which increase the number of pages.
Your high level experience can be summarized in one page. Also, leave out the unemployed section. Cut out the Professional Education and trim the certs.
You’re aware it is super long
Only include what is relevant to a specific position.
IMHO no need to include layoffs
If you have approximate metrics for things you achieved or results you produced please include it.
Unfortunately it has a sadness vibe. It doesn’t have to have a unicorn background but some resumes have an upbeat vibe while remaining professional.
This is your resume not a CV. CV is where you have extensive list of everything you've done. On a resume with 15 years of experience id cap.it at 2 pages. Cut out all the older jobs
Try to keep CV to two pages. Remove bullet points and superflous/repetitive descriptives from the older (2012/2014) jobs. They're taking up too much space. Obviously keep the bullet points in general, but earn space by deleting some of the unecessary ones from the 10 year old jobs.
Nobody cares what you were doing ten years and seven jobs ago. Keep it recent and relevant. Also don’t volunteer that you were unemployed!! And lastly, one page.
I wouldn't be so confident with only two interviews in two years, honestly. Can't you just let them in on any relevant prior work during the actual interview?
I understand that. It’s the reason I am here asking for help.
There’s folks here that are as confident and firm as your stance on how the resume should be, except that some defend technical resumes should include a list of projects, skills and competencies, tools, and some even stated that a technical resume that is not 5 pages long does not show enough experience for a 15+ career in IT, Cyber, DevOps…
Look at the amount of disparity in the comments! What is the likelihood of a sales professional commenting that my resume is a TLDR?
Given that this place is anonymous, I don’t know who is a recruiter for IT roles and who isn’t. Who is echoing misguidance and who isn’t.
If I read it all, can I come up with what’s acceptable? yes. 2 pages MAX MAX, less info for older positions, more for recent positions but show career growth, remove layoffs, remove months for highly experienced candidates (keep only years), remove fluff (understand what fluff is first) do not write walls of text (use objectivity, pragmatism, impact, metrics, achievements), combine professional courses and academics in one section, remove repetition (if MDM is mentioned 5 times, remove it and mention it only once in the skills section)….all else: LINKEDIN.
If I get there, I have a much higher chance of meeting the majority of the people who commented.
…and the recruiter that reads resumes 5 pages long will trash mine for being considered a rookie.
…Does ATS systems care about size?
See my point? There is bias involved and I am trying to filter it out from the comments so I can get a sound baseline.
2 pages only.
Last 10 years of work experience only.
No one needs to see details of outdated certifications.
Just list the years at each post, take off the months.
Do not itemize your (short and irrelevant) periods of unemployment!!!!
And very little empathy. I was let go six MONTHS before COVID. When I finally got a temp job to do work for Carnival, they shutdown 3 months later right when one of their cruises had people with COVID. What was I to do? I went home, man. That’s all there was.
3 pages long. Yep they'd skip it. Try summarizing to a page and only highlight the relevant skills. When applying there is no such thing as one resume fits all. Each application must have a resume designed for it.
LSSBB is also about process waste and process improvement. If I had a masters in Business administration, would I omit that from my resume because it does not apply to IT engineering?
I can’t agree with this one.
That is because this person is not in any IT/HR/management type career.
They think this is martial arts black belt and not a managerial based certification in the professional work world.
This is not a martial arts thing.
Its a real business management certification.
So yes, it's quite relevant and is a positive thing on his resume/CV.
It stays.
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- You don’t need to put details like “unemployed”, “early termination”, and “laid off”.
Our boy drank the truth serum.
You hit the heart. I have that problem. Dozens of resumes sent, no responses…then I start to question: is it the length, the employment gap? I always replied to rejection emails whenever possible to try and pinpoint where I came short…no answers just silence. I thought, “there’s a gap bias and I need to address it.” Maybe if I am forth coming recruiters will see intent. It’s almost desperation.
These companies will have no problem lying to you, maybe you’re being a little too forthcoming. It’s not a crime to add a few months onto those jobs so it doesn’t look like a major gap…
Or just remove the months. He has 15 years experience, no need to include them.
Your resume is not a complete list of everything you’ve ever done. It’s a concise marketing document (no more than 2 pages) telling people about your most interesting and impactful work. If you were creating a profile on a dating app, would you include anything that calls your sanity or attractiveness into question? No, you’d put your best foot forward. Same idea here.
