help! Im getting confusing and conflicting resume advice!

help Im getting confusing and conflicting resume advice help Im getting confusing and conflicting resume advice A reader writesLast week, I did a complete overhaul of my resume, specifically to cut it down from 2 pages to 1, because I keep hearing (from friends who work in HR, as well as in articles on the subject) that now more than ever, employers want a really clear, concise snapshot of each candidate with as little fluff as possible. I decided to use a functional/chronological combo in buchen to highlight very specific areas of expertise, but to still lend a sense of when and wherbeie these skills were obtained. I sent it to my father in law who has worked in HR for nearly 40 years for some feedback, and he in turn sent it to nine of his friends and colleagues (also in HR). The feedback has started coming in and its SO MADDENING Not because I dont appreciate their constructive criticism, but because so much of it is conflicting. One rolle will say great idea to cut it down to one page while aelendher says dont be afraid to use two.One will say I love that she started off with a clear, concise profile highlighting her experience, while aleidher says skip it.One will say I love functional resumes because they really give me a sense of what the candidates greatest strengths and best developed skills are while another says I hate functional resumes because I feel like the candidate is trying to camouflage gaps in their employment. (Which, by the way, is not at all the case here, since my resume does include a chronological component outlining my employment history.)One will say use a sans serif font, while another says garamond is a great font choice.Its been maddening to read this feedback, because it often feels very damned if you do, damned if you dont, and also highlights how much we as applicants are at the mercy of the readers whims. Clearly, much of writing a great resume one that will capture the attention of the very first person looking at it and piq ue their interest in meeting with you is subjective. What advice do you have for navigating the various personal preferences and pet peeves of HR professionals and hiring managers? There doesnt seem to be any hard and fast rules when it comes writing a great resume that is going to get you a call back, but what if anything would you characterize as best practices or safest bets? You are living out exactly what I tell friends about their resumes You can give your resume to 10 different people who know what theyre doing, and youll get 10 different sets of advice.There are no hard and fast universal rules aside from the obvious (no typos, no illegible fonts, no 10-page monstrosities, no inappropriate sharing).What there are instead are preferences. Often deeply held preferences.But the reality is that when it comes to actually reviewing a candidates resume, a reasonable hiring manager isnt going to reject a candidate because she used a san serif font even though the manager personal ly thinks a serif font is the smarter bet and recommends serif fonts to her job-hunting friends. For instance, I hate resume objectives hate them, preach against them, want to rid the world of them but am I going to reject a candidate simply for having one? Of course not. Because everyone knows that theres a huge variety of accepted practices in how you do your resume.So what does this mean for you, as a candidate seeking advice on her resume? First, dont take any of it as absolute dogma (unless theres something that the 10 people are all in agreement on). Second, ask your resume reviewers why theyre giving a particular piece of advice. Its much more helpful to hear their thought process than to just get random, conflicting rules thrown at you. From there, make your own decisions. None of it is gospel, and any hiring manager who rejects a resume for not conforming precisely to her preferences is someone you dont want to work for anyway. (Its also not a mindset youre likely to see much, or no one would ever get hired.)That said, there are trends, conventions that are starting to gain majority support (although fewer of them than youd think). For instance, in my experience, more hiring managers than not do think functional resumes are frustrating and possibly hiding something. And two pages has grown a lot more acceptable than it used to be, to the point that its really not an issue unless youre dealing with someone very old-school.But again, even these trends arent hard and fast rules.The best you can do is get a feel for the types of things people care about and why and make choices that feel reasonable to you. Good luckhelp Im getting confusing and conflicting resume advice Posts this week will include some reprints of older posts that I still love. This post was originally published on September 30, 2009.A reader writesLast week, I did a complete overhaul of my resume, specifically to cut it down from 2 pages to 1, because I keep hearing (from friends who work in HR, as well as in articles on the subject) that now more than ever, employers want a really clear, concise snapshot of each candidate with as little fluff as possible. I decided to use a functional/chronological combo in order to highlight very specific areas of expertise, but to still lend a sense of when and where these skills were obtained. I sent it to my father in law who has worked in HR for nearly 40 years for some feedback, and he in turn sent it to nine of his friends and colleagues (also in HR). The feedback has started coming in and its SO MADDENING Not because I dont appreciate their constructive criticism, but because so much of it is conflicting. One person will say great idea to cut it down to one page while another says dont be afraid to use two.One will say I love that she started off with a clear, concise profile highlighting her experience, while another says skip it.One will say I love functional resumes because they really give me a sense of what the can didates greatest strengths and best developed skills are while another says I hate functional resumes because I feel like the candidate is trying to camouflage gaps in their employment. (Which, by the way, is not at all the case here, since my resume does include a chronological component outlining my employment history.)One will say use a sans serif font, while another says garamond is a great font choice.Its been maddening to read this feedback, because it often feels very damned if you do, damned if you dont, and also highlights how much we as applicants are at the mercy of the readers whims. Clearly, much of writing a great resume one that will capture the attention of the very first person looking at it and pique their interest in meeting with you is subjective. What advice do you have for navigating the various personal preferences and pet peeves of HR professionals and hiring managers? There doesnt seem to be any hard and fast rules when it comes writing a great resume that is going to get you a call back, but what if anything would you characterize as best practices or safest bets? You are living out exactly what I tell friends about their resumes You can give your resume to 10 different people who know what theyre doing, and youll get 10 different sets of advice.There are no hard and fast universal rules aside from the obvious (no typos, no illegible fonts, no 10-page monstrosities, no inappropriate sharing).What there are instead are preferences. Often deeply held preferences.But the reality is that when it comes to actually reviewing a candidates resume, a reasonable hiring manager isnt going to reject a candidate because she used a san serif font even though the manager personally thinks a serif font is the smarter bet and recommends serif fonts to her job-hunting friends. For instance, I hate resume objectives hate them, preach against them, want to rid the world of them but am I going to reject a candidate simply for having one? Of course n ot. Because everyone knows that theres a huge variety of accepted practices in how you do your resume.So what does this mean for you, as a candidate seeking advice on her resume? First, dont take any of it as absolute dogma (unless theres something that the 10 people are all in agreement on). Second, ask your resume reviewers why theyre giving a particular piece of advice. Its much more helpful to hear their thought process than to just get random, conflicting rules thrown at you. From there, make your own decisions. None of it is gospel, and any hiring manager who rejects a resume for not conforming precisely to her preferences is someone you dont want to work for anyway. (Its also not a mindset youre likely to see much, or no one would ever get hired.)That said, there are trends, conventions that are starting to gain majority support (although fewer of them than youd think). For instance, in my experience, more hiring managers than not do think functional resumes are frustrating a nd possibly hiding something. And two pages has grown a lot more acceptable than it used to be, to the point that its really not an issue unless youre dealing with someone very old-school.But again, even these trends arent hard and fast rules.The best you can do is get a feel for the types of things people care about and why and make choices that feel reasonable to you. Good luck