When crafting a resume, professionals typically want to include as many details as possible. After all, their resume introduces them to the hiring manager, and they want to showcase as much of what they bring to the table as they can to cement them as strong candidates.
The issue is that too many details works against you. Extraneous information or overly lengthy descriptions lead to bloated resumes. With those, hiring managers have trouble focusing in on the information that they really need. Since hiring managers typically only initially assess a resume for a few seconds, issues finding the details they’re after could lead them to remove you as a candidate.
Fortunately, creating a concise resume is simple. Here are some tips to get you started.
Eliminate Irrelevant Experience
Often, the easiest way to make your resume more concise is to eliminate any experience that isn’t relevant to the role you’re trying to land. Eliminate capabilities from your skills section and achievements from your work history that don’t align with the target job. Leave only the pieces of information this specific hiring manager needs.
Remove Redundancies
While it’s fine to highlight a capability in your skills section and your work history, make sure you aren’t repeating the same points multiple times in your resume. For example, if you have accomplishments at two different workplaces that are highly similar, choose the one that best reflects the skill or experience you’re highlighting. Then, delete the other entry to prevent redundancies.
Scrap Old Experience
Unless the job ad explicitly requests more, you can typically reduce the number of job entries in your work history to reflect only the past 10 to 15 years. Anything prior to that usually isn’t providing the hiring manager with the most value. Plus, by limiting the number of positions you’re covering, you can focus on more relevant recent achievements.
Avoid Unnecessary Words
Resumes don’t rely on traditional sentence structures. Instead, you can typically use sentence fragments, which take far less room. Avoid using pronouns to describe yourself when outlining your experience, as the hiring manager understands that the entries are about you. Begin each entry with an action verb, then further define the achievement. It’s also wise to avoid unnecessary verbs like “had” and “may,” as well as articles like “the” and “an” whenever possible.
Eliminate Unnecessary Sections
Certain resume sections are optional or generally not recommended, so you can eliminate them to make your resume more concise. Don’t include any statements about the availability of references, as hiring managers know you’ll provide them if asked. Eliminate any sections focused on hobbies and interests that aren’t related to your career. Additionally, forgo volunteering sections if the roles aren’t relevant unless they cover a skill gap or address a similar issue.
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Ultimately, the tips above help you create a more concise resume. If you’d like to find out more, contact us to see how A.R. Mazzotta can streamline your job search. Also, if you’re looking for new opportunities, visit our website to explore our open jobs today.