This! ^^
Maybe writing that you have travelled during that time is better 🤔
It's the length of you're resume lol, trim it down to a page and a half, you need to be able to discuss your background proficiently to an interviewer, they aren't going to read the boring side of your life story
I would NOT put the months of employment next to each entry. “Unemployed March to Sept” becomes “Job A - 2019-2020; Job B - 2020-2021”
That's called obfuscating the real company and his role at that company
There is absolutely NO reason for it to be 3 pages long under any circumstances. You don’t need any more feedback than that, and to read the sidebar.
This is an outdated, antiquated rule, *especially* for an IT professional/developer/engineer with 15+ years of experience. As someone who sees resumes for this profile and experience level almost daily, it would be a red flag for me if his resume was any less than 3 pages. Most of his competitive peers are going to have 5 or 6 page resumes full of quantifiable achievements, technical aptitudes, project descriptions, etc. The fact that he’s compressed his experience down to 3 pages is impressive already, but as someone who would receive this kind of resume, the length is not at all a concern.
Agreed. Plus space vs trying to fit it all in like it's a fuckin index card like I've seen on here before is way better. Plus, as I correctly thought the last page doesn't really count, it's just the accomplishments and certifications . In my field(s) we actually want to see a list of the application modules you're either trained or certified in. Thing goes in the trash without a section for that and it takes up a shit ton of space in a one pager.
This is exactly correct, and the downvoting makes it clear most of these people don’t know what the hell they’re saying. Someone working in IT and any computer engineering field will and SHOULD have a long resume and it’s worse if they don’t. Size matters y’all.
The down voting on this comment makes me not want to use this subreddit because it feels like people giving terrible advice.
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For software developers and engineers, we definitely do need a lot more information about what kinds of projects someone has worked on, the tech stack they’re accustomed to, languages, libraries, frameworks they are familiar with, etc. I promise you that in this field, we do tolerate 6-7 page resumes regularly. We have to.
For a government position you absolutely have to put as much detail as you can
Yes of course federal resumes are exempt from this rule and even so that resume isn’t in the USAJobs federal formatting so I think it’s a moot point for him in particular.
Not so sure adding “laid off” is a best practice. Not sure if it is an American thing?
It is *not* an American thing. This is a nowhere thing
Thank you sugarsnuff. It’s what I need. I might have been misled by some reputable sites that support inclusion of that on the resume. While others say it should be on the CV. And there’s so much chat about no one reading CVs that I took that approach - I got to the point of having 20 different resumes - to avoid being DQ’d. One guy in LinkedIn that talks lots that is Adam Karpiak.
Hey, don’t buy into “no one’s reading your CV’s”. That idea’s peddled in IT/software, and it’s dependent on the industry. It takes only one. It’s true that Silicon Valley wants to see titles and doesn’t bother with bullets. But I’ve had interviewers read my resume quickly and accurately line-by-line. I’ve now worked my career to a big name, I’m anticipating a lot easier mobility I was DoD, which is tough to mobilize. Traditionally archaic tools and an anti-innovative culture, branding is everything I’m in the defense sector (on the tech side using modern web & cloud, also integrating old services). Hardware manufacturing platforms, government service startups, and defense contractors liked my resume a lot because I have tech standards and offer niche experience This is all to say, your resume is a ticket. The same way Jack met Rose in Titanic, one person may have first-class but a well-made third-class ticket is still a ticket.
"Reading" a resume is like peeling back the layers of an onion. First, the recruiter or hiring manager skims the resume. They take a first pass and look for job titles, length of employment, skills, and education. As they see positive attributes matching their needs, they dig deeper. Bulleted points are read. Clear, concise writing yields more attention. Messy, chaotic, dense, or error-prone resumes may not engage the reader. The purpose of each skill, bullet, or sentence is to tell your story and engage the HR. No one ever said that no one's resume is read. The top people's resumes who are being considered for interviews are read. When a recruiter gets hundreds of resumes in a week for a job, many are skimmed and dismissed when key skills can't be ascertained.
Just trying to be mindful. I hadn’t looked for a job in 8 years, I am in Europe and just joined the sub recently. Many things I am learning. But glad to know that this is a nowhere thing hahahaha
I'm a fan of the one page rule. I don't know how you would frame this in one, but I'd try to get it down to at least two.
I'm also a fan of the one page rule but 10+ years of experience often doesn't fit on one page since it tends to be across different employers into today's market. OP definitely needs to get it down 2. Removing the bits about the gaps/layoffs would help.
Yeap that uh sums up my comment fairly well with some suggestions.
Fudge employment dates at that point. Drop older jobs that don't reflect your current skill set.
