How Long Should a Resume Be?

As long as the concept of resumes and job interviews have existed, students and candidates have always wondered what the perfect length of a resume is. Well, over the years, the ‘perfect length’ of the resume has remained unchanged. Most hiring managers, interviewers, and even experts still feel that the perfect resume should not be more than one page long!

Many candidates and young students often feel that the longer your resume is, the most impressive you come off as in front of the recruiters. However, this is not true. Interviewers typically have to go through dozens, maybe even hundreds of resumes to find the perfect candidates.

Most of the time, the interviewers end up skimming through the content in the resumes. Therefore, having a concise and crisp resume is the best way to go. 

So when you are designing your resume and are wondering how long it should be, the perfect length is- 1 page long. 

Why Should Your Resume Be 1 Page Long?

The most important reason as to why you need to design your resume to be just 1 page long is because it is attention-grabbing, concise, and allows the reader to sift through all the most essential information that they need to know about you. 

However, keep in mind that in case you have certain detailed points in your resume which do spill over to the other page, you can make your resume slightly longer, but it is always ideal to have a 1-page resume. You should make it clear and concise, giving the impression to the hiring manager that you are successfully able to organize all the information into clear cut points in just one page. 

What Should You Add in Your 1-page Resume?

When your resume is just 1 page long, you don’t have enough space to add fluff and unnecessary details which might otherwise just be skimmed over anyway. When designing your 1-page resume, here are the most essential points to keep in mind: 

1. Your contact information, which should be at the very top of your resume, where it is clearly and prominently written for the interviewer to find. 
2. Add a concise summary paragraph, which is sort of like a formal introduction to your interviewer. This summary paragraph should tell the interviewer (in just about 3 or 4 sentences) what you are currently doing, your strength, and a line or two about yourself (professionally). 
3. Add your employment history in short and also clearly mention the period for which you have worked at your previous organizations, internships, etc. 
4. Add your education- simple bullet points will be just fine for this section. 
5. Add your skills and interests. Make sure that you add only relevant skills and interests which pertain to your professional life. You may add one or two personal interests as well, but you should try and keep it as professional as possible. 
6. Mention achievements and accomplishments in short bullet points.
7. Volunteer work and community service, along with other extracurricular activities. 

Customize Your Resume

An important point to keep in mind when designing your resume is that you can create a template for a resume format. However, you should customize the resume for different jobs that you are applying for. This happens especially with freshers, as they apply for different kinds of jobs in different organizations. However, every job requires a different skillset and a different kind of resume, which will stand out amongst your competitors. 

It is good practice to check and re-check your resume every single time before you send it out to potential employers. This way, you can add, delete or edit information as per your current professional situation. Customizing your resume for different jobs can help you highlight the critical points which are relevant for different jobs, thus, making your resume stand out. 

Use Power Words to Attract Attention

Since your resume is just one page long, the best thing you can do is try and make it as interesting and powerful as possible. Do this by adding certain power words in your resume. Of course, the most important thing to remember here is to add the words very naturally, as you don’t want it to look forced. Some words that you can add in your resume include:

• Assertive
• Attentive
• Accomplished
• Developed
• Completed 
• Organized

While these are just a few examples, there are many other kinds of power words that you can easily find online. The only thing to remember here is that you should not over-do it or make it look unnatural. Remember these words, and add them as and when it is appropriate. 

What to Leave out from Your Resume?

When you are trying to design a resume, which is just one page long, you have to eliminate all the unnecessary fluff and details. There are certain sections in a resume that were added before, but now, it is better to do away with them. These include:

1. Objectives- while this was a common section to add in resumes, it is not added anymore as it is considered unnecessary. Instead of that, focus on the skills and accomplishments section in your resume 
2. Interests and hobbies- during a job interview, your interviewer is hardly going to be interested in which music bands you like, what you do during your weekends or what your favourite cuisine is. Keep this information for the actual face to face interview, where you can directly answer these questions if the interviewer asks them to you in person. 
3. Reference upon request- there is no need for you to state that you can provide references upon request. Your recruiters already know that. Just skip this section and save some space on your resume. 

When working on creating the perfect resume, be very mindful about the length, as you might just be rejected based on the length of your resume, if your interviewer feels it is too long to go through! Stick to a one-page resume, add all your relevant details, and design the resume to look interesting and professional, and you will have the perfect resume for interviews!