How Long Should a Resume Be?

One page is the standard for most people, and two pages is appropriate once you have roughly 10+ years of relevant experience. The real rule is that every line should earn its place — a padded two-page resume is worse than a strong one-page one.

By experience level:

Does a resume have to be one page? No — that's an outdated absolute. If you have a decade of genuinely relevant achievements, forcing them onto one page by shrinking the font to 8pt and removing white space does more harm than running to a second page. Recruiters consistently say they'd rather read a clear two-page resume than a cramped one-page one.

Can a resume be 2 pages? Yes, provided the second page is as strong as the first. The test: if page two is half-empty, or filled with a 15-year-old job and a hobbies section, cut it down to one page instead. Either fill the second page to at least two-thirds, or don't use it.

What goes on page one: recruiters spend only a few seconds on an initial scan, so your name, contact details, current or most recent role, and your strongest achievements all belong above the fold on page one. Never rely on the reader reaching page two.

How to cut a resume down to one page:

• Drop jobs older than 10–15 years, or condense them into a single "Earlier experience" line.
• Remove irrelevant roles entirely — the resume is a marketing document, not a complete history.
• Cut the objective statement. Replace it with a two-line professional summary, or nothing.
• Trim bullets to 3–5 per role, fewer for older jobs, and focus on quantified achievements rather than duties.
• Delete "References available upon request" — it's assumed and wastes a line.
• Remove hobbies, photos, and personal details (age, marital status), which most US and UK employers don't want anyway.
• Tighten the wording. Start bullets with a verb and drop filler like "responsible for."

Formatting that buys you space without looking cramped:

• Font size: 10–12pt for body text, 14–16pt for your name. Never go below 10pt.
• Font: a clean, readable one — Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, Garamond, or Times New Roman. Avoid decorative fonts, which also confuse applicant tracking systems.
• Margins: 0.5 to 1 inch. Half an inch is the tightest you should go.
• Line spacing: 1.0 to 1.15, with a little space between sections.
• Keep white space — a dense wall of text gets skipped.

A note on applicant tracking systems: ATS software doesn't penalise a resume for being two pages. Length is a human readability concern, so optimise for the person who reads it after the system passes it through.

The one thing that matters most: tailor it to the specific job. A shorter, targeted resume that mirrors the language of the job posting will beat a longer, generic one every time.