iDumb and Rifat,
Different countries have different protocols regarding CVs/ Resumes. But on the whole I agree with you.
In North America, a Resume is generally a one-sheet of paper that has to highlight your strengths and experiences in the most succinct way. A Curriculum Vitae is more standard in Academic and maybe engineering/medicine related positions where there needs to be a lengthy detail on your accomplishments and work.
A North American Resume is really hard work.... you have to quantify your achievements and demonstrate them. And you have to be imaginative and yet stick to certain ways of presenting your strengths. If you can, you will need to demonstrate the STAR approach. To fit all this in one page, I've always found it really hard work. For different roles, and for people with different levels of experience, you are unlikely to find a format that will be the same that works for someone else. At the same time you may be expected to stick to a standard format that will come recommended from your college's employment assistance centre.
However, in Australia for regular jobs, all agencies prefer a Resume that is lengthy (2-3 pages) long that details your experiences and past. Given that Aus is 20 years behind culturally, these are still mostly referred to as CVs. Try using that term in the states for a regular job!
Speaking in the Australian context, the most effective element in the CV needs to be the first half of the first page where you should demonstrate the relevance of your experiences, and use keywords that match the requirements of the job ad. This grabs the recruiter's attention and they will then add it to the accept/deny pile. Secondly, a lot of recruiters simply use automated scripts at identifying keywords to screen the volume of CVs. So if the adobe/Word Find tool gets words that they are looking for they are less likely to discard your CV up front.
And most importantly: Write a damn cover letter! And make sure both your cover letter and Resume is customised as much as possible for the specific job that you are applying for! It might be repetitive and annoying to constantly edit, but if you don't have attention to detail and are unwilling to invest your time into tailoring for a prospective employer, then that demonstrates to me a poor attitude to carry.
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