1. What’s the appropriate length for my resume?
Early career professionals typically only need one page, professionals with 8+ years experience can consider 2, and system-level leaders (i.e. a superintendent or CEO of a school district) can have 3-4 pages.
2. When would I use a resume versus a CV?
Unless you’re applying for a role in Academia/Higher ED/healthcare (i.e. professor, physician, researcher, Academic Dean), you will almost certainly use a resume. A resume is a concise list of your skills/past professional experiences and education, whereas a CV has no specific length limits and is a full list of roles, internships, education, scholarship, presentations, awards, etc.
3. Are “summaries” a good idea at the top of my resume?
Yes! Keep them between 2-4 sentences, and try to get specific (i.e. reference your job function and industry, and your relevant skills). Stay away from generalizations that don’t actually tell the reader about your areas of expertise and experience (i.e. “Relationship-builder and leader with a passion for service”.
4. If I include a headline in my resume, should it reflect my current job title or align more with the jobs I’m applying to?
When in doubt, your headline should align with the role you are applying to. That might mean you have a different headline for each job application! This is an easy way to tailor your resume to your target role. Let’s say you are a school leader applying for a customer success role in EdTech. Your headline could read as “K-12 Leader & Customer Success Specialist.”
5. Should I include a personal interests section in my resume?
While this used to be a pretty standard section on resumes, I would strongly discourage you from including it moving forward. Your resume is an opportunity to market yourself professionally, and all space should be dedicated to that purpose. Sharing interests on a resume has become more of an outdated practice given implicit bias that can occur in a hiring process - either hiring managers favoring people with shared interests or declining people they fear they can’t connect with personally).
6. Can I use color on my resume?
Yes, but consider color as an accent (i.e. perhaps your name and section headings) versus using color everywhere. Though it can be enticing to make your resume colorful and aesthetically pleasing, applicant tracking systems have an easier time parsing information in more boring, standard templates.
7. When I conduct a search for a modern resume template online, most include a place for a personal picture. Should I include a picture of myself on my resume?
Any recruiter will tell you to avoid including a picture of yourself on your application when applying for roles in the United States unless you are in a creative role or the entertainment industry (i.e. Theater, Broadcast Journalism, etc.).
