those of you with a lot of work experience, how do you trim your resume down?

[purbeast0]

my company wanted me to update my resume recently so they could use it on other contract bids, and i just finished it up.

i've been in the software dev industry for about 10.5 years now.

after updating it with all my work experience (and even removing my college internship since it seems totally irrelevant now), adding in my indie mobile development experience, it is at about 3.5 pages.

my goal is to try and trim it down to 2 pages, but i mean i feel i will be removing a lot of relevant information in a way. about 3/4 of the first page is bullet points of the technologies that i've worked with, grouped into logical sections too so it's formatted nicely.

then i get into the work experience, and it's 4 different gigs/projects, that go about 1.75 pages fully.

then i list 3 different mobile projects (although 1 of them is about 5-6 apps, just all using the same framework) and some details about both. it's about .75 pages

finally at the end i just have 1 line about where i got my bachelors degree.

so i'm curious, how the hell do i go about trimming this down, and those of you who have done it, how did you do it?

 

[Nashemon]

my company wanted me to update my resume recently so they could use it on other contract bids, and i just finished it up.

i've been in the software dev industry for about 10.5 years now.

after updating it with all my work experience (and even removing my college internship since it seems totally irrelevant now), adding in my indie mobile development experience, it is at about 3.5 pages.

my goal is to try and trim it down to 2 pages, but i mean i feel i will be removing a lot of relevant information in a way. about 3/4 of the first page is bullet points of the technologies that i've worked with, grouped into logical sections too so it's formatted nicely.

then i get into the work experience, and it's 4 different gigs/projects, that go about 1.75 pages fully.

then i list 3 different mobile projects (although 1 of them is about 5-6 apps, just all using the same framework) and some details about both. it's about .75 pages

finally at the end i just have 1 line about where i got my bachelors degree.

so i'm curious, how the hell do i go about trimming this down, and those of you who have done it, how did you do it?

I realize that you're likely way more qualified for anything than me, so I don't mean for this to be insulting in any way, but I can't imagine how a resume can be 3.5 pages. The first page is just bullet points? Are they double spaced, one per line? Maybe put the "grouped" ones on a single line separated by commas, single spaced and 1.5 spacing or smaller between bullets. Experiment with font or font size, and margins.

I'm no expert on it but my resume has about 3 quick and pointy sentences per job. I don't list every project I've ever been involved in. A list of languages known, a few softwares the reader may have heard of, your biggest successes. Remember who is reading these resumes. It's typically not the techies. At least not where I apply. They're not going to understand much more than 1 page can detail. A resume is a summary of your highlights, not a biography.

 

[Naer]

weight watchers

 

[vi edit]

Many health care providers use the "CV" format for this very reason. There's a page or two to go over work experience and then an additional page to cover specific research grants, publications, projects, ect that they have been part of.

With the education inflation and amount of job hopping any more I think resumes are going to need to start moving to that format to better lay out what all a person has really done.

 

[purbeast0]

I realize that you're likely way more qualified for anything than me, so I don't mean for this to be insulting in any way, but I can't imagine how a resume can be 3.5 pages. The first page is just bullet points? Are they double spaced, one per line? Maybe put the "grouped" ones on a single line separated by commas, single spaced and 1.5 spacing or smaller between bullets. Experiment with font or font size, and margins.

I'm no expert on it but my resume has about 3 quick and pointy sentences per job. I don't list every project I've ever been involved in. A list of languages known, a few softwares the reader may have heard of, your biggest successes. Remember who is reading these resumes. It's typically not the techies. At least not where I apply. They're not going to understand much more than 1 page can detail. A resume is a summary of your highlights, not a biography.

the "bulletpoints" i'm talking about aren't even listed in bullet points. they are just comma delimited. they actually take up about more like 1/3 a page when i look at it actually lol. so yeah i was off a bit but i just looked again at them.

as far as 3 sentences per job, that wouldn't tell the whole picture really, unless i just made them run on sentences.

the "bulletpoint" section though is one that will probably hit many keyword searches, which is why i have that at the top of the list, so like you said, the non-tech people who are just looking for specific terms can see it early in the resume.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Have a table at the top briefly outlining your qualifications: prog languages, tools, certifications, specific training. For each job, use bullet points to outline what you did for the company - how did you benefit them, how you applied your skills, your technical and leadership responsibilities. Use 10 point sans serif font and adjust your margins. Give more emphasis to your most current jobs.

 

[TheFamilyMan]

PM sent...

 

[Virge_]

Two pages max, excluding cover letter (which I've never used once, anyway).

Top section has "relevant skills and experience" which essentially bullet-points all technologies used in order of relevance, specifics as to versions when applicable, and years of experience.

