RESUME LENGTH, ONE OR TWO PAGES?
Countless books have been written on the topic of writing a resume, and each publication often contains a chapter or section on resume page length. Avoid following rules, and look rationally at size based on the practicality of your career. If work history dictates the resume should be only one page, then we make it so. If your work history and degree of accomplishment specifies two pages, then don't worry about resume length.
A time when page length should come into question is when the resume goes over two pages. There are definitely resumes out there that are more than two pages, but there must be enough critical information present to make the added space a necessity.
A general rule of thumb, when determining an acceptable resume length, is a person with 1-8 years should use a one-page resume, whereas, 9 or more years of experience will likely use two pages. As mentioned above, don't follow rules, per se, but keep this advice in mind while creating your document. Page limitations depend solely upon the person’s years of experience within their target field and industry. If the final document consists of two pages or more, ask the following questions to ensure the resume is at a proper length.
1) Does the resume contain information irrelevant to my next career move?
2) Are skills, knowledge, and abilities excessively repeated throughout the document?
3) Are there implied skills? For example:Receptionist = Answers phone
Sales = Calls on potential customers
4) Have I listed the same skill repeatedly through the content? |