US Resume

little lady

Hi,

I have read on several websites the US employers like resumes to be short, preferable a page long, however I have been employed in several jobs o er the last 16 years and I also have 5 college qualifications, my leaving cert and I'm starting to do my professional ACCAs. There is no possible way I can get all this onto one page without it looking squashed and untidy.

I have not included any personal information bar name address and contact details. I would rather not leave off my first few jobs as they were with companies which are good to have on a resume plus it shows continuity of employment from an early(ish) age.

I was just wondering how strict US employers are on the length and content of resumes.

Many Thanks
LL

osullm36

The purpose of a resume is to get you an interview not to give your full working history, you can do that in the interview itself to secure the position. Maybe only put qualifications that are relevant to the particular job you are applying for and if you have a college education and 16 yrs experience I'm not sure your Leaving Cert results are necessary?

If at all possible edit it down, the employer will probably only spend seconds scanning it before making a decision. That said I'm in the process of working on my own resume and I understand how hard it is scaling it back!

silja

It sounds like you are 35+ years of age? I've always been told that as long as you have a 10+ year relevant working history, it is ok to go to two pages. My own resume is two pages and I asked a few recruiters about this who said it is fine.

Another option would be to list the early jobs that are mostly relevant for who they were withg, rather than what they were, in the cover letter.

little lady

Thanks for the replays, I could take out my leaving cert results and probably summarise the duties of the first few jobs altogether and expand in the interview if required. This should reduce it further.

Yep 35 on the dot :0) . Thanks for the advise.

LL

silja

Definitely take out the Leaving, it has no meaning in the USA.

Killer Wench

Tailor your resume to the job you are applying to. If you have ten years of experience in retail and another 6 years as an administrative assistant and you are applying for an office manager gig, then highlight the 6 years of work that correlates to the job you are applying for. You can also consider a skills focused resume but this is a gamble.

I would strongly encourage a one page resume. There was a recent radio program where a guy posted a fake job posting on Craigslist, and he received a couple of hundred resumes within 24 hours of posting it. People who have PhDs are applying for admin assistant jobs, but will be overlooked for someone who has been an executive assistant for 30 years.

Remember - here in the US, we use computer programs that scan resumes for keywords. If you don't have a tailored resume, it will be excluded. If your resume does make it to human eyes, they are going to give it a 30 second glance over, and if you are throwing out Irish certs and jobs unrelated to the position at the top of the page, you're gonna get passed over.

Killer Wench

For anyone looking to do a resume in the US style, a few good rules to remember:

1. If you've recently completed a college course (undergraduate or graduate within 2-3 years) put it at the top of your resume. Otherwise, begin by introducing your skills.

2. Do not put any personal information other than your name, address, and contact details. It is considered highly inappropriate to include your age, photo, personal identification number (social security #) or anything along those lines. Listing a hobbies section is unnecessary unless there are unique skills that you have acquired.

3. If you can speak multiple languages, make sure you highlight this on your resume. Europeans have an advantage on us Americans; we tend to learn only American English, but there is high demand for people who can speak another language other than Spanish. If you can speak German, French, or Italian, you could probably find a good gig at a call center for a solid company.

4. Consider having your Irish college transcripts reviewed and explained so that they conform with American standards. Many jobs require you to provide your official college transcripts if you are claiming education as your basis for qualifying; but, many employers won't understand that a First or 2:1 should be considered good scores. They will be more interested to know that you have a perfect 4.0 or 3.5.

RGM

Killer Wench wrote: »

For anyone looking to do a resume in the US style, a few good rules to remember:

4. Consider having your Irish college transcripts reviewed and explained so that they conform with American standards. Many jobs require you to provide your official college transcripts if you are claiming education as your basis for qualifying; but, many employers won't understand that a First or 2:1 should be considered good scores. They will be more interested to know that you have a perfect 4.0 or 3.5.

Not that this shouldn't be done, but most employers here generally don't care what your grades were. Completing the degree or certification is usually all that matters.

little lady

Killer Wench wrote: »

4. Consider having your Irish college transcripts reviewed and explained so that they conform with American standards. Many jobs require you to provide your official college transcripts if you are claiming education as your basis for qualifying; but, many employers won't understand that a First or 2:1 should be considered good scores. They will be more interested to know that you have a perfect 4.0 or 3.5.

Is this expensive to get done, if it was worth it I would have it done but unless I win the DV-Lottery I will only be going for a year and it is expensive enough so if this added to the expense but didn't really pay any dividends I wouldn't be too pushed on doing it.

If you don't know the approximate cost don't worry about it I'll look it up closer to the time.

Thank you for all the information you posted it was very helpful.

LL

Killer Wench

little lady wrote: »

Is this expensive to get done, if it was worth it I would have it done but unless I win the DV-Lottery I will only be going for a year and it is expensive enough so if this added to the expense but didn't really pay any dividends I wouldn't be too pushed on doing it.

If you don't know the approximate cost don't worry about it I'll look it up closer to the time.

Thank you for all the information you posted it was very helpful.

LL

I have found some services that will do it for about $80. You may be able to find someone cheaper.