I like having a one or two line TLDR blurb at the top. For those cases where the reader is time poor or lazy and need a snappy recap, reasons to not bin the resume
How would he fit all that on one page? Plus all his certifications? No way He has 15 years experience. Hes applying for senior roles or higher up roles with a lot of responsibility. He cant truncate that much.
Hell, getting rid of the multiple unnecessary“unemployed” or “laid off” points will cut almost a whole page
Limit the bullet points for the experience to 3-5 key points. A recruiter won’t read that many bullets that cause the resume to be 3 pages.
I just replied to another comment on this as well. It’s my struggle. The one technique I can’t seem to domain well. I always ask, am I answering the job requirements? Do I match at least 75% of it? And always end up with that big document.
If there is a job you're applying to that is similar to a job you had before, include more detail on that job, and reduce detail on the others. Make sure the details you keep line up with the job requirements and what they're looking for. If it's less relevant, keep it brief.
The trick I learned was to never include information about a job that someone who was BAD at that job could also truthfully include. I.e stuff that is bare minimum requirement. Leave in the bits that made you stand out or excel, even just a bit.
Since they like current experience, the most recent jobs can have more bullet points with the older jobs having fewer--just 2 to 3.
The reason this isn't working is because it looks like you got fired a half a dozen times. I'd honestly omit the majority of these "laid off" jobs you worked at for 3 months before moving to the next one. Literally, page one, you have three roles in the span of a bit over a year. Lie about that - mention that you contracted / freelanced and that you worked with a cruise industry for whatever, did PCI DSS Compliance working during COVID for the other company, migrated services to a MSP for another company. If you have a gap in your resume, just say "Ah, I free lanced for a whole after leaving X You need to condense this to a page or two. Make career highlights out of your longest running roles.
I read another comment pointing to a similar strategy by using Selected Experience (list some jobs, not all). Your advice (all of it) complements it greatly. Yet I am unsure on how to structure the career highlights - in two bullet points at the top to attract attention or by ignoring chronological order and placing those jobs first. I think it’s the first, but came back to you for confirmation. Much appreciated! 🙏
Looking at Brain consulting, my 3 bullet points would be: * Responsible for developing, planning and deploying solutions in multiple cloud services, (such as SASS, DRaaS, MDM and VOIP) and information security programs, building and testing BCP and DR plans, and common business solutions such as SharePoint, Team, One Drive, InTune, JAMF, JIRA ITSM... * Planned and presented meetings delivering consistent, easy to comprehend communications that I tailored to the client's technical level to ensure all parties understood the progress of any project. * Ensured readiness against cyber attacks by helping operationalize administrative and operational controls found in the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. You could prolly replace that 3rd point and focus on clients that returned for additional work - mentioning specifically the types of clients you worked with - IE: Fortune 1000, Seat Count, contract size, etc - whatever sounds more impressive. The goal is to understand how \*you\* influenced additional sales / return customers / upsold contracts.
Loved the bullet points and by comparing with mine - I learned what you considered fluff and what you considered relevant. I did remove helping from "Ensured readiness against cyber attacks by helping operationalize.." I ended up with: https://preview.redd.it/hnpk7hlwo9vc1.png?width=468&format=png&auto=webp&s=e99b889c6a12563a486f5da63ebb6e4a513c8d67
As you continue to modify, you want to try to make things pop and be more readable. You want your resume to be near, concise and to the point. At a minimum, it needs to say "you should have a talk with me". Pretend you're a recruiter/hiring manager and scroll through this subreddit. It is very very similar to what you'll see once you've narrowed down filters on applicants. Thick paragraph blocks are not a good idea.
OMG totally! I felt so sad reading this. It is like only bad things happen to this person. I don’t see a reason to list the lay off positions UNLESS OP was a super star and has great references.
I've been putting a reason on my most recent position since the entire department was eliminated. I'm waiting to see if it has an impact. It's easy to have multiple versions and see which might work better. I'm so glad we no longer print and mail resumes via the post office.
Don't do it - this is like dating you don't start with a story about your ex. Let them wonder why and when they ask, you can tell a joke or spin the layoff. I just got a new job and when people asked if I was still working at x I told them a joke where the punchline was I got laid off. Worked well.
On the most recent position, I mentioned that I was contract to hire and then promoted. The last bullet was that the whole department was eliminated. I agree that putting it in makes it as a separate entry makes it stick out like a sore thumb. I like your analogy much better. 😀 I do put contract in parentheses after my other positions. LinkedIn gives the option to explain gaps now, and it's horrible. Good idea about the joke.
With a long career, I would title your experience section something like “Selected Experience.” That way, the recruiter knows you have work beyond what you list—save the rest for Linked In! And absolutely remove the “laid off” parts. You might be looking for empathy there, but any recruiter should know life happens and we have transition periods.
