Does my resume need to be one page?

This is one of the biggest fallacies in resume writing, but I hear it all the time. No, your resume does not need to be limited to just one page. That doesn't mean it can't be one page - it just means it doesn't have to be.

Not to pick on them, but I think it all starts with career advisors in schools and colleges. I am quite sure they advocate one-page resumes (as they should, since people starting out on their career most likely only need one page), but they possibly don't explain that the "need" to stick to one page diminishes once you have a lengthier work history and more to brag about. Or, equally possible, the students forget. Unfortunately, the end result is many people who are well into their careers still think they have to limit their resume to one page.

I see it all the time - people with 6 different jobs in the last 15 years squishing it all into one maxed-put page with thin margins, incredibly small fonts, and no white space to separate anything. It looks like something Jack Bauer and his CTU team need to decipher.

It makes for an awful reading experience and it severely hampers their job search.

Yes, it's true there are some people out there who firmly believe everyone's resume should be one page. But, according to all the polls I've seen and all the networking I've done, they make up a very small percentage of resume readers. Most people are perfectly fine with two pages, and there are even some that are okay with three.

Since an important part of resume writing is minimizing risk of rejection, here is my "golden rule" for resume length:

• Aim for two pages.
• Use one page when it's more practical. 
• Go to three when absolutely necessary.
• Never go to four.

I have written hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes over the years and I can say this - probably less than 20 were three pages and maybe 5% of them were one page. All the rest were two pages (I have never written a four-pager).

I encourage you - don't limit yourself to one page if you really need more to tell your story. 

All the best!