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The kind of resumes IT recruiters, IT staffing agencies, and, most importantly, hiring managers, love are efficient.  Resumes that show thoroughly but quickly that an IT professional has the experience and skills to succeed in IT jobs are the ones that IT staffing companies and technical recruiters all love to show hiring managers. IT recruiting firms and IT staffing firms don’t always want IT professionals to stick to the 1 page rule for resumes – even though it’s the norm in most other industries.  However, it is important that IT professionals really cut down their resume to only relevant and recent job experience and skills.

What does this mean?  The best resumes will not stretch beyond a page (or more!) to include experience from more than 15 years ago or experience that just isn’t really relevant to IT jobs.  When you stretch your resume out to, say, 7 pages to include experience from your earliest jobs, you may actually be turning off IT recruiting agencies.  Instead of being thorough by including extra experience, you’re actually making it harder for IT staffing firms to decide if you’re a good fit for a job.  They may well pass over your resume for one that is faster and easier to read.  The same is true if you’ve included jobs, hobbies, or other information on your resume that isn’t immediately and obviously relevant to the IT jobs you want to be considered for.  Especially if your resume exceeds a page, including this extra information may irritate IT recruiting companies rather than strengthen your candidacy.