One of the questions that always seems to come up is "how long should a resume be?" Are two pages ok, or should you stick to one? We tackled the question by polling our audience, as well as asking some professionals for their thoughts.
Audience Poll
According to our audience, almost half, 49%, believe that a multi-page resume is acceptable, while 28% believe that one page is the maximum length.
Professional Opinions
We asked some of the experts in Tech Talent and HR what they think on the matter.
Laura Ladd
Talent Acquisition Partner, Americas at Flywire
A resume should be a reflection of you and showcase your experience. I will never turn down a candidate just because a resume is two pages. Your resume should be an appropriate length based on your years of work experience and allow you to explain your career path, so we as recruiters understand what you have done and what you are looking to do.
Samantha Anderson
People Lead (HR Generalist) at Quil Health
Candidates do not need to keep their resumes to only one page but I would always encourage to keep it to 2 pages, 3 pages maximum. Candidates run the risk of the hiring manager and/or recruiter not concentrating on the most important aspects of their resume if it is too overwhelming, especially when they are screening hundreds of resumes for a position. Highlight your accomplishments in your previous positions and have multiple versions of your resume created based on the type of position you are searching for.
Diane Baker
Recruitment Manager at Poppulo
It's an interesting question and there is no right or wrong answer. In fact, CV length can be quite a subjective preference for an interviewer. In some respects CV length can depend on your experience level. Generally, a one page CV will suffice for graduates but two pages or more may be required for those with more experience. A good rule of thumb is to remember that a CV is a summary of skills & experience, not a shopping list of everything you have ever done! I would recommend expanding on 3 of your most recent or relevant roles and listing other roles to avoid making the CV too lengthy. Two pages are probably ideal but don't restrict an opportunity to sell yourself out of fear of going to an additional page. Remember, you can always outline some relevant information on a cover page and keep the CV concise and relevant.
Kristen Albertsen
Director of People Operations at Bevi
For most professionals, a 1-2 page resume is sufficient. Unless you are senior in your career, are applying for a highly specialized role, or have an extensive list of publications, patents or other accomplishments, your resume should not be longer than 2 pages. A resume should reflect your ability to synthesize your experience, not recount your autobiography.
Lindsay Knapper
Director of Talent at Lovepop
Your resume should be a summary of who you are as a professional and highlight your proudest accomplishments. For most people, a page is enough. Think of your resume as the hook for companies to want to learn more about you. It's a great idea to include a link to your LinkedIn profile and anything else that compliments you (a portfolio, website, publication). I'm ok with hobbies as long as they enhance the resume... club soccer team- yes! / bar crawl enthusiast- no!
Betsie Hundt
Recruitment Marketing Specialist at Dynatrace
I definitely think one page for resume length is sufficient. Even if you have pages worth of experience, choose just a few of your previous roles/accolades that align with the position you are interviewing for. With those top roles, I recommend giving only 3 or 4 bullets of detail for each as you can always bring up more specifics during your interview.
Samantha Yancich
Talent Acquisition at ProfitWell
Candidates who have been in the job market for a few years after graduating should only have a one page resume. If you've been in the job market for 5+ years, it's okay to have more than one page, but no more than that. There's a statistic that recruiters spend 10 seconds scanning your resume and putting aside the pros/cons of that practice, multiple page resumes are difficult to read. The goal is to identify and showcase the ROI of your efforts, not describe everything you've ever done. Talk about unique experiences/skills, customize your resume using language from the job description you're applying to so AI tools used to scan resumes that some companies use will pick up on keywords, and talk about results in a straightforward way. Let your resume be the intro to what you bring to the table, and then a conversation with the company is the opportunity to expand upon what your resume describes.