Greg Miller, Executive Search Consultant, The Wellington Group, LLC

So often, it is really hard to know what to include in your resume. This is especially true if you are in the IT or Scientific realm, because your world is very specific and detailed in terms of education and particular areas of expertise. Both of these worlds are vast!

For new resumes, please keep it to two pages, and if you absolutely must (due to longevity in the workforce), three. For revised resumes, the same rule applies…2-3 pages. I have sat down with so many IT folks who live in a world of alphabet soup listings on their resumes: Operating Systems, hardware, software, proprietary applications, and various versions and Service Packs of any number of these, each particular to their specialty. Likewise, for Scientific resumes, I see a wide range of entries including: GMP, GLP, QA, QC, LIMS, IND submissions, in-vitro assays, and much more. Unfortunately, that is only helpful later on in the interview process. What is crucial is to get the interview in the first place! Hiring managers really don’t and won’t wade through 8-14 page resumes. They simply don’t have time for that. They need a quick look – a fast summary that highlights your experience. They need to determine in less than one minute that your credentials look like a strong match with their job description.