Getting the Most From Your Two Page Resume

While most in the private sector are used to a one to two page resume, those in the federal workforce have been accustomed to a much longer format than most human resource officials would recommend. Very recently that has changed and resumes will now be limited to two pages. This week we’ll dive into how to be a distiller of information in order to maximize the impact of your resume.

Longer Isn’t Always Better

While a shorter resume may be scary for someone who currently owns a 15 page resume, as someone who sits on many hiring panels, I am quite frankly relieved. Hiring panels, especially for entry level jobs can be 100 names deep or longer. Multiply that by 15 pages  and suddenly you are on an unabridged 1500 page journey through the career stories of the applicants. 

Like most people living in the concentration strained world of social media, hiring officials will scroll through a resume until no longer interested. That can be very quickly if you have some of the good bits stuffed down on page 9. It might never get seen If pages 4 and 5 are a snooze fest. 

The problem for federal workers is that there are many things you have to include in the format so it feels like you are being robbed of valuable real estate. I get that but lets look at this as an opportunity rather than a constraint.

Order Matters

One of the classic features of a long form resume is the chronological format. This format, while good for telling your story in order and always putting your most recent work first, doesn’t always present us in the best light. Chronological order almost guarantees something fantastic is buried.

Chronological order is easy, but I’m going to challenge you to think about your story differently. Consider yourself, for the purpose of this exercise, on an elevator. While standing in said elevator, you are suddenly joined by the hiring official of your dream job. You have two minutes to tell them your story and convince them to hire you. Would you still go with chronological order? Not if you want your story to pop.

Instead, you want to craft your story in the same way that you would in your cover letter. Something exciting to hook the reader comes first. This could be a compelling interest statement or a summary of your strongest skills. 

Then comes the most important things that you want the hiring official to know about you. What are the projects that had the most impact on your career or your biggest passion points. These need to be near the top. Don’t bury the lead. If you are a coder and you want to be known for that, your biggest coding accomplishment should be at the top.

Some may argue that you need to put your work experience in order on your federal resume and that may be true but you can still order your accomplishments in those jobs with most impactful at the top.

Keep the Extraordinary

I read a lot of things on federal resumes that don’t need to be there. Now I understand the algorithm part of it. We need to stuff in our keywords from the announcements so that it gets past the HR bots. That aside, there are still a ton of examples of things that don’t need to be there. Remember we are cutting 15 pages down to 2 so you have to go full Marie Kondo on it. 

The first step I would take to edit down is to separate the things you did into those you are passionate about and those that you did, but would rather not do again. Eliminate the things you don’t want to do. If you get hired because of those things you won’t be happy in your job anyway.

The other thing I would consider is a leadership section. Highlighting the things that you have done to bring the whole office forward are always worth a little extra real estate. Remember, at some point it becomes less about you and more about what you are doing to help others and bring the office forward.

RELATED POST: Create a Personal Portfolio to Break Out of the Job Application Box

Leave Out The Ordinary

Next, I always see tons of “awards” listed. You know, the basic ones your whole office got and your name happens to be on them. Major events you were a part of definitely keep on there but a basic award that everyone got at the end of the year because the awards budget had to be spent doesn’t need to be. The best awards are the ones  achieved because you created a new code or helped someone do their job better or streamlined a process to make life easier. Those are the ones I want to see.

Leave out the generic duties. If you are a lead forecaster in the National Weather Service, and you are applying for a Science and Operations Officer position, I don’t need to know that you “performed security checks” which basically means you walked out front to see if the door was locked. Leave it out.

Finally, leave out the random on the job training courses you did. Again keep some of the huge ones that are relevant but if it was a one off training that you never plan to use the results of or ever be involved in again, leave it out.

What’s the Objective of an Objective Statement

The objective statement is the most controversial thing in modern resume writing history since arial font. Some people love it, some people hate it. Not unlike the cover letter. Just as with a cover letter, if the objective statement captures attention, it’s an asset. If not, it’s a detriment. 

First and foremost, the objective statement often occupies the best real estate on the resume, right on top. Get it right and it’s a boon. Get it wrong, and you have wasted the best space on the page.

If you are going to do it right, then Start With Why. In the book by Simon Sinek, he states “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” This is another space in addition to the cover letter to tell the hiring official why you do what you do. If you align your why statement with the goals of the organization you are applying to and the needs of the hiring official, it can be pretty powerful.

On the opposition side of the spectrum if your objective statement is “to be hired for this job” your resume’s future looks bleak whether its 2 pages or 15.

Write A Cover Letter

A cover letter not only gives you the chance to share your beliefs and personality with the hiring official, it gives you more space to expand on some of your biggest accomplishments. Whatever your one or two biggest career highlights are, you can use the resume to expand on them more and in the context of the things that you believe.

When you finish reading this article, circle back to my advice on how to use a cover letter to land an interview for a more in depth look at how to tackle what can be the toughest part of the application package.

A Portfolio Website Goes A Long Way

I mention this in the cover letter article as well but using a simple link to a portfolio website allows you to expand as much as you want. You could even put your full 15 page resume on the website. I wouldn’t recommend it, but you could do it.

Portfolio websites allow you to present yourself in the way you want to be seen. Images, videos, little snippets of code, and example project proposals can all be included with no format limitations. Portfolio websites are an invitation to a world outside of the resume that isn’t being taken advantage of enough.

 Consider a website if you want a leg up in the hiring process. Best of all, that link can be put on any application to any job in any organization. 

Think Outside the Box

Couldn’t include everything you wanted in the resume? How else can you grab the hiring officials attention. A tactful introduction through email with a one pager of career highlights? There are many ways to make connections with people without writing 15 pages. 

While it may be tough to let go of our CVS receipt size (WHY ARE THEY SO LONG!) resumes, resist the urge to tell them everything and leave them wanting more.

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