Traditionally
job seekers have been encouraged to limit their resume to one page. However, today’s competitive job market
requires a resume that can clearly convey a job seeker’s most important
qualities and work experiences.
Who can fit their entire work history on one page? Not many people,
unless they are new to the workforce or have been working the same job for most,
if not all of their working life. Below are a few tips on using the right
length for your resume:
1.
Will
your resume be read online or offline by human being? Or, will it be scanned by a computer? If your resume will be read by a person
online, it is better to try to keep the resume short. Because it is often more difficult to read something on a
computer screen than it is on a sheet of paper, online resumes may benefit from
being one page. However, don’t
sacrifice the quality of your resume for the sake of making it one page.
2.
Consider
using supplemental pages to offer additional information. If you have a work history that would
make your resume much longer than two pages, consider using your actual resume
as a sort of summary and then adding additional documents to offer the reader
more insight into your work history and experience.
3.
Avoid
using font and margin tricks to make your resume appear shorter if it will
sacrifice the readability of the resume. Make sure that you have sufficient
margins and that text is large enough to read.