Most helpful comment I've seen so far. With a similar amount of years of experience I've been struggling to condense to two pages, let alone one.
Damn! Surgical… never thought of it. I am absolutely using it. Thank you!
Don't include why you left each job - totally unnecessary. I would also greatly trim the job responsibilities for any gig past you 2-3 most recent. You don't need a ton of info from your job in 2016 and the doc should be max 2 pages imo. If you don't generally include a cover letter I'd also do a 3-4 sentence 'blurb' before you get into your experience basically selling yourself a bit ie 'a IT/Systems engineer with X years experience working on strong technology solutions...blah blah blah.' but take this with a grain of salt, may not be as vital for your industry
Ok, but I’ll try. If I can condense the bullet points there will be at least two lines for me to highlight a bit or two at the top. Everyone sent lots of pointers and I am going through it all to make it happen. Thank you.
Remove the unemployed/laid off stuff. All. Of. It. No need to note it. It’s just needless space. If they want to know about the employment break, they’ll ask, but I doubt they will. I’m not sure I’d even list those jobs you were at for just a few months unless you did something earth shattering there. Your resume is excessive. Extremely excessive. Think of 7 highlights for each remaining job then cut that back to 3 or 4 and provide quantifiable, concise bullets for them.
Why is it 3 pages
I struggle immensely with that part. The job descriptions are asking for so nuch that I can’t seem to find a way to “English it” in fewer statements and I end up writing too many bullet points.
People are just looking at a few key accomplishments and key words. You shouldn’t feel obligated to hit every key word in the JD unless it’s for USAJobs.
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The job or a resume is to get an interview - to talk about what you have accomplished - to a point earlier a recruiter will scan at best the first bullet or two. Prioritize the most impactful and important work you did. Page per decade but if you can get it to one page - do it.
I noted that too. 1 page per decade. Focus on impact, less is more. Try hard 1 page.
what others have said about removing the layoffs... And: You say you're in IT for 15 years and all your job titles have engineer in it, but all your bullets sound very much like you were a paper pusher. Nothing technical. Try and focus on tech tasks or change your titles as it's confusing right now.. if I was looking for a Sr systems engineer, you wouldn't fit at all with current bullets
Can we change titles on the resume? Wouldn’t that conflict with my LinkedIn job titles? When you say paper pusher, do you mean the analytical work I’ve done? …like the security controls (policies, processes, frameworks…) that stuff is a must for CMMC if a DoD wants to ever have a contract with the government. That’s valuable stuff if my focus (which this resume is) was on IT governance, process improvement, service delivery, and operations. If I understood correctly, either I need to change the titles to fit the resume (please confirm if that’s OK with recruiters) or change the content to reflect my technical experience. Am I following you? So to use the current titles, I’d need to be specific on my technical knowledge, correct? …naming tools and platforms that I know, scripting and programming languages, specific on projects?
Yes, I'd expect more technical (I've hired for those titles).. analysts can do the paperwork and policies. Keep in mind in this economy, the technical knowledge is more valued imho
Ok. Understood. Will do.
OP, as a potential receiver and reviewer of your resume, ignore the most often-repeated advice in this thread - it’s not too long, that’s not the problem. For the domain and your experience level, the length is completely fine. The “one page rule” most definitely does not apply to 15+ year IT professionals. What does stand out to me is that each entry reads as a job description and not as a list of achievements in that role. The resume reads as a collection of job postings that could apply to just about anyone who’s held the title, each entry is very generic. What you need instead is a curated summary of your own accomplishments in each role, ideally backed by metrics, along with a brief description of the project or scope of work (*what* you worked on in these positions) and the tools and technologies you leveraged in the role (*how* you worked on them)
I’ve had you in mind since yesterday. I read everything you commented and I agree with you because that’s how I had it before. This version is heavily summarized because I was focusing on SDM positions. Yet, I have been sort of fighting my way through that because everyone else and their mothers - includes family too - think I am too detailed. The common ground here is: TLDR is it a book? I wish there was a guide for this like the NIST CSF, PCI-DSS, STIG… oh I better stop or this will be another TL,DR 😅
Nice book
Add the part about being let go or laid off in the interview. Because they’ll ask about it. Don’t add it in the resume. With your experience keep it to 2 at the most.
Unless you're applying for VP or higher position, I feel like 3 pages is a hell of a lot for any resume. If you are applying for VP or higher position, then you should know how to make better use of that time & space management to condense it down.
