Length or details within my resume?

• I am getting mixed reaction or no reaction at all from the recruiters to whom I send my resume. Some recruiters say, I need to tone down my resume, as they feel I have too much details in it. Currently, my resume is 2 pages and I have 15 + years of experience. I am struggling to keep it simple, Any suggestions ?

• Answer:

  I guess I'll give my own experience as a software quality manager currently wading through resumes looking for a new employee. Personally, I'm not looking for gaps in a resume wondering "where were they from Oct 1997 to April 1998?" When i see key words the I care about, I slow down and read. When I see irrelevant information, I start to skim. I can't speak for all employers, of course, but I would want to see a resume tailored for my offering. You tailor the cover letter, why not the resume? I don't care about the job at McDonalds when you were a teenager. My biggest turn off, though, is 11 jobs listed over the last 15 years. If you worked for a consulting company and were farmed out to 10 different companies in the last 15 years, don't list them as separate jobs. To me, that screams "CAN'T HOLD A JOB". Group similar responsibilities, even among different contracts, as a single skill. I'm far more interested in competence and experience in a skill than I am in the number of times you've performed it for different people. I have 11 resumes here on my desk. I have 30 minutes to review them. That means yours gets less than 3 minutes. You have 3 minutes to sell yourself to me. Assuming I read your objective statement and verify you have the degree requirements I'm looking for, what do you want me to see in the remaining 150 seconds?