How Long Is Your Resume?

March 11, 2009

There's a great debate about how long a resume should be. Some say it should be limited to one page, while others have the opinion that more than a page is just fine. How long is yours?

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25 Comments

4 years 8 weeks

Mine's 7 pages long. It's an academic resume. I've seen these go up to 50 pages.

MissTiffers 4 years 9 weeks

2 pages but it depends on the job I am applying for. I usually can consolidate it to one.

Deidre 4 years 9 weeks

As someone in HR who looks as them all the time...we MUCH prefer the one-pager. If you customize resumes to the types of jobs you're applying for, you find you don't usually need more space than that. There are always ways you can shorten the language or cut vague phrases (e.g. "aided development of ___ project" doesn't really mean anything). You can fill in more details of your past experiences in your cover letter. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, but the one-pager is a pretty fail proof stand by.

aimeeb 4 years 9 weeks

I'm with Happsmjc on this one.

runningesq 4 years 9 weeks

One page... but I think it depends - obv. - on your experience and what type of job you are applying for. I've only had two "real" jobs post law school - my judicial clerkship and my current job. My resume includes my law school clinic experience, law clerking, and working at Ann Taylor. If I ever leave this job, I'll start to throw out some of the older stuff.

theonlyjess 4 years 9 weeks

Mine is 3 1/2 pages long. I work in health, and have found they want to know your clinical experience... Hasn't let me down yet!

almostloli 4 years 9 weeks

1 and a half page :D due to formatting i can squeeze them into one page..but.. i think 1.5 page still okay

graduatedsqueaks 4 years 9 weeks

I've honed my resume down to a 1-pager. If I were to go back to school and had extensive research experience, I might be willing to have a 2 pager.

bleached 4 years 9 weeks

I have 2 résumés. One for Canada where the standard accepted length is 2 pages and on for the US which is squeezed into one page

wackdoodle 4 years 9 weeks

I had tried to keep mine on one page and interviewers said there wasn't enough detail. Over and over again it was suggested that I go to two pages and a 12 point font. So I've been using a two pages. I don't care whether its the norm- it's the only way that I can give potential employers a more accurate view of what I've done and the only way that I can accurately and honestly represent and sell myself to employers.

valancyjane 4 years 9 weeks

Mine is one page. I prefer that length; I think it looks cleaner. At a certain point you probably have enough to justify more than one page, but I don’t feel I’m there yet. I saw a lot of two-page resumes when I was hiring college-age interns, and they *definitely* weren’t justified. It made me think they had an inflated sense of self-importance. You don’t have to list every job you’ve ever had, especially when you were just a cashier at the movie theater. Learn to edit!

bengalspice 4 years 9 weeks

I can't fit everything on one page without the resume looking too crowded.

musefromnowhere 4 years 9 weeks

Mine is one page because that is what my mother taught me :P. That and I figure I am young so unless it applies directly to the job I don't need to list the little jobs I had in high school.

bluebellknoll 4 years 9 weeks

Only one page.

kscincotta 4 years 9 weeks

Mine is longer than a page, but that's because mine is a CV, not a resume. Silly academics!

blueoctavo 4 years 9 weeks

I heard you are allowed an additional page for each additional degree beyond a bachelors. I think a lot of tech and clinical jobs fall under that, too.

bellaressa 4 years 9 weeks

Depends on the version I send out. I have a two page and a page resume. I also have a portfolio I send out sometimes that include my resume.

miss malone 4 years 9 weeks

Mine is one page.

syako 4 years 9 weeks

I'm at one page.

ilanac13 4 years 9 weeks

my resume is just about one page - depending on the version that i send out. i've always been told to try to keep it to one page, but sometimes you just need to have a longer version to show what types of work you've done in more depth.

starangel82 4 years 9 weeks

Mine is 1 and 1/4 pages. I try my best to keep it down to 1, but I would have to use ridiculously small font to get it there. I don't mind reading resumes that are 1 to 1 & 1/2 pages. The only time I want to see one that is 2+ is if they are someone who is applying for a tech job or a clinical job.

bchicgrl 4 years 9 weeks

mine is almost 2 full pages but that's only because I've been told your resume should reflect the last 5 years of your professional life and for me that's a lot since I used to job hop a lot. In another year or so I'll be able to pull it down to one page only since I've been at my current job almost 3 yrs.

Leila07 4 years 9 weeks

Mine was about a page and a half, but I recently cut down it down to one. Brief and to the point.

Modus Vivendi 4 years 9 weeks

One page. I heard it somewhere when I was younger and it stuck. Plus, as someone who's read resumes, I always got annoyed at longer ones.

Happsmjc 4 years 9 weeks

Mine is squeezed onto one page...I am constantly reformatting to try and keep it on one. I totally see the benefit of one page though, so that's why I do it.

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