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How many pages for a resume / CV?
Hello,
What is the recommended number of pages for a resume / CV? The general consensus seems to be saying two sides, however, #resume #job-application #job-search #job #career I have heard from many recruiters and people in general that only one side is preferred. What are your thoughts?
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34 answers
Updated
Meghan’s Answer
I recommend 1 or 2 pages for a resume.
Who might have a 1-page resume?
-Students, like yourself / Recent University graduates / Those who are early in their career (1-3 years of job experience)
Who might have a 2-page resume?
-Those who have are further along in their career (4+ years of job experience)
Things to consider when creating your resume:
1) Summary vs. Objective statement
- I'd recommend an overall Summary of you, your skills and experience rather than an Objective statement. The hiring manager knows your objective is to land the job. Take a few sentences to paint an overall picture of you. (exa: Strategic hiring partner, supporting day-to-day HR operations...)
2) Education
- As a student or recent graduate, considering placing your education at the top of your resume
- If you have 2+ years of relevant work experience, consider placing your education after your work experience
- GPA doesn't need to be listed unless specified in the job requirements
3) Content:
- Keep it consistent and relevant!
- Bullet points help the reader easily scan through your experience
- Consider multiple versions of your resume with your experience tailored to each job description and company
- Use numbers to highlight achievements/accomplishments (exa: Raised $xx through fundraising efforts)
- Contact information: Phone number, email address, + location (Location = City, State / your full address doesn't need to be listed)
4) Skills
- I'd suggest listing technical skills such as platforms/applications you have experience using (exa: Microsoft Excel, Greenhouse, Python, etc.)
- Soft skills can be shared in your summary statement (exa: Highly motivated team-player, passionate about providing superior customer service)
- Similar to your education, place skills at the top of your resume if you're a recent graduate or at the bottom of your resume if you've been in the workforce for 2+ years)
Who might have a 1-page resume?
-Students, like yourself / Recent University graduates / Those who are early in their career (1-3 years of job experience)
Who might have a 2-page resume?
-Those who have are further along in their career (4+ years of job experience)
Things to consider when creating your resume:
1) Summary vs. Objective statement
- I'd recommend an overall Summary of you, your skills and experience rather than an Objective statement. The hiring manager knows your objective is to land the job. Take a few sentences to paint an overall picture of you. (exa: Strategic hiring partner, supporting day-to-day HR operations...)
2) Education
- As a student or recent graduate, considering placing your education at the top of your resume
- If you have 2+ years of relevant work experience, consider placing your education after your work experience
- GPA doesn't need to be listed unless specified in the job requirements
3) Content:
- Keep it consistent and relevant!
- Bullet points help the reader easily scan through your experience
- Consider multiple versions of your resume with your experience tailored to each job description and company
- Use numbers to highlight achievements/accomplishments (exa: Raised $xx through fundraising efforts)
- Contact information: Phone number, email address, + location (Location = City, State / your full address doesn't need to be listed)
4) Skills
- I'd suggest listing technical skills such as platforms/applications you have experience using (exa: Microsoft Excel, Greenhouse, Python, etc.)
- Soft skills can be shared in your summary statement (exa: Highly motivated team-player, passionate about providing superior customer service)
- Similar to your education, place skills at the top of your resume if you're a recent graduate or at the bottom of your resume if you've been in the workforce for 2+ years)
Updated
Emily’s Answer
My recommendation is to stick to a one page resume, one side only. This will ensure that you are only putting the most relevant and applicable information down. Resumes should have enough information to be able to give employers the ability to glance quickly at your education, experience, and skills before they can learn more details from you in an interview. They would rather see what is relevant rather than information that seems out of place and is only included to fulfill a page requirement.
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Karina’s Answer
Resume (i.e. US professional resume) is 1 page.
CV can be multiple pages but resume is only 1 paged.
CV can be multiple pages but resume is only 1 paged.
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Bob’s Answer
A one page resume for a young person should suffice. Key content areas are the OBJECTIVE (what is it you wish to pursue in terms of a job and career aspirations). Next is CHRONOLOGY ( executives and search firms want to see a clear expression of year over year accomplishments).
For each area of experience ACTION WORDS are needed (conducted, managed, led, etcetera). Within each experience ACHIEVEMENT is key( words like increased participation by X%, awarded scholarship, exceeded team goals by X%, increased profits by X% etcetera).
If you can target a number of corporations/businesses/non profits, INVESTIGATION is key ( who is the Chairman of the business/non profit, write a personal letter to him/her stating-something about the industry-for example-the XYZ company, as a key provider of Y services, within the {industry} community faces many challenges related to ___________ in a fast changing environment). As a recent graduate of BBB University, with a keen interest and experience in {UUU), hopefully offers an opportunity to learn and contribute to the success of XYZ.
