How long should a resume be?

Short answer: one page for most people; two pages only once you have about 10+ years of relevant experience. Recruiters skim — a tight one-pager that's easy to scan beats a padded two-pager almost every time.

By situation

• Students & new grads: one page. Always.
• Most professionals (up to ~10 years): one page. Cut older or irrelevant roles to fit.
• Senior / 10+ years, or many relevant roles: two pages is acceptable — but every line must earn its place.
• Academic CV, federal, or some medical/research roles: different rules — these can run longer by design.

What to cut first

• Jobs older than ~10–15 years, or unrelated early roles (a one-line summary can cover them).
• An "Objective" statement — replace with a tight 2–3 line summary, or drop it.
• "References available on request," your full address, and soft-skill filler.
• Duties that aren't achievements. Keep results; cut "responsible for…".

Fit more without cramming

If you're just over a page, you usually don't need to cut content — you need cleaner formatting: a single column, sensible margins, one consistent font, and tight (not crushed) line spacing. Shrinking the font below ~10.5pt or removing all whitespace to force one page backfires — it reads as cluttered and some applicant tracking systems struggle with it.