Resume Mistakes: Squeezing Too Much Onto a Page
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Dang! If I’ve seen this once, I’ve seen it more than a thousand times–the resume you can’t read because someone turns the resume into a wall of text.
00:00 Introduction
00:41 The problem
01:41 The solution is to think like a reader
02:50 Outro
Should I Indicate My Availability in My Resume?
Let’s talk about one of those stupid resume mistakes I see people make all the time. And that is the idea of squeezing every last ounce onto your resume so it’s one page or two pages. And the problem is you make the resume unreadable.
I’m Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter. People hire me for no BS job search advice and coaching globally, because I make job hunting, and a lot of other things so much easier.
You know, your resume is your gateway to getting an interview, fostering conversation during an interview, and a lot of other things. And you know that there’s a limit to the length of your resume– like I’ve seen 10 Page resumes. They’re unbearable. You can’t read them, because people are putting information from the antiquities of their career into this down to the most minute detail of every single aspect of their life. And you can’t read it.
At the same time, people are trying to squeeze every ounce out of one or two pages. So the font is too small, and the margins are being pushed out. And you can’t read the resume. So it looks like a block. It looks like a wall of text that’s getting in your way, and you can’t read it.
You have to think like the reader. They’re trying to skim your resume in four to six seconds to see what they need to see in order to make a decision. And then from there, they can go a little bit further to probe. And when you put this wall of text in front of them, your resume becomes unreadable.
So you have to think of the reader. Do triage on your resume. No one cares about things that you did more than 10 years ago. It’s unlikely you’re ever going to be hired for that.
It’s another thing during an interview where they might ask you, “So I’m seeing the last 10 years and that’s great. How did you start off in the field” and they’ll bring this into conversation.
And you can always have a simple line that says prior experience was with so and so as a (fill-in-the-blank) from such and such date to such and such date. But to create this huge wall of unreadable text is just a dumb mistake on your part.
I hope you find this helpful. I’m Jeff Altman. Visit my website, TheBigGameHunter.us There is a ton in the blog that can help you. Plus, you can schedule time for a free discovery call, schedule time for coaching, find out about my video courses, books, and guides. Again, there’s a lot there that will help you. Also connect with me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter. My network tends to be a lot larger than most of yours. So connecting with me, will give you access to that much larger population of people. Have a terrific day. Be great!
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS Career Advice globally because he makes many things in peoples’ careers easier. Those
things can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues.
Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2600 episodes.
Website: https://www.TheBigGameHunter.us (schedule a paid coaching session, a free discovery call or ask questions using my Trusted Adviser Services)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter
Courses: https://www.TheBigGameHunter.us/courses
Books and Guides: https://www.TheBigGameHunter.us/books
Resume & LinkedIn Profile critiques www.TheBigGameHunter.us/critiques
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