Attached is information related to my background and experience. I look forward to an interview with you or a selected member of your executive team.
The ability to reach the individual at the top of the company is a key to success. Otherwise, your resume will simply be key word searched by the Human Resources department with a limited ability to be presented to higher level executives considering unfullfilled resource needs.
If you have an interest in a non profit check the internet for a 990 form.
If you have an interest in a public coporation, check their Annual Report.
If you know someone who works for the targeted company, see if you can meet them for lunch.
For each area of experience ACTION WORDS are needed (conducted, managed, led, etcetera). Within each experience ACHIEVEMENT is key( words like increased participation by X%, awarded scholarship, exceeded team goals by X%, increased profits by X% etcetera).
If you can target a number of corporations/businesses/non profits, INVESTIGATION is key ( who is the Chairman of the business/non profit, write a personal letter to him/her stating-something about the industry-for example-the XYZ company, as a key provider of Y services, within the {industry} community faces many challenges related to ___________ in a fast changing environment). As a recent graduate of BBB University, with a keen interest and experience in {UUU), hopefully offers an opportunity to learn and contribute to the success of XYZ.
Attached is information related to my background and experience. I look forward to an interview with you or a selected member of your executive team.
The ability to reach the individual at the top of the company is a key to success. Otherwise, your resume will simply be key word searched by the Human Resources department with a limited ability to be presented to higher level executives considering unfullfilled resource needs.
Bob recommends the following next steps:
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Riley’s Answer
I actually went to a resume building workshop during college because I had the same questions as you, and they did say that a one-sides resume is the best way to go. This is because employers most likely don't care about the community service you did in high school, they only have time to see the real highlights of your past jobs and college academics. however, if you really can't squeeze it into one page do not print double-sided, I've been told that this is one of the worst things you can do. If you need two pages, just print two and staple them.
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Chad’s Answer
Recommendation is not to feel limited in your resume by page count. The key is to show a consistent, relevant timeline of your education, work history, and accomplishments. If that takes two pages, that's fine. I've see several resumes that reduce the font to achieve a one page look. Honestly with today's online scanning platforms, the content is more important than the length or word count.
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Stephanie’s Answer
Hi Polina,
I believe that there are different preferences in different regions. A one page resume is good for when you are just starting out in your career.
One page is fine, especially if you can fit all the information on one page but 1-3 pages is a good length. Anything longer than that is ptobably too much information.
The goal of having a good resume is to land you that first interview!
Your resume should be concise and to the point, neatly laid out, and highlighting your relevant skills and experience that align to the role you are applying for. Recruiters are often the first people to review your resume before sharing with hiring managers, so be sure to include any key words that have been used in the job description of the role that you are applying for. We often do Key word searches to identify talent for the opportunities that we are working on.
I believe that there are different preferences in different regions. A one page resume is good for when you are just starting out in your career.
One page is fine, especially if you can fit all the information on one page but 1-3 pages is a good length. Anything longer than that is ptobably too much information.
The goal of having a good resume is to land you that first interview!
Your resume should be concise and to the point, neatly laid out, and highlighting your relevant skills and experience that align to the role you are applying for. Recruiters are often the first people to review your resume before sharing with hiring managers, so be sure to include any key words that have been used in the job description of the role that you are applying for. We often do Key word searches to identify talent for the opportunities that we are working on.
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Fiona’s Answer
It really depends on your life stage. For students with little or no job experience, suggest one page of clear succinct information in a cleanly presented manner.
For people who have had quite a bit of work experience, a CV would generally be 2-3 pages as it would nee to describe each position - the type of work, skills obtained in greater detail.
For people who have had quite a bit of work experience, a CV would generally be 2-3 pages as it would nee to describe each position - the type of work, skills obtained in greater detail.
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Marcy’s Answer
My advise is to provide a summary of you top skills at the beginning then highlight you employers. If you have an extensive career do keep it limited to 2 pages no more. Most employers will scan the skills first and if it peaks their interest will continue reading your experience.
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Tyler’s Answer
Hi Polina!
While you've already received some great advice, I would also recommend trying to keep it to one page.
However, one thing I find beneficial is to keep two different versions of my resume. One that is a single page and is most up to date, and then one that is a running list of all your accomplishments, education, jobs, accolades, etc. This way you can easily add/remove/edit your resume to be specified to the job and not have to recreate a custom one from scratch each time. Also, as others have mentioned above, be sure to use the keywords and requirements in the job posting when crafting your application.
Best of luck!
