One page or two?
There's no single right answer, but there is a sensible one for most people. Length should follow what's relevant to the job, not how long you've worked.
1. One page usually fits
Under about 10 years of experience, applying for entry-level or hourly roles, most trades and warehouse jobs, part-time work, and job fairs.
2. Two pages usually fits
Long careers with relevant experience, management roles, technical jobs with many certifications or systems, and career changers who need a skills section plus full history.
3. Three pages is almost always too many
The exceptions are academic CVs and some medical or research roles. For federal jobs on USAJOBS, most resumes are now limited to two pages. See our federal resume basics.
4. What to cut first
Jobs older than about 15 years (summarize them instead; see how to list old jobs), duties everyone in the job would have, objective statements, references lines, and long skill lists of things nobody asks for.
5. Don't shrink the font to squeeze
Tiny margins and an 8-point font are harder to read than a clean second page. Use 10.5 to 12-point text and normal margins.
6. If it's two pages, make page one count
Your name, summary, key skills, and most recent job should all be on page one. Put your name and page number on page two.
Fictional example
Fictional example: "Sam Ortega" is made up. Every name, business, number and date below is invented to illustrate the advice. It isn't from a real customer.
Here's how the same made-up person, Sam Ortega, might decide.
Sam Ortega (fictional), applying for a part-time stock associate job: one page. Summary, the last two jobs, availability, and forklift training.
Same Sam, applying for a warehouse operations supervisor job: two pages. Summary, a leadership and systems skills section, 15 years of detailed history, older roles summarized, and training.
How we can help
Tell us the job you're aiming for, and we'll choose the right length and cut what doesn't help. Go to the order form.
Prices
Flat prices with no add-ons or upsells. You always get a Word file you can edit and a PDF, at no extra charge.
| What you get | Price | Ready in |
|---|---|---|
| Resume refresh We rewrite and reformat your resume for the kind of job you want. Up to 2 rounds of changes. | $59 | 2 business days |
| Resume + cover letter The resume refresh, plus one cover letter for a specific job. | $79 | 2 business days |
| Cover letter only One letter for one job posting. Send us the posting and your resume. | $25 | 1 business day |
We'll email you a draft; pay only after you approve it. If it isn't right, tell us what to change. You owe nothing until you approve it.
An honest note: we use AI to help
We use AI writing tools to help draft and format your resume. A real person reads, checks and edits every page before it reaches you.
- We never make anything up: no invented jobs, dates, degrees, licenses or skills. If something is unclear, we ask you.
- We take out your phone number, email and street address before using any AI tool and put them back at the end.
- You can ask us to delete your information at any time. See our privacy note.
What we won't do
- We will never ask for passwords, PINs, bank or card numbers, or your Social Security number. Please don't send them. Anyone who asks you for these is not us.
- We don't log into job websites or accounts for you.
- We don't give legal, medical, or financial advice, and we don't make those decisions for you.
- We can't promise you'll get a job or an interview. Nobody honestly can.
Related guides: How to list old jobs · School bus and school support staff resume · Office manager resume
Want us to do it for you?
Email orders@scantoolmatch.com with your old resume (or a phone photo of it) and the kind of job you want. Rough notes are fine. We'll email you a draft within 2 business days; pay only after you approve it.