The Rule of 10

Are you an established professionals with a dozen or more years of experience under your belt?

DO NOT fall into the “never ending résumé” trap.

Like it sounds, the "never ending résumé" goes on and on, listing bullet point after bullet point of job duties and responsibilities. It continues for two or more pages with little or no consideration of how past experience applies to the job in question.

Generally, it is best for experienced professionals to highlight the last ten years of career accomplishments, limiting the document to just one page.

How?

Provide a short summary your primary duties. Use the majority of the available space to communicate how well you completed them. For the biggest impact, be sure to focus on the skills and characteristics most relevent to the job you are posting to and most beneficial to the prospective employer.

Of course, as with all things in life, there are exceptions to this suggestion. For example, career changers who have experience within the industry they are applying to should consider representing that experience on their résumé. In these, and other instances, two page documents are acceptable.

This “Rule of 10” does not always apply. Highly educated professionals in medical, academic and other fields are encouraged to prepare curriculum vitae, a qualifications document for which page counts truely commiserate with experience.

For all others, use the "Rule of 10" to ensure your qualifications package is a Perfect 10.