2 posts tagged with "best-practices"

"Keep it to one page." It's the advice every job seeker has heard, repeated so often it's become gospel. But for tech professionals with complex project histories, diverse tech stacks, and years of experience, this rule can feel like trying to compress a production codebase into a single file. At some point, enforced brevity becomes a liability, not an asset.

The truth? Resume length isn't a binary choice. The real answer depends on relevance, structure, and what the role actually demands. Let's break down when one page works, when two pages are justified, and how to make the decision based on data rather than outdated conventions.

A technical resume isn't just a formality - it's your marketing document. According to research by The Ladders (updated in their 2018 study), recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds scanning a resume before deciding whether you're a fit, though this varies by role and experience level. Small missteps can keep your application from making it to the "yes" pile.

Below is a list of the most common mistakes developers and IT professionals make on their resumes - along with how to fix them.