How long should a resume be?

There is no universal rule, but recruiter expectations are consistent enough to give clear defaults.

Recruiters screen many resumes for each role and decide quickly whether to read further. A tight one-page resume puts your strongest evidence where it will be seen. A second page is only worth it if it is as strong as the first.

Length does not hurt you with applicant tracking systems, which read the whole document. The limit is human attention, not software.

For most people, the last 10 to 15 years is enough. Older roles can go into a brief "Earlier experience" line with job title and company only, or be removed if unrelated to your target.

Graduation dates are optional once you have several years of experience; leaving them out is a common way to reduce age bias.

Work through this list in order before shrinking fonts or margins.

• Remove the objective statement and the "References available on request" line
• Cut bullets that describe duties rather than results
• Keep three to five bullets for recent roles and one or two for older ones
• Delete skills everyone has (email, Microsoft Word) unless the posting asks for them
• Merge short or similar roles at the same company
• Shorten the summary to three lines

If you go to two pages, fill at least half of the second page, repeat your name and page number in the header, and make sure the most important information is on page one. Keep a 10.5–12 pt body font and margins of at least 0.5 inches.