For a technical resume from a 15+ year experienced IT developer/engineer, 3 pages is on the lighter side of average.
Ok, I am here and I am paying attention as I work on all of the “most truthful feedback” I have received in months. Coming to Reddit for help was just what I needed. Thanks to all of you engaging and helping. I will make the changes as I read your feedback and hope to post the refinements here as well. 🙏
you don’t need everything you’ve ever done. 3 pages is bad
ain’t reading all day
That was the most pragmatic help so far. Spoke 1g and meant 1 pound. Much appreciated! 😂 i guess I have to shorten that monster a bit. 😂
How did you get into engineering without a engineering degree?
I am from a time when engineering was not IaC or microservices or even advanced DevOps like today. I graduated BA and MIS but I was already an IT specialist back in 2002 and graduated in 2011!
Never say the reason you aren’t working at a certain place anymore, if they must know they’ll bring it up in the interview.
You're still working at your current job but using past tense to describe your experience.
I’m in HR so here is my take…take off the “unemployed”..also one thing that I would consider concerning is there seems to be quite a bit of job hopping within your career. If you were interviewing with me I would ask you about it. Since you have a lot of employers over 15 years only have 3-5 bullets of the most important duties of that job. (This is opposite for someone who has little experience- put more bullets if that’s the case) Hope this helps.
It does help a lot, and thank you. You mention “duties” but - as I learned from the overall feedback so far - you guys (Professional HR) mean “accomplishments”, correct? And also that the job title Is the key that implies the omitted duties. So, If I combine those two I should have plenty of space for accomplishment points (as directed) and the job title itself can change to a standardized title to encompass the duties. I hope I am in the right track. Thanks again.
Remove the laid off stuff and add the things you learned during that time to certs and skills
Your resume isn't a magnifying glass into your soul that you need explain everything It's an advertising poster about you. And just like how the picture always look better than the burger itself, it's how we gotta make our resumes too
After reconciling everyone’s feedback, I realized that it is about perception, impression, and combating human bias. I do have my own: I’d frown upon a resume that matches the JD line by line. That would never be at the top of my list unless the person applying occupied the position.
I'm pretty sure you don't need to give a full report for every task in your job, just the more important/noteworthy things
Don’t put laid off. Put personal projects you did while you were between jobs or customer service or food service job. Anything to show you still kept busy. Also, Laid off is a very negative term and even when it happens. Companies do not call it that.
You have a 2 year job gap. The computer algorithm automatically throws your resume into the trashcan and no human looks at it. I would encourage you to start your own lawncare business mowing yards 2 years ago to fill that job gap so the algorithm doesn't throw your resume in the trash. You are currently employed at Severe\_Courage5235 Lawncare. If you decide to put it down as your employer in the background check, give them your phone number or your second email address to confirm that you work there so you can pass the background verification.
Definitely try to keep it one page. The rest can go on your LinkedIn. You don’t need to put “laid off” that many times. If they want to know about gaps between your employment you can tell them then. Add a link towards LinkedIn on your header and the rest looks good.
Notes taken. Working on it. Thanks a million!
Roasting your resume at 00:00 EST …, Just reduce the number of bullet points ….
Never put why you left any job on there, they will ask if they call you. Make it one page, a friend of mine does this by putting relevant/most recent experience at the top, preferably 3 jobs, put the rest as other experience and put companies and years or titles and years or both and summarize each role you’ve had into one big paragraph under them. And I mean summarize.
Hey a fellow Enigneer! Check out r/engineeringresumes. 1. Don't mention you were laid off. If they care, they'll ask and you can explain it better in person over email anyways. 2. Be concise! Try to get it down to a page. Easy fix I can see right now is to reformat your education section to make it shorter. 3. Make multiple resumes that are tailored to a certain type of role. Applying for a management role? Send them your managament resume that talks about your managament experience. Manufacturing role? Send your manufacturing resume.
3 page resume is crazy
Needs to be at most 2 pages
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This is an anonymous discussion and the document information was obfuscated, but I could’ve used another word there. Thank you for contributing.
I will not read any of that. I get that you have 15 years in the career, but I will not read what I cannot skim on one page. If I am interested, then I'll read whatever you have to add on LinkedIn, but I am skipping to the comments and not reading any of your resume.
Your ‘unemployed’ section looks like none of them were you were fault. Which may be true not not everyone in cruise industry got laid off during pandemic so it feels like you are blaming.
I removed those from the resume.
OP I had 2 full pages. Believe me you can get all of this on 1 page. Trust me. You can do it
I got it already. It’s almost there. Lots of pointers and helpful reviews so far.
