How long should a resume be?

One page is right for students, early career, and most people with under about ten years of experience. Two pages is appropriate and expected once you have a decade or more of relevant work, senior scope, or a technical record that genuinely needs the room. Do not pad to fill a second page, and do not shrink the font to six points to force one, both are obvious. The exceptions are real: academic CVs run long by design, federal resumes follow a much more detailed format, and some countries expect different conventions entirely.

Length matters far less than what occupies it. Recruiters skim, and the top third of the first page decides whether the rest gets read, so lead with the strongest, most relevant material and cut the objective statement, which wastes prime space saying nothing. Write bullets as results rather than duties, with numbers where you have them, since scope and outcomes are what distinguish candidates. Drop the decade-old jobs that no longer support your story, the skills section listing Microsoft Word, and references available upon request. Tailor the emphasis to each posting, mirroring its actual language, because most large employers screen with applicant tracking systems that read plain text poorly formatted into columns, tables, graphics, and headers, so keep the layout simple and machine-readable.