What is the best length for a resume?

1. 72

   KeithTaxposted 12 years ago

   What is the best length for a resume?
   
   Some say a page is enough, other say anything more than a page is too much.

   replyreport
2. 0

   Larry Wallposted 12 years ago

   That depends on which expert you ask. Some will tell you one, others say no more than two. When I was working I received a 30 page resume from a person who wanted to move from news reporting to PR and had included every story and every headline she had ever written. We were not hiring, but she would had not made the cut.
   
   It is going to depend on your work history. I held two jobs in the last 39 years. Some experts say to only go back five years. The job I held for 22 years was the result of the prior job I held for 13 years. I list both of those. I did a little reformatting and got it down to a page. If you have held four jobs in 15 years, I would say list all four, showing how one led to another. That might take two pages.
   
   Just make sure the first page is interesting enough so that the reviewer of resumes, will read the second.

   replyreport
3. 40

   henderposted 12 years ago

   Larry's answer was thorough and accurate.  For a different perspective, here's my take.
   
   Keep it to one page.  Brevity and conciseness are key.  Some companies may have HR staff willing to look in detail at every resume, but I would guess those are a rarity.  I suspect most hiring agents are looking for ways to weed resumes out, rather than looking for reasons to keep you included.   You want to say just enough to qualify or over qualify for the job, including any "buzzwords" that the job description lists that you can accurately perform.  Yet you don't want to say so much that you risk putting something they don't want, or having it be so detailed they aren't willing to read it through and throw it out for something more "streamlined".
   
   Of course, this depends on the company.  Just be honest, be detailed, be concise, and prepare a nice cover letter for any "fluff" that might keep your resume from fitting well on one page.

   replyreport
4. 61

   dscarchaposted 12 years ago

   It depends on you. Remember that you are the boss when you write your own resume. You can have a number of pages as many as you can. But don't forget this 2 rules, first, avoid prospect employer to get bored in  reading your resume and second, write only those relevant to them. This is the reason why the ideal length of resume ranges from one to two pages only.

   replyreport