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Many common questions about resumes revolve around “the rules.” Specifically, job seekers asking what “the rule” is for this or that, when the truth of the matter is that when you receive judgement, feedback, or criticism about your resume it’s more opinion than fact. You’re dealing with guidelines not rules. One point of contention that always ignites a fierce debate is how many pages a resume should be.
Instead of focusing on any such hard “rules” about resume length, instead think through a series of questions that will allow you to make an informed decision based on what norms are most likely to advance your resume in the application process, if followed.
Question #1 – How much experience do you have?
If you are a recent graduate, you should stick to one page. Your “professional story” should be easy to tell. After two or more years of professional experience, it’s probably appropriate to have a multi-page resume. With notable exceptions (keep reading), multi-page means two pages.
Question #2 – Are you a college student or MBA student?
If you answer “yes” to this question, you may (should) work through your school’s career center. Career centers typically have uniform standards, regardless of graduate level, and they typically want a one-page resume that is traditional and effective when submitting you to employers. This business format has a name – The Wharton Format – named for the famed business school, so even if you’re an MBA student who has several years of real-world professional experience between degrees, plan on one page.
Question #3 – Are you a techie?
Are you in IT? Engineering? A technology-related field?
Due the complex and numerous skills technology professionals must possess and the nature of project-to-project tech work-flows, it is often expected that your resume will be two pages and it’s perfectly acceptable to include a third page that highlights knowledge, skills, and education that are unique to your technological specialty. However, brevity still wins the day, so if you can effectively keep it to two pages, do.
Question #4 – Are you a “C” Level Executive?
If you are the Chief of Something (CEO, CTO, CIO, etc.) you have license to go longer, two to three pages. that tells the story of your rise to the top – media appearances, publications, awards, etc. You’re going to be the leader who guides your next venture to previously unthinkable levels of success and fortune, so your resume should read like it. That may take an extra page.
Question #5 – Does the potential employer/partner/investor request a certain length?
This supercedes all previous answers. This is as close a guideline gets to being a rule. If a certain length is requested, adhere to it. There are reasons parameters have been created and 1) you risk automatic disqualification for not following them, and 2) you should consider it may be a test to see if you can follow simple instructions.
Question #6 - Are you an academic?
Let’s define our terms. “Academic” means professor or researcher in a college setting, tenured or not. If you fall into that category, you already know that 1-3 pages is just the introduction to the beginning of the start of what is known as a your curriculum vitae, or CV. Rather than a standard resume, academics use this extended format which details what you’ve done and all your amazing accomplishments are valued like anywhere else. But this is far from brief, it’s a catalog. Employers also want to know what you know, and this includes details of research, classes taught, papers submitted or published, forums at which you’ve presented, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It’s not unheard of for a CV to hit fifty (!) pages.
Philip Roufail contributed to this article.
Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.
