Today’s Tip: So How Many Pages Should My Resume Be?

If you ask most resume writers how long your resume should be, most will give you a one-word answer of "one", "two" or "three" pages. If they give a "standard" textbook answer without asking you additional probing questions, then you should run for the door and look for someone else to get advice from. If you further want to determine their knowledge about this debatable question, then play the "Ask WHY 5 Times" question game with them. This game is designed so that if you keep asking probing questions to someone and after asking 5 "why's", they are still able to give a competent sounding answer, then they are obviously an expert in the field that is being questioned.

Most resume writers will not be able to get through the first "why" when asked a probing question about the length of the resume. They answer, "two" pages, so you ask, "Why?". They usually fail by saying something like, "That's what I have always heard you should have".

It would take me about 15 minutes of discussion for me to accurately assess the right amount of pages that your resume should be for your unique situation before I can give you a one-word answer. Would you believe that my answer might be close to 3 digits (as in 100 pages)? It might be! I have read many resumes that were well over 20 pages and some even over 100. When I recruited for The University of Chicago (NORC), I received many doctoral resumes that were thicker than some books.

So when you read the title of this blog, you probably thought the answer would be in the blog, but that is something that I cannot answer accurately without knowing your particular situation. I can tell you that it depends on your years of experience, the type of resume you are writing, who is going to read your resume, what level of position you are applying for, the industry that you are targeting, and a few more criteria that you can learn more about in my job seeker training classes!