Recently ResumeDoctor undertook the immense project of interviewing several hundred recruiters/headhunters to find out what they are saying about resumes. These recruiters stemmed from varied specialties and industries throughout the US and Canada, (Engineering, Information Technology, Sales and Marketing, Executive, Biotech, Healthcare, Administrative, Finance, etc.). ResumeDoctor sought to find out what are the recruiter’s likes and dislikes in a resume they receive and what is going to get a resume read by them. Some of the "Pet Peeves" shared will be obvious, while others might surprise a job seeker.

A resume should never be more than 2 pages. James Cox, Managing Director at MES Search Company in Smyrna, Georgia told us, "I hate long resumes, meaning any resume over 2 pages long. If a candidate cannot adequately communicate the information in 2 pages or less, there is a problem. Situations that usually contribute to long resumes are; too many jobs; a career that is not focused, an inability to be concise, written communication problems, or something similar. All of which make for an 'UNPLACEABLE' candidate."

No matter how tempting it is to go into detail about the first job you had 25 years ago, don’t! Instead, let your resume showcase your most recent accomplishments. Recruiters, (for the most part), are only reviewing the last 5-8 years of your career, 10 tops. A recruiter is not gauging whether you are a viable candidate for that CFO position at a $200M manufacturing firm based on your first accounts payable position out of school 25 years ago.

If you are a recent graduate with limited professional work experience, your resume should be only one page. If you are from academia, but are seeking a position in industry, do not include every publication or journal paper you have ever presented. My record as a recruiter was a 62-page resume/CV, (it got a few laughs here in the office and then went right in the trash). Yes, the general rule in academia is “publish or perish,” but recruiters do not care nor understand your paper on "Rab proteins in sphingolipid storage disease cell types." They want to see how your experience can directly fit into the industry and the position they are trying to fill. You can opt to list a few RELEVANT papers at the end of your resume, but it is suggested that you prepare an addendum, which can be presented in the interview stage.

Remember, a resume is a simply just a marketing piece, it must be short, concise and hit the “hot buttons” of the employer.

Recruiter Tip: For employment beyond 10 years ago, create a "Previous Employment" section. You can quickly list your older assignments by simply including title, company and dates. However, if you are applying to a position where a much older assignment is relevant and this experience is not covered by a more recent position, you can opt to elaborate further. You can also opt to include a quick bullet or two about this experience in your general summary so that the reader can see immediately this experience.

Many recruiters shared with us that a very good way to NOT get your resume read is by sending them what is called a "functional resume" as opposed to a "chronological resume." Denver recruiter Lura Pittman of Fletcher Frost says, "My number one pet peeve is the functional resume. They are worthless and always raise a red flag."

Andrew Roach of Suvaalso Staffing Solutions in Toronto states, "I do not like functional resumes. Why do I have to guess in which roles you acquired these skills? How much actual experience do you have with the listed skills? Is it 3 months or 10 years? I prefer a chronological resume with a list of accomplishments for each position. Show what you did to add value to the company...everyone in the same role should have the same job description. I care what you did that was over and above your required duties."

James Cox adds, "Functional resumes often do not provide the facts -- "when, where, and with what effect." I would estimate that 30-40% of all the resumes that I review, I can not determine what the candidate's responsibilities were, with what company the candidate has worked, over what length of time (meaning month and year), and with what effect (meaning factual, number oriented outcomes that can be easily understood by anyone who knows anything about the candidate's field of work)."

So in a nutshell, stay away from functional resumes at all costs.

Recruiter Tip: At the top of your resume, always include an easy to follow general/functional summary. Use bullet-points that can be easily customized to match what the employer is seeking. Hand your reader what they are looking for on a silver platter. Find out what are the “hot buttons” of the employer and make every one hit a home run. Immediately following your summary, provide your reader with an easy to follow chronological history of where you worked and when. It is here you need to detail your accomplishments.