The topic of resume length is a highly contested debate in the hospitality industry. While you may be excited to submit your four-page resume that highlights every single job you’ve had and every menial task you’ve accomplished, this approach usually isn’t conducive to today’s fast-paced job market.
Remember, the purpose of the resume is to highlight your skills that are most relevant to the type of job you are applying for. With that in mind, there are a number of factors to consider when trying to decide on the right length for your hospitality resume.
Keep It to No More Than Two Pages
Although some of the most successful resumes only consist of one page, this isn’t a requirement. In fact, condensing your career history into one page may not even be possible, especially when you consider the heading of your resume, formatting quirks and bullet points.
However, a two-page resume is generally considered the maximum length for resumes in the hospitality industry. If you are having difficulty summarizing your experience in two pages, there are a number of tricks you can use in order to trim some of the excess content.
Trimming the Content
For starters, try to focus your bullet points on concrete achievements, statistics and facts instead of detailing vague accomplishments, menial duties or general tasks. Such achievements will carry even more weight if they are verifiable, though this isn’t required by any means. Moreover, keep these bullet points brief and concise. Sticking to the facts will let you avoid excess verbiage and give you more space to list your past accomplishments and skills.
Next, try to eliminate redundancies wherever possible. While you may have multiple jobs where you served patrons, greeted guests or provided general customer service, it’s not necessary to list such points under every single job description in your resume. Instead of repeating yourself, try to utilize the space to highlight new and different aspects of your career.
Alternatively, the strategic use of keywords can go a long way in eliminating redundancies such as this. Simply indicating that you have expertise in customer service, either in the resume’s opening paragraph, in a section devoted to skills or even in your cover letter, can be used to indicate your prior experience in serving customers, greeting patrons and working with the general public. Separate keywords can be used to group other related jobs, concepts or tasks.
Finding Opportunities in Hospitality
If you need assistance in developing your resume, writing a cover letter or even finding that next big opportunity in the hospitality industry, don’t hesitate to contact the professionals at RMG Staffing today!