While you've already received some great advice, I would also recommend trying to keep it to one page.
However, one thing I find beneficial is to keep two different versions of my resume. One that is a single page and is most up to date, and then one that is a running list of all your accomplishments, education, jobs, accolades, etc. This way you can easily add/remove/edit your resume to be specified to the job and not have to recreate a custom one from scratch each time. Also, as others have mentioned above, be sure to use the keywords and requirements in the job posting when crafting your application.
Best of luck!
Updated
Smitha’s Answer
As the number of years of experience grows, it's hard to maintain the one page standard. Here are some basic insights into good resumes not in any particular order
- Use keywords for which they can be easily searched. You can find those easily on any job site
- Get the message of the jobs in as few words as possible. Remember you can be the nth candidate's resume the hiring manager is looking at
- Summary at the top usually helps
- Chronological order of jobs also helps, however small the job span.
- Writing the accomplishments in a list can also help keep the point across without getting verbose.
- Use keywords for which they can be easily searched. You can find those easily on any job site
- Get the message of the jobs in as few words as possible. Remember you can be the nth candidate's resume the hiring manager is looking at
- Summary at the top usually helps
- Chronological order of jobs also helps, however small the job span.
- Writing the accomplishments in a list can also help keep the point across without getting verbose.
Updated
Julius’s Answer
Just keep it to one page. Put yourself in the shoes of someone that has to look at stacks of paper (or emails, files, etc..) each representing a different individual. After a while unless you are at the top of the queue, the patience to read dwindles. Put your most important (and if possible most exciting) information first.
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Yana’s Answer
I do not believe its true that you must have 2 page resume. Nobody like to read a novel when looking at a resume, keep in mind that your resume will take 30 sec tops to be reviewed to see if you qualify for a position. As such, the shorter it is, the better. You need to include key skills and experiences, make sure that it aligns well with the job you are applying to. So my advise, do not try to stretch it, keep it concise and to the point. Highlight your strengths in the summary.
Best of luck
Best of luck
Updated
Anitha’s Answer
Hi Polina,
One page resume is good to start with for a fresher and it should have key details on the projects worked in your collage with detailing on the responsibilities managed as well as clearly calling out the skills you worked on which most people forget to mention.The details help any recruiter to understand well about your role
To bring more visibility and credibility to your profile, do add your linkedIn and coding contributions (GitHub, StackOverFlow, ect) links. This details on your learning curve and your openness to learn which is the major criteria for fresher hiring.
One page resume is good to start with for a fresher and it should have key details on the projects worked in your collage with detailing on the responsibilities managed as well as clearly calling out the skills you worked on which most people forget to mention.The details help any recruiter to understand well about your role
To bring more visibility and credibility to your profile, do add your linkedIn and coding contributions (GitHub, StackOverFlow, ect) links. This details on your learning curve and your openness to learn which is the major criteria for fresher hiring.
Updated
Kimberly’s Answer
Hi Polina,
Great question. I would definitely stick to a one page resume. Just remind yourself that less is more. When you go through your bullet points, ask yourself how relevant each one is and how you can shorten it. Keep in mind bullet points are simply that, points - not sentences or paragraphs. Think of how many applications people go through during the hiring process. You want to make yours stand out and not be overwhelmingly long. There are samples that you can find online if you need extra guidance on how to format your current resume. Just take a little time each day to edit yours and you will approve of it in no time.
Good luck!
Great question. I would definitely stick to a one page resume. Just remind yourself that less is more. When you go through your bullet points, ask yourself how relevant each one is and how you can shorten it. Keep in mind bullet points are simply that, points - not sentences or paragraphs. Think of how many applications people go through during the hiring process. You want to make yours stand out and not be overwhelmingly long. There are samples that you can find online if you need extra guidance on how to format your current resume. Just take a little time each day to edit yours and you will approve of it in no time.
Good luck!
Updated
Harpreet’s Answer
I've been on both sides of the coin (applying for jobs and recruiting). Although I wouldn't place a limit on the length of a CV, if you could above 3 pages it is worth making sure that there is a really good reason.
Even now, where you can apply for a job online (e.g. with your LinkedIn profile), don't ignore the value of a 1-page cover letter (a few paragraphs is enough) so call out why you want this job, why you want it now, and why you are an excellent candidate.
Good luck!
Even now, where you can apply for a job online (e.g. with your LinkedIn profile), don't ignore the value of a 1-page cover letter (a few paragraphs is enough) so call out why you want this job, why you want it now, and why you are an excellent candidate.
Good luck!
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Zein’s Answer
I would recommend one page. No more than 2 pages if you more more experience in niche field.
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