Am I out of touch when it comes to resumes and interview skills?

[darkswordsman17]

Is that with or without cover letter (the 2 page resume)? Seemed like I saw that 1 page resumes (ditching the cover letter) were preferred these days. Mostly so they can just get down to the information and limit the amount of fudging that people do. I feel like there's only like 3 jobs they'd probably be interested in (most recent, and then possibly a couple of others that are relevant to the position if the most recent one isn't). Interests I think would only matter if it actually pertained to the position (like if you were a hobbyist, like say you did photography, and you were applying for some media related position where they're not hiring you for that, but it might prove beneficial).

 

[Ventanni]

No, you're not out of touch. A job resume really just needs to show a few things:

1. Ability to do the job
2. Sufficient job history to show you can stick it out
3. Show that you can write without sounding like everybody else's resume

If you write a 7 page resume, you're an idiot. All that would tell me is that you're full of yourself, and you don't know how to cut out the unimportant stuff.

 

[snoopy7548]

Yeah, for most people a one page resume is enough. You should be able to briefly list the important aspects of your past work and expand in detail during the interview. No one cares about the day to day stuff. Two pages for the more well-experienced older workers who have a metric f-ton of expertise.

I haven't been involved much in the interviewing process at my job, but I have seen resumes from people fresh out of school (undergraduate) that have a two page resume, and one or two internships/co-ops. They like to list all of their classes and lab projects.

I never understood the whole Activies and Interests section people put on their resumes. If it's not directly related to the field, don't put it on your resume. Your personal interests will come up during the interview if the interviewers like you and aren't clueless.