Matcha Resume

How Long Should a Resume Be in 2025

Matcha Resume Team••5 min read
How Long Should a Resume Be in 2025

You have been told "keep it to one page" your entire career. But you have 15 years of experience. How are you supposed to fit that on one page? The truth is: the one-page rule is outdated—but the two-page free-for-all is also wrong. In this guide, we will break down exactly how long your resume should be in 2025, based on data from thousands of successful job applications.

The Real Answer: It Depends on Your Experience

Here is the breakdown by experience level:

0-5 Years of Experience: One Page

If you are early in your career, one page is non-negotiable. Recruiters expect this. Going to two pages signals that you don't know how to prioritize. Why one page works:

  • Recruiters spend 6-7 seconds scanning your resume. A second page rarely gets read.
  • You don't have enough high-impact achievements yet to justify two pages.
  • It forces you to be ruthless about cutting fluff. What to include:
  • 3-5 bullet points per role (focus on quantified achievements)
  • 1-2 relevant projects or internships
  • Education (recent grads can put this at the top)
  • Skills section (keep it tight—5-8 core skills)

5-10 Years of Experience: One to Two Pages

This is the gray zone. You have enough experience that one page feels cramped, but two pages can look padded. The decision:

  • If you have 2-3 highly relevant roles with strong metrics, stick to one page.
  • If you have 4+ roles or significant leadership/project work, go to two pages. Pro tip: Use the "fold test." If the second page only has 3-4 lines, cut it. A half-empty second page looks worse than a tight one-pager.

10+ Years of Experience: Two Pages

At this level, two pages is expected. You have earned the space. But this does not mean you dump your entire career history. What to include:

  • Last 10-15 years of experience (earlier roles get compressed or cut)
  • Leadership and high-impact projects
  • Awards, patents, publications (if relevant) What to cut:
  • Roles from 15+ years ago (unless highly relevant)
  • Ancient certifications (nobody cares about your 2008 Java certification)
  • Every single bullet from every role (prioritize recent wins)

The Exceptions to the Rule

Academic / Research Resumes (CVs)

If you are in academia, medicine, or research, you are writing a CV, not a resume. CVs can be 3-10+ pages because they list every publication, grant, and conference talk. Different rules apply.

Executive Resumes

C-level executives often use 2-3 pages. At this level, board memberships, M&A deals, and P&L responsibility take up space. But even then, it should be results-dense, not a biography.

How to Cut Your Resume Without Losing Impact

Most people struggle to fit their resume on one page because they are writing job descriptions, not achievements.

Before: Job Description Bloat

  • "Responsible for managing a team of 5 engineers"
  • "Worked on improving website performance"
  • "Handled customer support tickets"

After: Achievement-Focused Bullets

  • "Led 5-person engineering team that shipped 3 major features, increasing DAU by 25%"
  • "Reduced page load time by 40%, improving conversion rate by 15%"
  • "Resolved 50+ tickets daily with 98% CSAT score by building a self-service knowledge base" See the difference? The "after" bullets are shorter but pack more punch.

The "Impact Density" Rule

Here is the secret metric recruiters use (even if they don't say it out loud): Impact per square inch. If your resume is two pages, it better have twice the impact of a one-pager. If it's just the same content stretched out with bigger margins and more white space, you are wasting their time. At Matcha Resume, our Impact Score algorithm checks for this automatically. It flags:

  • Bullets with no metrics (weak impact)
  • Passive verbs like "Responsible for" (filler language)
  • Overuse of buzzwords without proof (credibility issue)

Should You Ever Go Beyond Two Pages?

Almost never. The only exceptions:

  • Government / federal resumes (they have specific formats that run long)
  • Academic CVs (as mentioned earlier)
  • International resumes (some countries expect longer formats) For 95% of corporate jobs, two pages is the hard limit. If you go to three pages, your resume will get skipped or mocked in recruiter Slack channels.

Final Checklist: Is Your Resume the Right Length?

Use this quick decision tree:

  1. Do you have less than 5 years of experience?
    → One page. No exceptions.
  2. Do you have 5-10 years of experience?
    → Ask: "Does my second page have at least 50% content?"
    → If yes, keep two pages. If no, cut to one.
  3. Do you have 10+ years of experience?
    → Two pages. Cut everything older than 15 years.
  4. Are you in academia/research?
    → Use a CV. Different rules.

Test Your Resume Length Right Now

The easiest way to know if your resume is the right length? Run it through an automated check. Check your resume now and get an instant Impact Score. Our system will tell you:

  • Which bullets are too weak to justify the space
  • Which sections can be compressed
  • Whether your resume "feels" too long based on recruiter heuristics

Want more resume tips? Read our guide on What Human Recruiters Actually See when they scan your resume.