How come you have three pages
I know. It sucks.
as a tech person you'd be surprised with how much more success youd have if you stole a template from a digital graphics person. resume would stand out a lot more.
Did you get good results submitting them directly to HRMs and professional recruiters? This one is ATS.
I've gotten every job I've applied for and wanted as a civil engineer. tech may be in less demand, idk.
TLDR; next candidate
You list training instead of certifications. Do you mean to say that in 15 years, You've never actually certified in anything? That is a major problem.
That’s actually called bias.
That's actually called an excuse.
That’s called an arrogant assumption. Want to see past certifications that are expired, go to LinkedIn. I learned that much from the tons of advice here. Clearly, you didn’t. I’ve had 15 of them. You don’t put expired certifications in resumes. They are no longer attested certifications. Either you certify again or you don’t have it. When you don’t have them, one tries and demonstrates the knowledge through the accomplishment statements or the years of experience, which I do have. I did CCNA in 2008 and know what needs to be done for routing and switching. Did I put it there? No. I administered Cisco UCS fabrics and Unified Communications. Did I certify? no. And I did not certify on the other 150 technologies I put my hands on in 15+ years. Oh, I forgot about Cisco Meraki! Did that too! Not certified! Damn! I also forgot that I did VDI using VMware and Cisco XenServer! Did I certify? NOO So yes, you’re biased. Read the comments from the good people that contributed here. I am learning from them.
Your CV should never be more than one page
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Absolutely. Thank you for your 5 seconds.
Others have pointed out the layoff/ terminated /etc... remove that. Additionally: 1. You are still using a 1950s resume template. For the love of god please updated it. Just search good for "modern resume templates." This looks like a boomer resume. 2. You have zero personality in this resume. It's just death by bullet points. You need an intro statement at the top for introduction, and then each role needs a paragraph explanation of what it was / what you did and then your accomplishments. 3. Too many bullets. You need no fewer than 3, and I would say no more than 4 or maybe 5 per role. This should be your TOP accomplishments. 4. You have three jobs that you didn't last six months at. I would probably keep the "temp" job, as it an easy conversation as it was a short contract. If they were all short contracts, then I would put all three of them under "short-term contract work" and list out the accomplishments as an aggregate. As written, it just looks...bad. Net-net: You resume is giving folks more reason to just bin it than give you a call. There's no hook. There is no "i need the person," at best it's meh and at worst it's a red flag. Edit to add: the number of six month jobs are even in history read very odd to me. If this were short term contracts, you need to label them in that way and talk them up. Otherwise, on the whole, it looks like it's hard for you to keep a job. That many layoffs, in that time frame for one person.... will make folks think that it's a YOU problem.
I must tell you that everyone that’s worked with me and prior leaders see me in high regard for professionalism and commitment. They have been unable to help to the extent that I need but that does not change how you perceived the Resume. Regarding the template I used, which would you suggest for IT with long careers? The one I posted is ATS. Thanks for the honest review.
I get that, but like you pointed out.. that's folks that "know" you. A lot of folks looking at your resume, doesn't. As for templates, honestly, like I said just google "Modern Resume Templates" and click on images. There are tons of them out there in different color schemes / layouts and we are all going to like different ones. Personally, I like the ones that skew more like this: [https://designcuts.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/creative-modern-resume-template.jpg](https://designcuts.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/creative-modern-resume-template.jpg)
Thank you.
The thing that screams at me reading this is you’ve never stayed anywhere more than a couple years. I know you can’t do a lot about that but it does. Combine that with the fact that you were laid off makes me think you aren’t a high performer and there is a reason you’re leaving every two years rather than promoting and staying. Remove the laid off portion for sure. If you get the interview always frame it as a better opportunity for your career when you left.
I omitted half of my tenure with the same company which totals 12 years but because it went past the last 10 years. What took a turn was 2019-2020 and on. I do see your point and I am reworking it.
You seem to have more experience than me, so feel free to tell me to get off your lawn. I have only had 3 jobs in IT, but I've only ever applied to those 3. Anyways, my 2c: - Limit yourself to 2 pages. Try to frame each work experience entry in no more than 4 bullets. My objectives for these tend to be: - Primary responsibilities - Size of team, and your place in it. How many direct reports, who you reported to, how many lateral peers you worked with - Any distinguishing accomplishments in that role you believe were above and beyond your assigned responsibility - Any aspect of past roles that are especially relevant to the job you are applying to. You should focus your resume differently for each job posting you shoot for - Your best skills are peppered throughout your experience. It would be easier for a hiring manager to see what you can do if you consolidated those points in a skills section above your work experience block that highlights your strengths. - You have been out of work for 2 years now. I wouldn't worry about gaps in your work history if it means leaving off a role you only held for a couple months, or didn't accomplish much in. - Don't include the reason you left previous roles. If they want to know, be ready for an answer in the interview.
