How long should a resume be?

How long should a resume be?

One page is a useful starting point for many students and early-career applicants. Two pages can be appropriate when relevant experience needs more space. Follow any explicit application requirements, and choose a length that keeps the document readable and focused.

What to do

• Identify repeated duties, outdated details, and unrelated examples. Shorten those before cutting the projects or work that best support the target role.

• Condense background explanations and keep the action visible. Preserve dates, role titles, and enough context to understand each contribution.

• Export the shorter version and inspect readability. Avoid solving a page-count issue with tiny type, cramped spacing, or clipped content.

Example

An experienced applicant might compress an older unrelated role to a brief entry while preserving a recent technical project that directly matches the application.

Review every section for relevance before changing font sizes. A shorter document is not an improvement if important evidence becomes unreadable or disappears.