Source
r/sysadmin•
barneytoe

In the year 2016, how ignorant must you be to believe a resume over 2 or 3 pages long is acceptable?

I recently came across an 8 pager, yes EIGHT fucking pages, and a 6 pager.

We are all busy. Unless you're applying at the DMV, no employer on Earth has time to review 8 fucking pages of nonsense!

Get your God damned shit together and summarize what you've done, in the name of all that is sacred.

Whew, I feel better getting that off my chest.

Edit: To clarify, I'm specifically asking about technical resumes. I suspect the problem is more pronounced here because of the million technologies we work with in any year.

Edit 2: By just having this discussion I'm hopeful that a 6 pg resume'er will make some changes this fine Fri morning. I've seems some good candidates get tossed out because of their "novels".

Posted Jul 22, 2016, 12:49 PM UTC · edited

015
rtfm1563Senior Systems Engineer •

And this related to systems administration, technology, etc... how?

7
barneytoeOP•

um, the resume? As far as I know Sys Admins and IT types still need resumes to get a job, right?

-4
mhurron•

We all eat too, but discussions about your dinner last night are still off topic.

6
barneytoeOP•

I'm in IT and I suspect the giant resume is more prevalent in our crowd.

-7
disclosure5•

When HR produce a three page list of buzzwords and you're expected to show you know them all, how do you do that on two pages?

3
da_kink•

I think it really Depends on what is on the 8 pages. Lots of jobs? Lots of projects? Lots of Certifications? I can image that if you had 5 relevant jobs in the last 20 years or so, just summarizing what you did and what projects you worked on can lead to more than two pages. That's not even counting the stuff you learned and got certified for. That list can take on a page of its own eventually.

1
ghyspranSpace Cadet•

Even at 20 years and 5 relevant jobs, you should definitely be able to get that onto two pages, if not one. You only need to mention the biggest, most important and relevant projects you worked on, so you're looking at maybe average one per year for the past 10 years and 2-3 total from before that. With a brief discussion of each, you shouldn't have trouble fitting that on two pages at worst. Maybe add another page for if you have lots of talks, certifications, and other education. 2-3 pages total.

1
kaliflower0•

I have a 6 pager. I've been in IT since before graduating HS. Every job I've ever had has been IT besides when I was fresh out of HS and worked my first job as a clerk at a convenience store. Since then I've only held IT position and have graduated from tech support to my current position of Lead Systems & Network Engineer, all over a 22 year span. My resume style is every position with bullets showing what technologies I have under my belt. I've used this style resume for the last 10 years and each time I got the job. If you have it formatted where its easy on the eyes there isn't an issue with a 6-8 page resume. But best believe you better know EVERYTHING that's in it, because if you can't explain one part of it you're DONE. No fluff accepted.

1
ghyspranSpace Cadet•

I'd guess that you could remove most of the details for a lot of those older jobs without any impact on the resume's effectiveness, but if it's working for you, shrug.

1
giveenFixer of Stuff•

Its frustrating when I get request for "resume with a full job history". Well...I've done a lot of contract work for various companies while I was going to school. Oh and you want a summary too with each position? Well each company I did X amount of jobs for various companies subcontracted out.

Expect my 4 pager to be coming your way.

1
Zaphod_Bchown -R us ~/.base•

Here is how I approach it:

  • tailor the resume for the job, list skills you have that are most relevant to the job you are applying for

  • Keep the last 5 years of work history, maybe a bit more, then link your LinkedIn profile for the rest

  • give a brief description of yourself and what you are looking for

  • Format it in an easy to read way

  • then put rest of job history, references, and full skills upon request. If they want the entire 8 page report of my job history and all my skills they will ask for it

1
thinkbrown•

I've got one page, front and back, and some people tell me that's too long. Unless you're a PhD with a publication list as long as my arm, you don't need 8 pages

0
AwNiceOlFashionSysadmin•

There is actually quite a bit of debate about this. If you don't like them don't hire the people that submit them. Problem Solved.

-1
barneytoeOP•

Nobody in HR or in charge of hiring is debating this, trust me.

2
1nfestissumam•

2 pages max or bust

1