Resume Length Poll

hopscotch.

As I am working to update my resume, I came across a good question for you guys...

Do you think it is ok to have a resume that is more than 1 page in length?  What if it is 3 pages?

BACK STORY:

As previously mentioned, I have been with my company for 7 years; however, I have had a variety of roles during those 7 years and gained enormous experience across a wide variety of areas.  My resume as it stands now is 3 full pages...with the last page being a full Applications/Skills List and Education Summary (so it is spaced out and completely uncluttered)...but two full pages are a summary paragraph followed by bullets of experience. 

H balked the first time he saw my resume...as he holds fast to the "resume must be 1 page" myth.  Granted, my resume is likely much longer than your standard 29 year old's, I feel it is all relevant and nothing can really be excluded from it without cutting out some important experience information. 

I'm in HR and have seen numerous resumes within the company and most are 2-5 pages.  I've passed along my resume to senior managers for review, and no one has ever had a problem with it.

I decided to google and see what I could find on it and found this article:

http://www.thejobbored.com/busting-the-one-page-resume-myth_683/ 

Cutting my resume to 1 page would be ridiculously impossible...and 2 would still cut out a vasty majority of my experience.  My father had a resume writing service create his resume for him when he lost his job 15 years ago and even his was 2 pages in length.  My thoughts are that if a resume writing service does it, it has to be ok...

mamie329

I don't prescribe to the one page theory. Even at 28, with only two full-time jobs, mine is a good two pages. I work for an exec. recruitment firm, so I see resumes every day. Now, these resumes are for senior level university administrators with oodles of experience and skill sets, and often academic leaders with a lot of published works, and these CVs/resumes are sometimes 20 pages in length.

 I believe that if everything listed is relevant to your seeking new employment, keep it! 

hawkilady

I think the 1-page rule is outdated.  I think you should just worry about not having unnecessary information and filler.  If you have enough experience to require 3 pages and its relevant, than go with it.  For people who have not had a lot of experience, 1 page is usually fine.  I think the 1-page rule still applies for people right out of college who haven't had enough experience to require multiple pages, sticking to a 1-page limit then cuts out useless information like frat memberships and waitress jobs, etc. that are irrelevant to the position being applied for.  When I applied for my last job my resume was 2 pages and no one had any issues and I had it reviewed by a recruitment firm.

chrissyvcm

I usually try to stick to the 1 page rule for the sole purpose of capturing your reader. If the person in charge of interviewing candidates has several resumes to sort through, then it's likely that they'll get bored if your resume is too long (or too paragraphy) and might not make it to some very vital experience points. That said, I completely understand that someone with lots of experience/responsibility may not be able to fit everything onto a single page. I'd say, shoot somewhere in the middle. Go for 2 pages. Try not to include every detail of everything you've done, but instead highlight important aspects. Add enough detail to show that you're highly qualified, but not so much that the reviewer will know what you did each and every day. Save something to wow them with when you interview!

hopscotch.

Thanks, Mames!  That's what I feel like too.  H's resume is 1 page exactly...and honestly, I don't think he could fill up more than 1 page...but he and I are in two entirely different fields and I have a ton of computer application and programming experience, as well as business skills, and company-specific tools and applications.

hopscotch.

chrissyvcm:

I usually try to stick to the 1 page rule for the sole purpose of capturing your reader. If the person in charge of interviewing candidates has several resumes to sort through, then it's likely that they'll get bored if your resume is too long (or too paragraphy) and might not make it to some very vital experience points. That said, I completely understand that someone with lots of experience/responsibility may not be able to fit everything onto a single page. I'd say, shoot somewhere in the middle. Go for 2 pages. Try not to include every detail of everything you've done, but instead highlight important aspects. Add enough detail to show that you're highly qualified, but not so much that the reviewer will know what you did each and every day. Save something to wow them with when you interview!

Sadly, C, that is me cutting things down to the most manageable size.  I would have to eliminate insane amounts of important information to get to 2 pages.  If I apply somewhere external to my current company, I'll probably look to cut it down if possible...but within my current company, it really is important information in there that can't really be whittled down at all.

I do have a paragraph summary at the top of the page, however, that summarizes my resume and highlights key skills.  IMO, that shows them the keywords they'll want to see...and they can dive further if they choose to do so.

luckycooky

Mine personally is 2 pages but if I were to update it with info from my current job, I would probably have 3. 

I don't think there is a magic number of pages as long as it is relevant and well organized.  The bigger turn-off (according to every manager I've worked with here) is paragraphs.  The higher up the management chain, the less time they have to read so calling out your many accomplishments in bullet points will give them the right level of detail to catch their attention.

hawkilady

hopscotch.:

I do have a paragraph summary at the top of the page, however, that summarizes my resume and highlights key skills.  IMO, that shows them the keywords they'll want to see...and they can dive further if they choose to do so.

 This is the important part - if your resume is over 1 page, this is a must.

stephriz

Instead of a lengthy paragraph summary, could you put that information in your cover letter and include a one sentence summary at the top?  That would open up room on the first resume page.

hopscotch.

stephriz:

Instead of a lengthy paragraph summary, could you put that information in your cover letter and include a one sentence summary at the top?  That would open up room on the first resume page.

It isn't a lengthy summary at all...it is one long sentence summarizing my key skills and length of experience (e.g. - 7 years at firm, 4 years in HR) and it only takes up 4 lines at the top of my resume.  I would NEVER remove that summary. 

Being in HR and reviewing resumes all the time, I know that is one of the most important things.  We rarely pay much attention to "cover letters" anymore...as those are a thing of the past, in exchange for an email summary with resume attachment.

stephriz

Good point.  My cover letters just ended up being the text in the email that accompanied them, and I guess that's how it's evolving.

Four lines is the length I had in my head.  I imagined you had a long paragraph.

MsWildcat

I'm completely going against the grain, and perhaps the legal world is different than others.

In the legal field from what I've seen, it is considered pretentious if you go over a page.  Often, interviewers will use the time during the interview to ask you to explain the details of an experience, so paragraphs explaining what different jobs mean is unnecessary and honestly will be lost to most readers. Or, you can use the cover letter to explain different parts of your resume that would pertain to the specific job.

If you are a published author or have won impressive or notable cases, then an additional separate "attachment" can go over a page, but even these often do not include every publication

britab

Career advisors I have talked to say 1-2 pages max. The average employer look at a resume for 3-30 seconds. GL!

vhcoleman09

For a straight resume, I'd say 1-2 pages. If what you're doing is a CV, then I think you are very well-justified to have 3 pages (or more). My CV is 7 pages long and most people in my field request a CV as opposed to a resume. If I were to create a resume, though, I'd definitely limit to 1 or 2 pages.