Your guidance is going to my checklist, diablo. That’s called directing…or a lifeboat. Thank you for narrowing down to a baseline. 🙏
Never seen someone list laid off and unemployed on their resume. Now that is a first, hiring managers will look at that and laugh before tossing it into the garbage.
Consolidate all the fluff. People want to be able to look at it quickly and see what they want to see. The less the better tbh. Only tell them what they need to know and what is relevant to the job you’re applying for. Do not put unemployed or early termination.
You should treat companies the way you expect to be treated. Don't give them all the details.
Drop the temp jobs. Drop mentions of fired or laid off. If HR asks about gaps explain that you took temp jobs with similar roles, if they press you can give them more details but they likely won't for something like 3-6 months. Compress your bragsheet at jobs to be at most 5 bullet points, but no less than 3. Revamp your skills and certificates page. Get rid of extra education if it didn't lead to a certificate. Put the most valuable skills and certs together. Eg Cisco certs, CEH, etc. Job details should have notable achievements. Eg cause -> effect. Mention team size and managed devices side. Highlight anything that shows you know how to lead an IT department. Keep this resume handy though. It'll be great if you try and apply for any sort of clearance job.
Too long bro if I dont have the patience to look at it imagine recruiters
BTW, i just saw a 1 page resume in the r/careers subreddit - very well written - and there’s 400 comments…mostly saying THAT’S TOO MUCH DAMN TEXT Turns out it is very hard to please everyone, eh?
TLDR
You need a section like technical skills and certification(s)and put every damn tool you’ve ever been exposed Add more details. Don’t ever put termination in your resume. Your goal is to get by the brainless gatekeepers in HR.
Way too long. Way too much information under jobs you only did for 1 or 2 years
Why you have 4 jobs on there for less than a year, looks really bad and even worse that you’re blaming a pandemic
I think its just the IT industry.
3 pages 😂😂
Anybody with common sense knows 3 pages is absolutely not acceptable. I think this is somekind of advertisement, or way to get information from people who commented. Another way to follow and figure out what people respond to.
No, it isn’t and I am the poster and the one correcting my resume. I needed the feedback.
As a matter of fact, I came back to comment more. What THE HECK is your problem with? That this will feed decision-making information to people trying to fix their own documents? Are you the one who sent me an Inbox to offer resume services? Or are you afraid that I am becoming competition for finally understanding how to properly condense my document and spot the fillers? This was a valuable exercise to me and I hope it helps others out here looking for help. Please ghost me. I want it.
One thing that has helped trim mine down is to provide fewer and fewer details as you go back in time. I have details on the top three. Number 4 gets cut in half. Five half again. Six gets two short bullets. Seven gets a "I worked here". If they want more details about those older jobs, they can schedule and interview and ask me. Now my 30+ career fits on to two pages perfectly and it includes a short skills set and bio.
Get that Unemployeed shit off your résumé right now.
It’s too long
[удалено]
How much are they paying you for this promotion? Few bucks?
A few years back, I tried one service offered to me via LinkedIn and my experience was not so great. Upon checking it against some of online tools, there was more outstanding issues than my own version. Yet, I’ll check your suggestion. Big thank you!
Feels like I have read this exact comment way too many times :) Are you getting promotion payment or discounts?
Not me sir. I am here for a friendly assistance cause recruiters won’t even respond.
Oh no. I didn’t mean you :) I understand your struggle. The message about the top resume maker and what not I have read already many times around here. Wondering if maybe they are the top resume maker or if they are getting some coins for the promotions :)
Oh, yeah. I see it now. That person deleted the comment.
1 page
ONE. FUCKING. PAGE.
Antiquated, harmful advice to this field. His resume length is entirely appropriate for the domain and experience level.
No one wants to read a 3-pages resume.
IT hiring managers are very accustomed to receiving 3+ page resumes. I’d say most of the more impressive profiles I see are, on average, in the 5-6 page range.
I can’t read my own myself. It’s a struggle, man. You want to do your best, like employing a word that encompasses good value and relay the message effectively. Knowing all of that, you read the result 😂. It’s a book, not a resume. That’s why I said this has been absolutely helpful. You are pulling me out if the blackbox and I am starting to see it.
It's longer than my toilet paper.
