How Long Should a Resume Be? Some Thoughts

How long should a resume be? Most people seem to say one page-and they’re right, most of the time. There are some special situations where you may want to have a longer resume.

Why is one page often the standard? One reason would be that employers don’t often even look beyond the first page in most scenarios. When you write a resume, you need to get the employer’s attention immediately. Many won’t even look at the entire resume! So make sure you put your most impressive information near the top and that you keep your resume short.

Many people who have been working for years won’t be able to include all of their experience in one page. Certainly sending out a two-page resume is an option, but there is mixed feelings about that. Some employers might be fine with a two or even three page resume, some, however, might see it as unprofessional. If you think your resume is going to be one amongst many others (and not highly scrutinized), you probably want to stick to one page

If someone asks to see your resume or you have been referred to the employer, then that might be a better situation to send a multiple page resume-they may be interested enough to go through it. Big profile jobs might want a longer resume too; a company may want to carefully examine the career of a possible executive or manager. Other employees might even want a Curriculum Vitae (usually for academic and research jobs), which is a detailed list of all your individual accomplishments that can go on for pages.

So, how long should your resume be? For most people keep it to one page, and certainly don’t pad it to make it longer. Use your judgment about when it might be good to send a longer one when applying for work. No matter how long your resume is, make sure that first page really gets their attention, because the beginning of the resume is always the most important part.