Writing Resume in MSFT Word

[DaVortex]

I have written up my resume and it goes a little over two pages, is there a way to fit it all onto one page?

Thanks

 

[EagleKeeper]

Reduce the font, expand margins, remove excessive whitespace.

After that, cut content.

 

[suklee]

I like Excel's ability to be able to 'shrink' everything down to a predetermined number of pages.

How come Word doesn't have this feature?

 

[memo]

removing excess whitespace can be done by highlighting a blank line and changing the font from default, to size 3 or 4

 

[BFG10K]

Also many printer drivers have the ability to shrink documents on a percentage basis.

 

[TSDible]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Also many printer drivers have the ability to shrink documents on a percentage basis.

The problem with this method is that your side margins may end up being disproportionate to your bottom/top margins.

The best method is to optimize your content and whitespace.

 

[TeknoBug]

Nothing wrong with having more than one page resume, font size is recommended 12 so don't go too small or the hiring staff won't waste time with it.

However there's at least a hudred different resume formats, perhaps there is one format that will fit into one page compared to another format depending on how much you have on it.

 

[Ketchup]

I am sure that over the past 11+ years the OP was able to find something that worked.

 

[TheGardener]

You are asking the wrong question. 3 pages is too much. Many managers won't read it. Cut your content. Cut excessive or extraneous words. Start with the older jobs.

 

[Mike64]

You are asking the wrong question. 3 pages is too much.

:thumbsup: This. Unless your personal situation is unusual, three pages is way too long for a "resume" as opposed to what would generally be called a "curriculum vitae." (Those are expected in academic and research circles and list all your publications, major projects, significant presentations, etc. as well as your education, work experience and notable special skills.) And if you need a "CV" as opposed to a "resume" in your particular field, you would most likely know it by the time you were looking for a job...

As to your exact question, I'm not sure if you made a typo about the length of the current draft of your resume, but if not, the short answer is: "Hell no!" Unless you tried to gussy it up really excessively with large fonts or have a ridiculous amount of whitespace to begin with, there's simply absolutely no way fiddling with margins, tabs, line-spacing, and fonts is going to magically make 2-plus pages of text fit onto a single page without it looking completely absurd.

If it's a regular resume and it goes over even one reasonably formatted page (unless you're much further along in your career than your question realistically implies) my first guess would be that you've included far too much descriptive text under each heading/item listing. A resume isn't a substitute for an interview. If you get as far as an interview, that'll be the time and place to discuss the minutiae of your experience. Trying to jump the gun and put all that in front of them in a resume will generally be more of a hindrance than it would be helpful.

PS: If for some reason you still feel very strongly that you want to include a lot of information not usually given on standard "resumes," at the very least add the non-standard material at the end, under some sort of creatively titled "supplemental" heading. But make sure the basic info is on the first two, and preferably the first page. And be forewarned that a very long resume will generally raise your typical HR employee's eyebrows - not in a good way - no matter how impressive the details turn out to be. (No offense intended of course<g>, but in my experience, they're usually not the brightest bulbs in the corporate/firm chandelier and don't typically react well to the "unexpected.") You want your resume to "stand out," but not "stick out", if you get my drift.😉