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Ideal Length of a Professional Resume in 2023

Learn about the ideal length of a professional resume in 2023, how to create a prefect resume?
Submitted by Mehak Aggarwal, on December 25, 2022

In today's world, having a good resume is extremely important to get a good position in a leading company. With the amount of competition going around, how you write your resume could define whether you'll get a chance to work at your dream company or not. When writing a resume, there is a possibility that you may end up writing 5 or 6 pages, turning it into a short essay. If you're wondering whether a short essay of 5-6 pages is an ideal length of a resume, the answer is it is not. A resume should be short and crisp. It could be somewhat tricky to understand the ideal length, because some people have experience 1 year, whereas some have experiences of more than 20 years, which could be hard to put down on 1 page. To understand better, let's first get into what a resume is.

What is a Resume?

A resume acts like a link between you and a potential recruiter, which is why the importance of a resume can never be underestimated. They say the first impression is the last. This might not be 100% true in some cases, but good first impressions do help you get an upper hand. Since companies do not have a lot of time on their hands, they require resumes from candidates, to select the best ones of the lot to be a part of their company. Hence, what you write in a resume and how you write it plays a crucial role.

A resume is a summary of your skills, achievements, and qualifications. It is sent or submitted as a part of the application process for an open position or a job interview that you're applying for. The main purpose of the resume is to highlight your skills and qualifications that are important to the company or employer and helps them decide whether you could be an asset to them. While writing the resume could be tricky, proper formatting, keywords, and prioritization can do wonders.

How long should a resume be?

A good resume should be 1 to 2 pages long, depending on your level of expertise. It should be as short as possible, but should also convey your worth. You should be able to convey all your achievements in 1-2 pages, with more "wow" and fewer words. For those with less than 2 years of experience, 1 page is sufficient, and If you have more than 5 years of experience, 2 pages should be a good length for you. However, if your experience goes beyond 6 years, experts say your best bet would be to work a 3-4 page resume. This is because if an employer is going through a 2-page resume, they would not be able to scan it multiple times due to time constraints.

After applying for a potential job and submitting the resume comes the interview process. This is where you need to be ready to talk about yourself while explaining your document to show how you will be an asset to their company.
Be confident and get familiar with all the important aspects to make sure you know exactly why you want the job and why they should hire you.

Your skills, education, responsibilities, experience, and achievements from your previous roles are some important things that the employer pays a lot of attention to. This is why it is very important to include all of these things in your resume in a good manner to be relevant to what you're seeking from your career.

What to keep in mind while writing a resume

1. The primary key to a successful resume, no matter what type it is, is to set clear objectives. The objective or summary portion of your resume should clearly define why you want the job and your qualifications in detail.
2. The main purpose of a job application is to help companies decide between those they want to interview and those they don't. Hence, this is not the time and place to show off cool formatting. Use common fonts like New Times Roman, Calibri, or Ariel, at 11 or 12-point size. This will ensure that the formatting does not distract the employer from the content of your document.
3. The skills and achievements of the candidate are the most important. Tell them 'why' you were good at their particular job. Skills and achievements add much more value to your resume than just listing your duties.
4. Make sure that your qualifications and achievements are relevant to the position you are applying for. You don't want to be mentioning things that are outside the job portfolio.
5. Re-editing a resume multiple times can lead to missed typing errors or other mistakes. Instead of editing the document multiple times, list down all the points you want to mention somewhere, and write the resume with complete focus in one go.
6. The content is the highlight of a resume, beautifying the document will not earn you brownie points. It will instead distract the employer from what you have written. Focus on the content, not on how to make it pretty.
7. Be completely objective with your resume. If you write negative things directly, it could come across very badly in front of the person reading it. The document should be entirely consistent with the job you're applying for.

Common mistakes to avoid while writing a resume

1. Avoid using your personal information on your resume if you don't want it to be used. You can add that information to your application form.
2. Don't include irrelevant information. Don't write things that you assume your potential boss wants to hear, instead, state the truth which would help them decide whether you are a good fit for the job and the company.
3. Don't make the resume long and boring. Don't include long, drawn-out introduction paragraphs. 4-5 sentences will be just fine.

Final Words

As mentioned earlier, many things go into the success of a good resume. The main thing is for you to be aware of what your potential employer is looking for and whether you fit into that profile. If you do, make sure you present yourself accordingly. Have an objective in mind when creating a resume, and know why exactly you want this job. Knowing the answer to "why" is extremely crucial. Employers are not looking for a resume expert, but having a resume that is crisp, relevant, and good is the key.