Length: How Long Should Your Resume Be

Under 10 years of experience: one page. 10-20 years: one to two pages. 20+ years or executive roles: two pages, occasionally three for senior leadership. Academic and federal resumes follow different rules. The fastest way to know if your resume is too long is to ask: does every bullet earn its place? Cut anything that doesn't directly support your candidacy for your target role.

Font Choices That Pass ATS

Stick to fonts ATS parsers handle reliably: Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Georgia, Times New Roman, Cambria, or Garamond. Use 10-12pt for body text, 14-16pt for your name. Avoid decorative fonts, script fonts, and very condensed or expanded fonts. Consistent typography signals professionalism and parses cleanly.

Section Order That Works for Most Candidates

Contact information at the top. Professional summary (3-4 lines). Work experience (most recent first). Education. Skills. Certifications. Optional sections (publications, volunteer work, languages) at the bottom if relevant. Career changers or recent grads can move skills above experience to lead with strengths.

What to Cut

References (just write 'Available upon request' — actually, just leave them off entirely). Objective statements (replaced by professional summary). High school education if you have a college degree. GPA if it's below 3.5 or you have 5+ years of experience. Hobbies unless directly relevant. Photos (illegal to consider in U.S. hiring; flags compliance concerns). Personal information like age, marital status, religion. Outdated technologies or skills you no longer use.

Margins, Spacing, and White Space

Margins between 0.5 and 1 inch on all sides. Line spacing of 1.0 to 1.15. Use white space to create scannable sections — recruiters spend 6-8 seconds on initial review. Bold for emphasis on company names and titles, italics sparingly. Bullets should be uniform in style throughout. Don't crush content edge-to-edge to fit more in; better to cut content than to make it unreadable.

File Format and Naming Conventions

PDF is safe in most situations and preserves formatting. Use .docx if the application specifically requests it (some older ATS handle Word better). Name your file professionally: 'FirstName_LastName_Resume.pdf' — never 'resume_v7_FINAL_USE_THIS_ONE.pdf'. Recruiters share files; the filename is part of your first impression.