Resumes - one page and beyond

[MatthewShiner]

I have a honest question . . .

and this if for those more season, or those in hiring, or actually anyone who may have had a discussion about this recently.

Given we are NOT giving hard copies of our resumes any more - why keep it to one page?

I am struggling at this point to figure out how to put myself one one page . . .

currently, my full resume (NOT MY CV) is 5 pages . . .

I feel like I can go a couple of ways now . . .

Do a one page highlight version - where I pick the greatest hits, and mention the fact I was at some of these theaters for three to six years?

Do a one page version for classical theater?
Do a one page version for musical theater?
Do a one page version for new theater?

Or say screw it, and stick to the five pages - but I feel like it comes off as a bit overwhelming, and I am not quite getting the response I would like back on some cold sends.

Thoughts?

[PSMKay]

If I encounter a level 500 character in an RPG I'm going to expect that they've got several screens worth of loot drops on their profile. A noob would have trouble filling a single screen. The two players aren't going to be taking on the same raids or confronting the same bosses.

I think the whole "one page resume" thing is mostly for entry-level and low-level positions. I used to work for an executive-level headhunter and we'd regularly do up 6+ page resumes and lengthy narrative histories for the candidates we were promoting.

If someone's hiring at a very high level they will have few candidates and will have time to read through longer resumes. They will also expect to see more experience. However, if someone's hiring for an internship position they are going to be swamped with applicants, scan them in to a keyword-seeking computer program, and chuck the heavy ones as overqualified.

Matthew, you've leveled up and have the XP/HP to look at employment opportunities that are waaay out of range for a noob.

[MatthewShiner]

Matthew, you've leveled up and have the XP/HP to look at employment opportunities that are waaay out of range for a noob.

MADE MY YEAR!!!!!!!!! To bring it down to role playing terms makes it all make sense now.

[PSMKay]

By the time you get back from China your stage manager power level may be over 9000! ^_^

[Jessie_K]

My only caution for resumes that are over 2 pages long even for seasoned professionals, is that I would get bored and probably not read the whole thing.  2 pages of your BEST stuff should be enough to get the point across and short enough to guarantee that your potential employer reads the whole thing.

Here in Singapore it seems customary to list EVERY single job with bullet points of duties and I honestly think that the best/most important items get lost in the clutter.

As I tell my students- consider your audience- what do you want this person to see and how to see it?  Do they need to be floored by your sheer volume of work? Do they need to notice the awesomeness of individual productions?  You decide and send them the right one.

[dallas10086]

I haven't kept my resume to just one page in years for that reason: I email it much more often than I mail it, and it's viewed even more online. Why not have it all up there and let the reader pick and choose what to read?

[DeeCap]

I met with a career counselor and he told me that it is not necessary to keep the resume to one page. 

I know that if you are sending CV's to universities they expect to see more than one page, but I don't think the rest of the world is ready for a two page resume.

[missliz]

I haven't kept my resume to just one page in years for that reason: I email it much more often than I mail it, and it's viewed even more online. Why not have it all up there and let the reader pick and choose what to read?

I have my full resume on my website, but the downloadable version is a 1pg "greatest hits."