One of the top questions I get asked in my profession is, “Does it matter if my resume is one or two pages?” And the answer is, it’s complicated.
The length of your resume depends on multiple factors including your career length, profession level, Federal vs Standard (see link to previous blog Federal vs Standard Resume), and industry.
Pay attention to formatting. If your resume can fill more than 1/3 of the second page, then you can justify two pages. If the second page is less than 1/3, I suggest a second edit to scale your resume back to one page.
Keep in mind that a flashy one page resume that requires you leave off valuable information, is not good. The look is not as important as the content. Anyone can have a nice looking resume. Not everyone can have a compelling resume. What makes you unique?
The reality is every person screening the resume will have his/her own opinion and pet peeves. The best advice I can give is make sure the words on your resume count. If the bullets show your achievements and the unique strengths you bring to the table then the space is valid. If you have a bullet that is vague and defines a common duty of the job without any specific numbers/stats that show why the information is on your resume take a moment to decide if the words are valid.
If you are bored with the content of your resume and find your ‘voice’ is missing, then the individual screening your resume will make the same determination.
Until next Tuesday…
Comment Below: How long is your resume? What can you add or remove to improve your resume?