Keep reading that 10-15 years back is standard for resumes. I'm coming up on 20 years in terms of my professional career, my analyst and associate roles all took place in Years 1-8, so I am torn as to whether I should skinny down my resume to 2 pages vs 3, or include everything going back to my first CRE position after undergrad (which would require 3 full pages).
Or should I condense those early roles into a summary sentence or two, vs 5-6 bullet points like my other roles?
Were your analyst/associate roles at big name places that you want on your resume? If not, then cut them down to one or two lines that are just: company, dates and titles, very brief description.
If you were at a no name place, just cut them out totally. It is fine to have education and then a 7-8 year gap since you are in your 40s.
I recommend you cut it down to one page. You only get 30 - 45 seconds on an initial resume scan. Don't waste it with things like "selected transactions" or listing classes you took in college, or hobbies.
Thanks. My first role post undergrad was as an analyst for a commercial bank (not direct real estate). So that can be reduced to a sentence summary. My actual analyst and associate stints in CRE were both for "well known" firms, so I'd prefer to keep them on. It would be impossible to include those plus my additional three positions in the past 12-13 years all on a single page unless font size was 5 or 6. I have about 5 bullet points per job. Any advice?
Are the jobs different or similar, but at different firms? If they are actually different, like you moved from Valuation to Asset Management to Acquisitions, then I think it makes sense to have 1 or 2 bullets for those early jobs.
But if you've been in acquisitions for 20 years at 5 different firms, then cut anything that is a repeat and highlight only the differentiations for each job.
Like the first sentence should be "acquired xx amount across yy deals in zz sectors" but everyone underwrites and presents to IC. That can be on there once, but not necessary for each job. The other bullets should truly be the highlights: you ran the analyst/intern program, worked on a company wide project, managed a team of 5, produced xyz PNL.
I'm currently part of the hiring process for 2 jobs at my firm - an analyst spot and a VP. I've reviewed over 100 resumes for each spot. I spend less than a min deciding if we are going to do a phone screen. That 2nd page does nothing for me and if I even look, it is just to see firms and titles.
Certainly do not go to 3 pages, nobody will read it and you will come off as a blow hard touting all of your "skills and accomplishments." vs. being an experienced hire.
At your age, I expect you to know the basics. I care about what else you can do (manage a team, work across teams, handle corporate politics). I do not care you know ARGUS
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