Is Your Resume Too Wordy?

A wordy resume does no one any good. It doesn't help the person reading the resume as they decide whether they want to gouge their eyes out from boredom or take the route most preferred and throw it away. And of course, if the person reading your resume can't seem to get through it, you as the job seeker lose your great job opportunity.

The fear of creating wordy or problematic resumes prompts many job seekers to find resume assistance rather than do their own work. But you don't have to feel obligated to get outside help. Instead, you could consider some tips on ways to cut the extra fluff out of your resume.

Acquire a Focus

Probably one of the biggest reasons that resumes are too wordy is because they lack focus. As a job seeker, you may be tempted to tell an employer everything about your career, but this not only moves your resume into a wordy category, it keeps the resume from having the focus it needs to clearly and directly tell an employer why you're the right person for the job.

So how can you acquire a focus? By looking closely at the job you're applying for and thinking about what you can contribute to the specific position and company as a whole. You want to look at who you are and what experience you have that could fully contribute to the position, then zero in on a focus that could show the employer you're the best candidate.

Do Some Serious Spring Cleaning

Sometimes, simple edits to your resume could help you chop down a lot of excess fat that needs to go. A good way to do this is by reading each sentence in your resume then finding the shortest, most efficient way to get to the point. It's human nature to use "fluff" as a way to make our words sound more impressive. But very often, editing shows us that we could easily make the same point in 20 words that we originally tried in 50 words.

A wordy resume doesn't have to be your downfall, especially if you're dedicated to acquiring a focus and trimming your resume fat. So make these two commitments first then see if they make an improvement in your overall job search.