Forget What You Have Been Told — The Myth of the One-Page Resume

• “One-page resumes are expected by employers.”
• “One-page resumes are the standard.”
• “One-page resumes are the absolute rule.”

Absolute bunk.

The one-page resume, once hailed as the only way to properly frame one’s resume, is an anachronism.

It is not the only way to properly frame a resume.

A one-page resume often works well for an early career professional, especially for one with limited experience. Notice those carefully chosen words: often works well.

But I am here to assure you — as an in-the-trenches recruiter and professional resume writer in the U.S. for many years (no, I am not telling exactly how many) — they are not one-size fits all, “the standard” or “the rule” people often say they are.

For the record:

1. One-page resumes are not an expectation of employers.
2. They are no longer the traditional standard they once were.
3.  Without question, there are absolutely no “rules” when it comes to a resume’s page length.

In my career in HR and the world of work, I have seen the slow transition away from the dominance of the strict one-page resume. However, for decades in post-WWII U.S., countless people in positions of authority, in business and academia, extolled the necessity of resumes being confined to one page.

Eventually, that guidance became ossified, unquestionable dogma — what originated as simple suggestion, largely from career services offices in high schools and colleges, eventually became an entrenched “rule”, for all job seekers and employers to religiously follow.

And the perception that one-page resumes are the only “acceptable” format persists today. As a resume writer, I have been hearing this from professionals/job seekers consistently over the years — and it is simply not true.

Slowly, over time post-1945, the limitations of one-pagers became obvious to any professional beyond entry-level: The format fails to adequately showcase the depth and breadth of experience and skills that most professionals bring to the table.

Oversimplifying one’s career narrative in their resume, simply for the sake of keeping it to some erroneous, arbitrary, and illogical faux “standard” or “rule”, is foolhardy. It leaves the audience — human resume readers and ATS systems — with an incomplete picture and fails to cater to their ever-evolving needs and wishes.

By restricting one’s resume to a single page, the one-size-fits-all approach — more often than not — undermines a job seeker’s ability to craft personalized, powerful narratives that resonate with prospective employers and differentiate them from the competition.

I advocate for a shift away from outdated resume conventions, like this one-page nonsense, this antiquated tradition and phony “rule”.

Remember:

• There are no “rules” when it comes to preparing a compelling, competitive resume.
• If ever told, by anyone, that there are “rules”, ask the person professing that to show you exactly where to find those “rules”. You will have a long wait — because they simply do not exist.

Jerry Cooney, “Jer” to his friends, has spent his career serving in various capacities within Human Resources and Talent Acquisition. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in HR from Cornell and is a Senior Certified Professional in HR (SHRM-SCP) and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW).He began his career at a small firm in Manhattan and has since gone on to work with such famous names as Amazon, Siemens, General Electric, and Amtrak. Jer is originally from Islip, New York, but now calls Philadelphia home. He is a huge baseball fan.