Each "job" section follows and is then cut down to higher-level HR speak details as to my responsibilities and accomplishments, which often excludes much of the techno-babble listed in skills and experience. By doing so each job is kept pretty succinct, shows the years worked and any title, role, and/or responsibility adjustments - and the end result is a pretty picture painted that shows HOW I learned what I know, where I learned it, and how I worked up through the ranks from admin, senior, engineer, and finally architect.

Top part is for the hiring manager and buzzword software, individual job scopes are for the executives and HR. Every now and then I use the wrong buzzword and get a lot of spam job postings for things not even remotely related to my field/title and I just tweak accordingly until that crap stops.

I haven't even included stuff like Education or intent in a resume in over 8 years, and it's never even been a question asked during an interview - even when talking to Google for an opportunity a few years back that I turned down because it was contract work (due to the location).

 

[blackdogdeek]

I will omit or include different projects/jobs depending on the expertise required for a particular position. I have a version of my resume specifically tailored to positions looking for web dev and another specifically tailored to java server side dev. Does your company let you know what types of gigs or skills they want you to emphasize?

Also, regarding past technologies, I have 2 separate bullet points 1 for software used (OSes, IDEs, utilities) and 1 for languages I've used and within each I list several examples of each instead of several bullet points. That restores significant real estate.

 

[NoTine42]

Don't.

When I was out of work, (2009) an agency headhunter kept asking me to expand on my experience until I got to a 3-page resume. I wound up getting a job by myself, but I think my long, detailed resume helped more than it hurt.

With computer scanning, etc I think short resumes are a college career center myth along with that " don't just take any job, wait for that great job" BS.

 

[Rakehellion]

my company wanted me to update my resume recently so they could use it on other contract bids, and i just finished it up.

i've been in the software dev industry for about 10.5 years now.

"10.5 years of experience" is a story in and of itself.

But since you added the superfluous .5 I'm guessing you're the type to add a lot of irrelevant information.

Just mention the biggest, most important, most revenue-generating jobs and trim everything else down to a sentence or two. It's not your Facebook page.

 

[Nograts]

From 1996 to 2004: Sexual Predator.

There is 8 years summed into a single bullet for you. :awe:

You're welcome.

 

[purbeast0]

I will omit or include different projects/jobs depending on the expertise required for a particular position. I have a version of my resume specifically tailored to positions looking for web dev and another specifically tailored to java server side dev. Does your company let you know what types of gigs or skills they want you to emphasize?

Also, regarding past technologies, I have 2 separate bullet points 1 for software used (OSes, IDEs, utilities) and 1 for languages I've used and within each I list several examples of each instead of several bullet points. That restores significant real estate.

i actually like to show that i have experience in multiple languages over varying types of projects. it shows that you aren't focused in one language and that you can pick up anything.

as far as it being for my company, they can tailor it how they want. i mainly want to trim it down for my own personal use. i don't plan on looking for a new job any time soon, but i just like to keep it up to date if possible and i've been slacking recently.

 

[blackdogdeek]

i actually like to show that i have experience in multiple languages over varying types of projects. it shows that you aren't focused in one language and that you can pick up anything.

as far as it being for my company, they can tailor it how they want. i mainly want to trim it down for my own personal use. i don't plan on looking for a new job any time soon, but i just like to keep it up to date if possible and i've been slacking recently.

Ok, I thought this exercise was for specific positions. That's more difficult. I guess what you could do then is try to trim off projects with outdated technologies or are just much older, if possible. You can always include the technologies in your bullet points at the beginning of the resume. The projects that you omit risk not even being read if a resume is very long and you can always bring them up in interviews. I know when I interview, I usually only look at the most recent positions and projects, especially in longer careers.

Alternatively, you can try to pare down the description of the projects you do include in the resume but then it may tend to look sparse.

 

[Markbnj]

I've been at it twenty+ years, and even boiling it down to the bare minimum for each position it gets long. I think these are rules of thumb, and I also think people can tell the difference between a four or five page resume filled with self-serving bullshit, and the same document listing many years of experience.

 

[DrPizza]

Generally, people use a resume to apply for a specific job - your resume should be tailored for the job you're seeking. That means, you can eliminate skills that are unrelated to the new job - this helps you whittle it away until you're down to 2 pages (or one page if your resume consists of just graduating from college, having had a paper route, and flipped burgers.)


But, OP, for the purpose of your resume, I don't see any reason why it can't be three pages.

 

[purbeast0]

Generally, people use a resume to apply for a specific job - your resume should be tailored for the job you're seeking. That means, you can eliminate skills that are unrelated to the new job - this helps you whittle it away until you're down to 2 pages (or one page if your resume consists of just graduating from college, having had a paper route, and flipped burgers.)


But, OP, for the purpose of your resume, I don't see any reason why it can't be three pages.

well pretty much any job i would apply to, pretty much everything on my resume is relevant. i plan to be in the software development field my whole career.

and as mentioned i like to show that i have done stuff in many different languages using many different technologies, as well as indie work in my spare time, because it shows a desire to learn and that i am a go getter and can figure out stuff on my own.

