For a long time, resumes were kept to one page. In fact, I've always done my best to keep resumes to that length. However, things have changed. Perhaps your resume should as well, because a one-page resume may not be best anymore.
To find out, I contacted Ben Foster, Practice Lead at 4SIGHT COACHING. He's spent more than two decades of experience recruiting and hiring, and he estimates that he’s reviewed between 80,000 and 125,000 resumes in that time.
Keep reading to learn his thoughts on resume length and how it affects your ability to land your dream job.
From your perspective, how important is a resume’s length?
Ben Foster: Contrary to what most believe, resume length is not a top-critical element (with the exception of entry-level candidates, where the standard is often 1 page). It's probably a secondary or tertiary factor and/or disqualifier, in my opinion.
Have you ever looked at a resume for a job and passed on someone solely based on the resume’s length? If so, was it too long or too short, and for what type of job was the resume created?
BF: Personally, no. I and most recruiters reject resumes based on various elements and categories of content, first and foremost. That could be the document reading too generic in nature and lacking specifics, having spelling, grammatical, or syntax errors that should have been caught, etc.
Then, if I’m on the fence with someone's resume, I might zoom out a bit in my evaluation and start to factor in other elements like resume format/design, length, job patterns, and their career story as it translates to potential success in the role I'm hiring for.
I’m a fan of one-page resumes and try to get resumes there as often as possible. I think it’s respectful of HR professionals’ time. That said, if a law was passed that all resumes had to be a certain length, what length would you want them to be?
BF: I suppose up to two pages.
Obviously, there is no such law. With that in mind, we get to make resumes fit the individual. From your perspective, should certain resumes always be a single page? If so, what resumes should stay this length?
BF: I'd say [one-page resumes are best fit for] entry- to associate-level professionals, those with zero to three or four years of full-time experience.
Who is most likely to force their resume to be two or more pages, and how can someone recognize whether they’ve bloated their resume to their detriment?
BF: From my perspective, hiring most corporate and office-based professionals, I tell people that once you're a handful of years into your career, you can extend past one page (but limit it to two). And it can and should stay that length for most professionals throughout their careers, with the exception of very experienced executives, those with large volumes of technical proficiencies, and/or research professionals who may include citations of studies and other pieces they've authored in their resumes.
When can someone safely push their resume to two pages—is it after spending a certain amount of time in a given field or is there another reason to push to two pages?
BF: When they've been in the workforce for a bit, and it naturally takes more whitespace on paper to depict their work history.
Imagine someone with decades of experience, but all that time has been spent with one or two companies. Should this person feel obliged to have a two-page resume or is a one-pager sufficient?
BF: Can extend to two pages very safely. It's about the work experience first and foremost. Resume length and format are certainly factored but are actually less important.
Sometimes, people have a lot of jobs through the years for whatever reason. Which is better—to list out every job with responsibilities and accomplishments or to find creative ways to keep the resume short and concise, without unnecessary repetition?
BF: Short and concise, and above all, relevant to the reader/audience, and the hiring situation. Resumes are merely marketing tools for candidates. They should be truthful and accurate—and should highlight the most recent and/or relevant experience—but they don't necessarily need to depict one's entire career or work history.
If readers walk away from this only remembering one thing about resume length, what would you want it to be? What’s most important for them to know?
BF: Length is something we consider, but how you write to us and show alignment to the job and organization you're pursuing is far more critical. Generally, up to two pages is fine.
Is there anything we didn’t touch on that would be beneficial for those working on their resumes?
BF: Recruiters judge a resume first and foremost by the quality of the writing and the candidate's ability to speak to the audience, the business world they live in every day, and the role for which they're being considered. If the content is strong, we often don't even think about the length of the resume, whether it's one, two, or three-plus pages.
Personally (and with the exception of more junior candidates), if you captivate me immediately and speak to what the job calls for, include strong performance metrics, show that you understand the landscape of the business (where the business plays, how they make money or fulfill the mission, who they're serving in terms of customers and stakeholders, and how your work fits into the picture), and show how you go about your work, I and most recruiters will not even think about how long your resume is or isn't.
Furthermore, always use Microsoft Word for resume production, not InDesign, not even templates found in Canva, Google, or other platforms. Next-gen ATSs [applicant tracking systems] can sometimes recognize those PDFs, but many companies don't utilize next-gen ATSs, and your entire candidacy may be ruined by an unreadable document. (Most of the time, it's the presence of columns that confuse the system.) In other words, not sending a Word-produced resume is often like mailing a letter without a stamp: it literally won't reach.
Skip the flash and flare; a simple and clear document with hard-hitting bullet points is best. That trumps length, format/look, and any other means through which a resume is evaluated. For resumes, like many marketing instances, content is king.
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