On December 30 2009 03:25 LuckyFool wrote:
I never said every single lifetime achievement. I said having a few key personal bullets somewhere near the end of a resume is a huge thing that many people overlook or think is unnecessary. When people are interviewing and hiring you they are interested in the "person" they are hiring. If it's a full time job they want to know who you are and how you will conduct yourself in the work place and the best way to gauge some of these things are to go into the applicants personal/interest information.
As someone who worked with a recruiter for an IT Firm I used to see resumes and the ones that always stood out were ones that were different. Sure some of the "different" ones were different because they were shitty but the best ones were the ones that looked professional yet still stood out for some reason (sometimes due to personal/interests) those ones almost always had a better shot at landing an interview than a bunch of other cookie cutter resumes which get lost in the shuffle VERY easily.
It's competitive in the professional world these days. Many people are applying for very few positions, using everything you can to gain an edge is always helpful. You just have to be smart about what you put on there. I have friends who speak multiple languages fluently and have left that stuff off a resume, I was like WHY?!
And I agree a resume should never ever be more than 2 pages.
Your resume shouldn't even be more than 1 page unless you have a Master's AND/OR have years and years of experience. Your resume should basically look like a highlight reel of your BEST qualities. It should scream that you are more than qualified for the job, make it apparent that you tried hard condensing, and make the interviewer/manager/recruiter think there's way more you haven't disclosed. They should be asking you questions about what's related, but not on your resume. If you can fit everything you are on a resume, what's the interview for?
i.e. Allowing the interviewer to ask questions and find out that you were president of ______ fraternity, member _____ honor club, on the dean's list, etc. while in college makes him think you were so qualified you didn't even have room to put stuff on your resume that most people would take great pride in. Don't get me wrong, if something is absolutely relevant and pertinent to the job you are seeking, put it down. But you really don't want to put stuff down just to fill up space. This really does telegraph "unqualified and desperate."
Your resume is not WHO you are, on paper. It's simply an introduction and part of a cohesive package that you must bring to the interview.
EPT