 

[rudeguy]

my company wanted me to update my resume recently so they could use it on other contract bids, and i just finished it up.

i've been in the software dev industry for about 10.5 years now.

after updating it with all my work experience (and even removing my college internship since it seems totally irrelevant now), adding in my indie mobile development experience, it is at about 3.5 pages.

my goal is to try and trim it down to 2 pages, but i mean i feel i will be removing a lot of relevant information in a way. about 3/4 of the first page is bullet points of the technologies that i've worked with, grouped into logical sections too so it's formatted nicely.

then i get into the work experience, and it's 4 different gigs/projects, that go about 1.75 pages fully.

then i list 3 different mobile projects (although 1 of them is about 5-6 apps, just all using the same framework) and some details about both. it's about .75 pages

finally at the end i just have 1 line about where i got my bachelors degree.

so i'm curious, how the hell do i go about trimming this down, and those of you who have done it, how did you do it?

I always tweak it for the job I'm applying for. Most relevant employer at the top along with the skills/experience to match. I try to keep it short and to the point. No one wants to read a 4 page essay on a previous employer.

But for you I would actually recommend being as detailed as possible. If your current employer wants to use it to win bids, I'm assuming they want to use it for bragging and not checking to see if you have a certain skill. Make that fucker 10 pages and let your company trim it down as they see fit.

 

[Leymenaide]

Would you consider a link to your personal web site for a complete project list, certifications and publications ? might be appropriate. Spend more space on an intro who you are and what you want on your resume.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Trim it to one page or don't even bother. Seriously. Nobody is going to read two pages of trivia about old work projects.

 

[rsbennett00]

The grown up world uses CV. Mine is currently 10 pages. Switch.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I don't have much experience with resumes, but wouldn't it be acceptable to remove the stuff you think is the least relevant and indicate somewhere on the resume that you can provide further information should they want it?

 

[purbeast0]

I don't have much experience with resumes, but wouldn't it be acceptable to remove the stuff you think is the least relevant and indicate somewhere on the resume that you can provide further information should they want it?

yeah that could be a good idea. as mentioned up above, a personal website with information about all of my stuff would probably be a good idea and way to give some more detailed information.

 

[Blackjack200]

It's hard to say without seeing it, but I suspect there's a lot that can be removed. I can't speak for the software development industry, but in financial services, long resumes are really annoying. I wouldn't say they disqualify someone, hell no, if you've got the skills and can do the job, I want you before the guy with fewer skills but a perfect resume. But it does reflect poorly. It looks like you're throwing the kitchen sink at me instead of looking at the role and telling me why you're the best candidate.

i actually like to show that i have experience in multiple languages over varying types of projects. it shows that you aren't focused in one language and that you can pick up anything.

Again, I'm not in dev, but couldn't you say something like "highly proficient through formal training and professional experience in industry standard object-oriented compiled and scripted languages including Python, C, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, Perl, HTML, and industry standard development enviornments and frameworks for production in those languages. Additional experiance in VBA, php, and Linux server administration?

I think that would get the point across.

well pretty much any job i would apply to, pretty much everything on my resume is relevant. i plan to be in the software development field my whole career.

Sorry, but that sounds like a cop out. The fact that I learned to read and write is relevant to my role in financial services, but it didn't make my resume. Your resume should be focused on highlighting the specific skills the employer is looking for.

I just dug up my resume, and this is how it begins

Summary of Experience
• Extensive experience in the financial services industry; responsible for meeting aggressive investment platform management and product support objectives and creating processes for anticipating, validating, prioritizing, and delivering on investment requests from competing stakeholders.
• Expertise in streamlining complex platform reporting processes, communicating business ideas through effective document design, and delivering rapid diagnosis and resolution of new problems
• Demonstrated Record of success in
o Building custom tools to improve financial data reporting processes, reducing risk by automating tasks
o Managing a variety of projects including technology enhancements, migration and conversion of 401k plans to the [company] recordkeeping platform (investment line-up), and communication of corporate actions, regulatory changes, and platform enhancements

My Employment history is all quantified with bullets like this:

• Build, maintain, and manage the $80 billion mutual fund and non-registered investment platform
• Deliver over 6,000 fund profiles and 404(a) fee disclosure data points from [vendor] every quarter

Here's my entire education section:

New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ
B.S. Management, Graduated August 2005

That's it, I don't even have my reasonably-strong-at-3.6 gpa. Because who cares? If I ever get an MBA or CFA, I'll add a line for that.

 

[Blackjack200]

The grown up world uses CV. Mine is currently 10 pages. Switch.

I've never even heard of this. Looked it up and it looks like an academic/medical industry thing. Probably irrelavent to other professions.