IT Resume Question

Mouse82

So I currently work for company X, which has decided that we have too many people, and will be letting some of us go. In preparation for the possibility of joining the unemployed ranks, I have begun updating my resume. When I applied to, and got hired by company X, all I used with a single page resume, which was more than enough to get me hired (big company, standard application system, etc.).

As I eye a lot of other jobs open in my area, most are with the big IT contracting firms (no biggie, I can do contract); speaking to some of the recruiters, they seem interested in a much larger, 3-4 page resume, detailing everything I have done in my job to date (projects, systems I've worked with, etc).

Is this common, the 3-4 page resume? I haven't had a resume out in a few years, so I'm just kind of curious.

Thanks!

BradleyHU

multiple page resumes are common if you've had a bunch of skills, education(degrees from various schools), certifications(relevant ones), and multiple jobs.

cyberguypr

3-4 pages? I've been in IT for 16 years and have been extremely successful with a two page resume. Fast upward mobility has always made a lot of experience irrelevant to whatever role I am submitting the resume for.

gespenstern

I've paid $100 to professional resume services at topresume.com and they told me that resume shouldn't be more than 2 pages. I was told that many employer's automated systems discard or lower score of resumes that are longer for reasons unknown. So I was advised to make it shorter which I did. I was told that sometimes it's worth to have a CV in addition to resume where you can fully describe your career with all achievements. I skip this because I have linkedin for that purpose.

Other typical advice that I had is divide experience in certain company to responsibilities and achievements, put education/certs to the bottom instead of top, fill achievements section with numbers. Like, this virtualization project allowed this company to cut down server numbers by 85 percent and power consumption by 50 percent. Or this anti-spam project allowed to cut down false positives number to zero and false negatives to 2 per week on average, etc, etc.

So since that day I use the same resume as a template and tune it as my career progresses. Of course, I have to kick some things out because otherwise it wouldn't fit in 2 pages.