# Should resumes be limited to two pages? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 17, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-resumes-be-limited-to-two-pages/500028 "2009-06-17T02:58:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-resumes-be-limited-to-two-pages/500028/121 "2009-06-24T16:20:40Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Yes you are lazy. if you are going to throw away a resume because it has too many pages. > > Applicant A has summary Content ‘X’ on page 1 and ‘Y’ on Page 2 > Applicant B has summary Content ‘X’ on page 1 and ‘Y’ on page 2, As well as detail Content ‘W’ ,‘Z’,‘U’,and ‘V’ on pages 3-6 respectively. > > You are going to throw out Applicant B because you are too lazy to bother reading for content, and not going to see if B is a great fit for the job because he did more and better work. > > A Third grader can summarize concisely. “First Scrooge was a cheap and bad man, then he was visited by ghosts, who scared him, and he became a good man” Even if you are right, the burden is not on the hiring manager to be “less lazy”. He has a job and a line of people just like you waiting for a call. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-resumes-be-limited-to-two-pages/500028/122 "2009-06-25T18:34:34Z")
Where I work, there’s pretty strict fair hiring practices, and we have to go through each submitted resume and grade on specific criteria, and then turn in the grades. Hence, we can’t just toss resumes that are poorly constructed. What I’ve found to be successful in my own job hunting is a one page resume that lists experience, a cover letter carefully suited to the position I’m applying for, and a third half page for references. One of the thing that amazes me is the number of times that I see resumes that are obviously meant as applications for an entirely different job, or people that have absolutely no experience or skills in the specific field they’re applying for. It would be fine if these were entry-level jobs, but they aren’t even close. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-resumes-be-limited-to-two-pages/500028.md?page=6)