How Long Should a Resume Be? [Ideal Length Tips]
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The ideal length for resumes depends on your experience. For most job seekers, it’s one or two pages. Here are some expert tips for how long your resume should be!
How long should a professional resume be?
Resumes are most often one to two pages long. Your goal is to keep your resume as concise as possible while ensuring it fits the length of your career.
Writing your resume is much easier when you have a target length. The ideal resume length depends on your years of work experience and specific industry. We’ll explain that more below.
Deciding the ideal resume length
Two main factors will help determine how long you should make your resume.
Experience level: The accepted rule is that your resume should be one page for every 10 years of work experience. Here’s a chart breaking it down:
| Years of experience >10 years | Ideal resume length 1 page |
Job industry or field: Longer resumes are expected in certain job fields. Your resume or CV may need more than a page when applying for academic, science or research positions.
The main difference between CVs versus resumes is that CVs tend to be longer and include more details about your education or publications. Below, we have more tips to help you update your resume and get it down to the right length.
But if you’re ready to write your document, take advantage of our best tool for the job, our Resume Builder.
The builder features 25+ resume templates that take care of resume formatting so that your document can easily fit onto a single page if that’s what you need.
You can also customize it with additional sections!
Reaching the ideal resume length: 6 tips
- Be brief and impressive: Keep your work descriptions short and focus more on achievements than daily tasks or duties. Highlighting your achievements and using action verbs to describe your work will impress employers more than the day-to-day job duties.
- Use numbers for impact: Instead of just listing your responsibilities, showcase the results of your actions. For example, “Cut inventory costs by 35%” carries more value than “In charge of inventory management.”
- Focus on what’s relevant: Try to feature work experience and computer skills that are the most pertinent to the job. Match your resume’s content to the employer’s specific needs and resume keywords from the job description.
- Group similar achievements: If you have multiple similar achievements, group them. For example, instead of listing each training session separately, you can say, “Trained 20+ employees in Lean, Agile and Six Sigma techniques.” It will save a lot of space on your resume.
- Fine-tune the design: You can slightly adjust font size, spacing and margins to fit your resume on one page. But keep it from looking cramped or hard to read! Keep font size between 11-13; one inch is standard for margins.
- Use bullet points: Keep your bullet points concise and impactful. Aim for three to five bullet points per job. Each bullet should stay between one to two lines long. Include more bullet points for newer jobs.
Can a resume be two pages long? Absolutely. You can let your resume stretch onto two or even three pages if you’ve had enough jobs relevant to the current position.
Deciding what to keep on your resume may be easier if you get someone to review it for you. Check out our professional writing services for an expert’s opinion on your resume length!
We also have a digital alternative, our Resume Check. Resume Check will scan your document for 30+ resume issues and suggest how to fix them!
Key takeaways
- Resume length is flexible; there is no one-size-fits-all length!
- The ideal resume length is typically one to two pages, depending on your experience level. Aim for one page for every ten years of experience.
- Students’ resumes should be one page since most students have limited work experience to discuss.
- Some fields, like academia or research, may require longer resumes. To write a CV, check out our CV Builder.
- Tailor your resume to the job you’re applying for, highlighting relevant skills and experiences.
- Use the limited space of your resume wisely: Bullet points, quantifying achievements, and focusing on results rather than daily tasks will make it more impactful.
- Fine-tune font size, spacing, and margins to make your resume visually appealing and fit within the desired length.
- Ask for a review from a professional or trusted friend to ensure your resume is clear, concise, and effectively showcases your qualifications.
Ready to craft a resume that stands out? Our Resume Builder takes the stress out of creating a professional, impactful document.
Choose from stunning templates, get expert-written text suggestions, and build a resume that lands you interviews.
Best of all, it also comes with complete access to our equally helpful Cover Letter Builder.
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