How Many Pages Should a Resume Have?

Here’s another question that has more than one answer. If you are new to the work world, your resume is likely to fit nicely on one page. If you are an academic, your curriculum vita will include more detail than most resumes, including your research papers and published articles. Such a resume could run several pages.

However, like most of us, if you have a few years of experience in a business setting already under your belt, whether for-profit or non-profit, how long is too long? What is the right length for a resume to be your best sales agent? You want to tell your story and grab attention so your resume lands at the top of the pile.

I have seen resumes of all types over the years, as a hiring manager and as a volunteer reviewer for friends, family and colleagues and at job fairs. What I’ve observed is that jobseekers sometimes forget that, like any other marketing piece, their resume has only seconds to capture the interest of recruiters or hiring managers. Also, with hundreds of resumes to read and time at a premium, if you haven’t intrigued them by page 2, you’re probably toast.

You’ve heard the phrase, “Keep it simple, stupid.” I’ll add to that (and remove the "stupid"): Keep it simple, professional, organized, concise and targeted. And stick to no more than two pages. You can do this with bullets, phrases and groupings that make your resume easy to scan and to the point.

A couple of resources for you:

A video by D.C. area human resources expert Patra Frame with her resume tips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl-H2s9lwpk
An article that addresses the IT market: http://www.itworld.com/ITW3485