How Long Should a Resume Be?

Many job seekers send out resumes that are three or more pages long while applying for job openings. However, hiring managers have limited time to spend on each resume they receive. You’ll likely make a positive impression if you shorten your resume to focus on the key skills and experience related to the job you’re applying for.

Throughout this guide, we’ll provide insights on how many pages a resume can be and how to trim down your document effectively while preserving the most compelling aspects of your professional experience.

How Many Pages Should a Resume Be?

Resume length is a common question for applicants during the job search process. The standard rule for how many pages should be in a resume is that it should always be two pages at most, regardless of the years of experience. Although there are some exceptions, it is best to follow this rule in most cases.

The hiring manager has limited time to spend on each resume they receive, and a four- or five-page document might be a turn-off. Instead, give a concise yet impactful document that captures your most substantial career achievements and skill sets.

How To Shorten Your Resume’s Length

Shortening your resume requires prioritizing content based on impact and relevance to the position you’re applying for. If an achievement doesn’t match the job description, ask yourself two things. Does this accomplishment demonstrate other qualities the company seeks, such as people management or leadership skills? Is the achievement objectively impressive?

If the answer is no, remove it. Assess the overall impact of each bullet point and whether it genuinely captures the hiring manager’s eye.

1. Remove outdated content

Hiring managers often decide on candidates based on the experience featured on the resume’s first page, so focus on enhancing the quality of your most recent positions. If you held a position 20 years ago in a different space, either remove the job or list it without bullet points on the resume.

Depending on the situation, preserving your professional timeline may be worthwhile even if it creates additional resume length, as this will provide prospective employers with a complete overview of your career. Consider creating an Additional Work Experience section on your document if you plan to include older jobs without bullet points. This strategy will help you save space while maintaining your professional timeline.

2. Change your template and font size

Using an inefficient template that wastes page space is often the cause of an overly long resume. In many cases, transferring your content to a new template that uses a more traditional top-down design can significantly shorten the length of your document.

For instance, if you’re using a template that incorporates unnecessary graphics and large borders, this may be the reason your resume exceeds the recommended two-page length. The resume showcases your achievements and professional experience, so using a more straightforward template is okay if it helps you preserve more of your content.

3. Avoid paragraphs and long-winded bullet points

You’ll need to aggressively edit your resume to ensure your document meets the acceptable length requirements. If your document contains lengthy paragraphs, consider cutting them down and reorienting the content into concise bullet points.

As a rule, a bullet point should never exceed three lines; keep them to two or less whenever possible. Less is more on the resume, and you’ll improve your chances of landing the interview if your content is straightforward and to the point.

4. Limit your associations and volunteerism

While associations and volunteer work can be helpful to add to your document, never prioritize them over relevant achievements from your professional experience. Unless the association is significant within your industry, consolidate and remove this information from your resume to create more space for your work history. Consider including this information on LinkedIn instead, as most hiring managers review candidate profiles before requesting an interview.

5. Avoid repetitive bullet points

As you build your resume content, analyze your bullet points carefully to eliminate redundancies. There may be some cases where you want to reinforce a particular skill set across multiple positions. Create as many unique bullet points as possible to showcase different aspects of your professional experience for the hiring manager. If two bullet points provide similar details, consider combining them or omitting one from your document to create space for other content.

6. Hire a resume writer

Using the services of a professional resume writer can help identify the ideal content to include on your document. Job seekers often need to be closer to their resumes, limiting their ability to evaluate the content objectively.

Seeking help from a professional editor specializing in career consulting can be extremely useful in creating a concise yet compelling resume for the job hunt. For more information on editing services, see our list of the top resume-writing companies throughout the U.S.

Build an Accomplishment-Driven Resume

Crafting a resume focusing on your professional achievements rather than your job responsibilities is the key to generating traction during the job search. Limiting your content to accomplishments and omitting mundane job duties allows you to create a much tighter document that guides the reader’s eye toward your most impressive qualifications.

You have a limited window of opportunity to grab the hiring manager’s attention. Your chances of making a positive impression are much greater if your resume only includes the necessary information.

Here are two examples of professional experience sections in accomplishment-driven resumes.

Analysis 

For marketing professionals who work in SEO, metrics are essential for generating traction during the job hunt. You’ll see in these bullet points the candidate has broken down complex industry metrics while providing enough context for the reader to understand how they got from point A to point B. One of the most important aspects of crafting bullets on the resume is providing enough detail and metrics while ensuring that your content is accessible to a wide variety of audiences.

Analysis 

When applying for an analyst position, you must ensure that your data is precise and clear to the hiring manager. This type of role involves deep and complex analysis of data sets, and the job seeker is highly effective in showcasing how they translated these findings into reports for management using data visualization techniques. The numbers in this example are substantial. But they wouldn’t have the same impact if the job seeker didn’t provide details on how they executed these initiatives and why they were important for the company on an operational level.

One-Page Resume Examples

Frequently Asked Questions About Resume Length

Jacob Meade

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW, ACRW)

Jacob Meade is a resume writer and editor with nearly a decade of experience. His writing method centers on understanding and then expressing each person’s unique work history and strengths toward their career goal. Jacob has enjoyed working with jobseekers of all ages and career levels, finding that a clear and focused resume can help people from any walk of life. He is an Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW) with the Resume Writing Academy, and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches.