Dear Ed, I've had three internships and I'm going to be applying for editorial assistant jobs soon. My resume is two pages long. Is it okay to send it out as is, or do resumes have to be just one page? Thanks, Hi Jennifer, People who have had multiple internships should keep their resume to one page, just like everybody else. If deputy editors with ten years of experience still have one-page resumes (and they do), then interns can. That isn't meant to downplay internships; you just need to be selective about which duties at those internships you highlight. Being an editor is about getting a lot of meaning and context into very little space. Think of whittling down your resume to one page as your first true editing assignment. It's just as much of a "clip" as the story you wrote for your school paper. Your resume should change as you get more and more experience. Ed's resume used to include all of his internships, but now that he's had post-college jobs, he leaves off some of those internships and doesn't mention any of the non-mag jobs he's held. And the descriptions of the responsibilities at the internships Ed lists are much shorter now than they were when he was applying for editorial assistant positions. You can take a chance submitting two-page resumes. If your experience is great and well-presented, an editor wouldn't eliminate you from the running just because of a longer resume. But every single two-page resume Ed's seen (and Ed's seen many!) had careless errors in it or, at the very least, obvious opportunities where they could have been shortened. If you're interested in getting your two-page resume down to one, try
this: If you're still stuck, and you're a college student, get in touch with the Ed on Campus people to submit your resume for review. If you're not a college student, you can submit your resume for a critique by Ed, himself. Love, Do you have a question for Ed? First check the Ask Ed Archives below, then if your question still isn't answered, email your magazine queries to AskEd@ed2010.com. Please note that any question you ask Ed could be used in this future online column. If you do not want your name to be printed, please tell Ed and he'll make it anonymous. Thanks. Do you want Ed to critique your resume? Send it to him in a Word document to resumes@ed2010.com. You have to be willing for the world to see your mistakes! Due to extremely high demand, Ed cannot respond to all of your emails concerning resume critiques. But if he does select yours to be critiqued, he'll let you know! Thanks for understanding. |
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The Ask Ed Archives Why Can't I Get a Job? Ed's Guide to Not F***ing Up Should I go to grad school? Why can't I get an internship? What makes a good internship cover letter? How should my resume be designed? Do magazines have writers on staff? How do I "cold call" my way into a job? How do I land a spring internship? Ed Critiques Your Resume |