How long should a resume be?
For most jobs in the United States and Canada, one page is the default until you have roughly 8-10 years of relevant experience. After that, two pages is normal and expected. Recruiters do not count pages for their own sake: they want to find your most recent title, your biggest results and your skills without scrolling past filler. Length is a symptom. A three-page resume usually means old roles described in too much detail, duties instead of results, or the same skill listed in four places.
The UK is a little different. A CV of two pages is standard there at almost every level, and one page is fine for graduates. Academic CVs, federal resumes for USAJOBS and some senior executive resumes are the exceptions that run longer, because those formats ask for publications, detailed duties or board work.
| Your situation | US & Canada | UK |
|---|---|---|
| Student, new grad, career changer | 1 page | 1-2 pages |
| 2-8 years of experience | 1 page (2 if very relevant) | 2 pages |
| 8-15 years | 2 pages | 2 pages |
| Senior leader, 15+ years | 2 pages (3 for some executive roles) | 2-3 pages |
| Academic, research, federal | As long as needed | As long as needed |
How to use the resume length checker
- Pick the country you are applying in. The rules for length, spelling and personal details change between the US, Canada and the UK.
- Paste your resume text or upload the file. PDF uploads give the real page count and tell you whether the file contains an image such as a photo. DOCX and pasted text use a word-count estimate.
- Read the fixes from top to bottom. They are sorted by impact: the first ones cost you the most points, so start there.
- Edit and run it again. Everything happens in your browser, so you can run it as many times as you want.
What the checker looks at
- Length: word count, page count (real for PDFs, estimated otherwise) and your approximate years of experience, worked out from the dates on your resume.
- Structure: standard section headings (Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, Projects, Certifications…). Applicant tracking systems rely on them to sort your resume into fields.
- Bullets: how many, their average length, and how many contain a number. Bullets with a result (a %, a dollar amount, a team size, a time saved) are what recruiters remember.
- Wording: duty phrases ("responsible for", "helped", "worked on"), passive voice, first-person pronouns and overused buzzwords like "team player" or "results-driven".
- Dates: whether every job has dates and whether they all use the same format ("Jan 2022 – Present" in one place and "01/2022" in another looks careless).
- Contact info: email, phone, city and state or province, and a LinkedIn URL.
- US / Canada / UK conventions: no photo, date of birth, age, marital status, gender, religion, nationality, parents' names, ID numbers or "Declaration" paragraphs, plus consistent US or UK spelling.
- Readability: a Flesch-Kincaid grade level on your bullets and summary. Most strong resumes land between grade 9 and 15.
How to shorten a resume that runs long
Cutting is easier when you start with the parts that recruiters skim least:
- Collapse old jobs. Roles older than 10-15 years can become one line each under "Earlier experience", without bullets.
- Keep 3-6 bullets for recent roles, 1-3 for older ones. Delete the bullets that describe duties anyone in that job would have.
- Turn duties into results. A result bullet often replaces two duty bullets.
- Remove what US recruiters do not need: "References available upon request", an objective statement, a full street address, hobbies that say nothing about the job.
- Merge skill lists. One "Skills" section, grouped by type, instead of skills repeated in the summary, in every job and in a sidebar.
Before (2 bullets, 26 words): Responsible for managing the shipping schedule for the warehouses. Helped the team with vendor invoices and reports.
After (1 bullet, 19 words): Managed shipping schedules for 3 Midwest warehouses and cut late shipments from 11% to 4% with a shared carrier calendar.
Readability: write for a recruiter's first skim
Recruiters usually skim a resume before they read it. Short bullets that start with a verb and end with a result survive that skim. Long sentences, abstract nouns ("utilization of synergies") and bullets that wrap over three lines do not. You do not need simple language, only direct language: one idea per bullet, a concrete verb, and a number when you have one. To work on individual bullets, paste them into the resume bullet point checker; to rewrite the top of your resume, try the resume summary generator.
Personal details: what to leave out in the US, Canada and the UK
Anti-discrimination laws in all three countries mean employers do not want information that could reveal age, family situation, religion or origin. Remove your photo, date of birth, age, marital status, gender, religion, nationality, father's or spouse's name, passport or Social Security number, and any "I hereby declare…" statement. If your right to work matters for the role, one line is enough: "Authorized to work in the US" or "Canadian permanent resident".
Frequently asked questions
How long should a resume be in the US?
One page if you have less than about 8-10 years of relevant experience, two pages after that. Three pages or more is only normal for academic CVs, federal (USAJOBS) resumes and some senior executive roles.
Is a two-page resume OK?
Yes, when the second page is earned: 8+ years of experience, several relevant roles, or a technical field where projects and certifications matter. A two-page resume with half a page of filler is worse than a tight one-page resume.
How many words should a resume have?
A one-page resume usually has 400-650 words, a two-page resume 800-1,100. Under 200 words means missing roles or missing results; well over 650 on one page usually means a tiny font or bullets that are too long.
Does this tool store or send my resume?
No. The text and the file are read by your browser and analyzed by JavaScript on this page. Nothing is uploaded to a server and nothing is saved.
Why does the page count say "estimated"?
When you paste text, the tool estimates pages from the word count (about 500 words per page with standard margins and a 10-12 pt font). When you upload a PDF, it reads the real page count from the file.
Should I include a photo or my date of birth?
Not for jobs in the US, Canada or the UK. Employers there avoid photos, age, marital status, religion and similar details to prevent discrimination claims, and some recruiters set those resumes aside. Many countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East expect them, so check the norm for each country you apply to.
Is this the same as an ATS score?
No. This checker looks at length, structure and writing on their own. An ATS score compares your resume with one job description. Use both: this tool first, then the ATS Score Checker for each job you apply to.