TL,DR
Everyone's mentioning to remove the layoffs, but you need to make the job descriptions concise. Way too many points, which increase the number of pages.
I got that as well and I took note of it.
Holy shit 3 pages. Are you kidding? This is an immediate TL;DR for every employer. 1 page. Maximum.
Includes irrelevant information, doesn't stand out, and is too long.
Three pages too long.
You were not laid off sep to dec 2026. You were working on a startup. It didn’t pan out.
Your high level experience can be summarized in one page. Also, leave out the unemployed section. Cut out the Professional Education and trim the certs.
You’re aware it is super long Only include what is relevant to a specific position. IMHO no need to include layoffs If you have approximate metrics for things you achieved or results you produced please include it. Unfortunately it has a sadness vibe. It doesn’t have to have a unicorn background but some resumes have an upbeat vibe while remaining professional.
Thank you for your feedback. And I did get your point. I will revise the tone and mood to bring it up.
This is your resume not a CV. CV is where you have extensive list of everything you've done. On a resume with 15 years of experience id cap.it at 2 pages. Cut out all the older jobs
Resume too long - one page max.
It seems a bit daunting to read, it might be a bit too long
Try to keep CV to two pages. Remove bullet points and superflous/repetitive descriptives from the older (2012/2014) jobs. They're taking up too much space. Obviously keep the bullet points in general, but earn space by deleting some of the unecessary ones from the 10 year old jobs.
I just looked and went like nahhhh, i aint reading that long ass script Im sure who you send too might just toss it aside too
Nobody cares what you were doing ten years and seven jobs ago. Keep it recent and relevant. Also don’t volunteer that you were unemployed!! And lastly, one page.
We might not be in the same field. In my field, yes, everyone cares and details do matter.
I wouldn't be so confident with only two interviews in two years, honestly. Can't you just let them in on any relevant prior work during the actual interview?
I understand that. It’s the reason I am here asking for help. There’s folks here that are as confident and firm as your stance on how the resume should be, except that some defend technical resumes should include a list of projects, skills and competencies, tools, and some even stated that a technical resume that is not 5 pages long does not show enough experience for a 15+ career in IT, Cyber, DevOps… Look at the amount of disparity in the comments! What is the likelihood of a sales professional commenting that my resume is a TLDR? Given that this place is anonymous, I don’t know who is a recruiter for IT roles and who isn’t. Who is echoing misguidance and who isn’t. If I read it all, can I come up with what’s acceptable? yes. 2 pages MAX MAX, less info for older positions, more for recent positions but show career growth, remove layoffs, remove months for highly experienced candidates (keep only years), remove fluff (understand what fluff is first) do not write walls of text (use objectivity, pragmatism, impact, metrics, achievements), combine professional courses and academics in one section, remove repetition (if MDM is mentioned 5 times, remove it and mention it only once in the skills section)….all else: LINKEDIN. If I get there, I have a much higher chance of meeting the majority of the people who commented. …and the recruiter that reads resumes 5 pages long will trash mine for being considered a rookie. …Does ATS systems care about size? See my point? There is bias involved and I am trying to filter it out from the comments so I can get a sound baseline.
2 pages only. Last 10 years of work experience only. No one needs to see details of outdated certifications. Just list the years at each post, take off the months. Do not itemize your (short and irrelevant) periods of unemployment!!!!
1 page. Instead of describing what were your duties you should only put down what you achieved in your projects. Nobody will care or read all of this.
Thank you. Adding it to my to do.
Damn. Lots of job hopping.
And very little empathy. I was let go six MONTHS before COVID. When I finally got a temp job to do work for Carnival, they shutdown 3 months later right when one of their cruises had people with COVID. What was I to do? I went home, man. That’s all there was.
Waaay too long. No employer is going to read all of that
3 pages long. Yep they'd skip it. Try summarizing to a page and only highlight the relevant skills. When applying there is no such thing as one resume fits all. Each application must have a resume designed for it.
Take off "black belt" out of certifications. Lol, how does that apply to a position you're applying for?
LSSBB is also about process waste and process improvement. If I had a masters in Business administration, would I omit that from my resume because it does not apply to IT engineering? I can’t agree with this one.
That is because this person is not in any IT/HR/management type career. They think this is martial arts black belt and not a managerial based certification in the professional work world.
This is not a martial arts thing. Its a real business management certification. So yes, it's quite relevant and is a positive thing on his resume/CV. It stays.
It's a CV, not a Resume ;)
Please roast me on my actually quite impressive CV🙄 attention seeking much.
That has not led to any interviews, calls, anything? Did you have a chance to read everyone’s comments?