Resumes for Recruiters
By Karen Hofferber, CPRW Certified
Professional Resume Writer Advanced Career Systems, Inc.
Whether your resume is targeting hiring managers at companies or recruiters, it must convey your key strengths and representative accomplishments powerfully and succinctly. Concise writing is important to both of these audiences, but this element is essential to recruiters, who may receive hundreds of resumes (many unsolicited) every day.
When targeting companies, a two-page resume is a good length
for many professionals (the right length for you depends
on your years of experience, career goal, and number of
jobs held). Companies are hungry for the particulars of
your achievements. Even though your resume most likely will
not be read word-for-word in the initial screening phase,
it will be given a thorough review once you make it to the
interview cut. In order to get there, you must provide enough
information to warrant closer review.
But when targeting recruiters, a concise resume is ideal.
If you can get your document down to a single page (while
still providing enough compelling details to spur further
interest), even better. Many job seekers planning an aggressive
search will be well served by creating two different versions
of their resume:
- A detailed, keyword-rich, and accomplishments-packed document for employers; and
- A hard-hitting, abbreviated version for recruiters.
For the latter version, you will need to be brutal in your editing. Pare down or eliminate your opening resume profile, cut your “Expertise” section, minimize your job descriptions, and combine your top accomplishments into three or four bullets for your most recent experience. You can group older experience into an “Early Career” section, providing just a few key details to save space.
About the author Karen Hofferber is a Certified Professional Resume Writer and senior resume writer at Advanced Career Systems, Inc. Changing careers? See The Career Change Resume by Kim Isaacs and Karen Hofferber for help. You can reach Karen Hofferber at khofferber@resumepower.com.
Did You Know?
You may be able to deduct resume writing services on your
taxes! Check with your tax advisor for details. 
