Posted By: Candace Davies In: Job Seeker - Resume The desired length of a resume can vary depending on the profession, school district, country, etc. When crafting your resume, you want to make certain that you meet the potential employer’s guidelines or preferences. Some hiring organizations will post a maximum page limit on their job advertisement. If this is the case you must make certain that you follow the instructions – this also goes for any other specifics mentioned regarding your job application documents.
The desired length of a resume can vary depending on the profession, school district, country, etc. When crafting your resume, you want to make certain that you meet the potential employer’s guidelines or preferences. Some hiring organizations will post a maximum page limit on their job advertisement. If this is the case you must make certain that you follow the instructions – this also goes for any other specifics mentioned regarding your job application documents. If they do not make mention of their desired resume length, here are some basic guidelines you can follow for creating an appropriate and appealing resume.
Generally if a person is applying for a job in the trades in Canada or the United States, a one page resume will suffice. However, if you have many years of experience, numerous courses and qualifications, or other crucial pieces of information you wish to share, then by all means go on to the second page. On the other hand, if you do choose to use more than one page, make certain that you fill up almost, if not all, of the entire second page. If your writing only fills up a few lines or even just a quarter of a page, take out unnecessary or repetitive information, or change the formatting of the document to make everything fit neatly onto one page, while still ensuring that the text is legible and well spaced. Regardless of your experience and credentials, most employers in a trade will simply scan the first page of your document to make sure you meet their needs.
If applying for a teaching position, the desired length of a resume can vary depending on the Principal/ Superintendent or school district. If you are unable to identify whether a one page or two page resume would be better, seek advice from an insider, i.e. a recently hired teacher or an administrative member. If you still cannot find the answer and would prefer to err on the side of caution, create two separate resumes. Develop a two page document first and take out little extras or repeated information to condense it into a one page resume.
As far as other professions go, each employer may have a different preference. As long as you have included all pertinent information, without adding “fluff” or “filler”, you should not have to worry too much about length. Regardless of the length of your resume, remember that it is not quantity that counts; it is quality. Always make certain that your documents showcase your experience, education, outstanding achievements, professional development, etc. These are the most important parts of a resume to worry about. If you are concerned about what kind of resume would suit you best, do not hesitate to contact a professional resume writer. They are trained to address your questions and concerns and develop a working document that is right for you.
Comments
Posted by: Howie Appel
If you are just out of school, a one page resume is fine. If you have 10+ years experience, you do yourself an injustice by confining yourself to one page.
Posted by: Nick
Anyone who has a minimum of 3 jobs over a 15-20 year period with an education background (trade school or college) NEEDS to have a 2 page resume. And if you are like me and did a lot of community volunteering and was also in the military, than by all means a 2 page resume is exactly what you need.
Posted by: Scott Ames
I am in the IT industry. I used to use a two page resume until I kept hearing "If you have so much experience, why is your resume so short?" Now I have 3 and 6 page resumes.
Posted by: André Joubert
I also have extended experience and use a longer resume
Posted by: Cynthia Bergeron
Thanks for the information.
Posted by: Dan Murphy
I think it's a sign of age... I used to ponder what to put in, now I ponder what to take out.
Posted by: Charmaine Earle
The article was very informative and very helpful.I will apply some of these useful tips.
Posted by: James Laster
One Page or Two. Well my is 5 pages with the amount of knowledge and 25 years in the IT field I have a high degree of knowledge that employers are looking for . 1 or two pages resume does not promote key knowledge that I have and all the 40 Plus certifications I have along with the Masters Degree in education. I have had many professional resume companies look at my resume and have agree a 5 page resume is needed to promote my skills to the employers. What about us pros that have the 5 page resumes?
Posted by: Steve
We received 412 resumes for 2 open, degree required, nearly entry level, positions. Three managers parsed the resumes, throwing out anything that wasn't one page, standard font, black on white. Programming or Engineering positions often require very specific skill and your COBOL and Oracle 9i experience, CNE and RHCE certification, Professional Engineer training, are just filler.
Posted by: Shardena
More than one page resume is ridiculous. A human resource person looks at it and passes it up, because it is too much information. They want to be able to look at it quickly and summarize your experience. More than one page and 10 years of experience is unecessary.
Posted by: Rebecca Eaton
In my case, I have experience in several fields; I am really struggling on what to put in it. Thanks for the comments. I think a two-page resume is appropriate.
Posted by: Karoneous
My resume just barely extends onto the second page, and the more I think about it, the more I feel that I should drop some of the wording to make it fit onto one page. It just doesn't look right or professional to have only six lines of text on the second page, and it wastes paper when it gets printed out!
Posted by: Bruce Olitzky
If a candidate has salient, documented experience and successes that would even if edited comprise two pages you'd be rather foolish to short change yourself by dumbing down your resume. Sure 20 year olds read your resume first, but no matter how many pages they see it is the quality of the Human Resource management team's objectives that matter. If they want to exclude two page resumes then they really only want folks with short job tenures and limited experience and will surely get what they recruited for, someone who probably needs more training and experience.
Posted by: tomk
To what degree and how often should you call the employor to see if they have made any decision on when, or if they are going to fill an open position that you have applied for? If the position is still open, should you send them related information pertaining to your skills, to keep them fresh in their minds? Thanks.
Posted by: David Pfluger
If you have decades of varietal experience, don't sell yourself short. 3 to 6 pages is often necessary, however, given most reviewers tendencies to only scan the first page, it is a good idea to have an introductory "sales" paragraph with the general skills and abilities. Do it like a Thesis paper, Intro-then the body to back up the assertion.
Posted by: Mike
Hint to the wise!If you are that concerned about the length of your Resume, and you know where you are submitting it to, by all means, contact the HR department and inquire what they prefer when they view Resumes. (Get the insiders hint)If it is just a bulk or generic submission on a Jobsite Board, confined and precise is definitely a better bet.While expertise is important in all walks of life, the individuals reading them don't have time to read novels (5 or 6 pages).Create a concise version with the types of Certificates, Degrees, Training, (short and to the point).Then make note on it (For all to see) that additional information will be provided upon request. If the Hiring personnel or Recruiters find your highlights intriguing and are genuinely interested they will definitely ask for more.Don't be discouraged if your 5 or 6 page Resume is over kill. View it as a neutral party, looking for a specific skill set, and decide if your additional entries are actually required.Remember, what one hiring person sees and wants, "IS NOT" what the other one might want.
Posted by: Cherryl Ward
How many years of information does a potential employer want to see. If you've been on a job for 20 years would that one position be enough experience to list on a resume or should you continue to previous jobs?
Posted by: Michael Conlin
ok, so what is it, 1 or 2 pages? or 5 pages? the question wasn't answered!
Posted by: Abu Ahsan
I have five academic degree (two Master's) with fourteen years of work experience. Two page seems to me insufficient to express all qualifications I achieved. Can I extend to three pages.
Posted by: Timothy Bryant
I have been critiqued to a long resume in past and found that by displaying two pages would gain better results. True though that if you have one position, 10 years or more, one page would suffice. take into consideration that certificates /degree's, community services, etc , add to the resume, so keep those in it, as it shows value.
Posted by: pravin patil
This is nice information. Everyone should know this information.
Posted by: R. Mandl
Best advice is to KNOW YOUR FIELD. The HR pros for Cadd/Electronic/Electrical Look at the 1st page but IF you have 10+ years experience and strong education through out 20+ years of work THEY WANT TO KNOW what you have done! I have done HR and the first page gets my attention, the "suport pages" sell me. Continued education is always a plus.
