A lot of people I speak to think that they should have a 1-page resume.  While this is true in some cases, in general the notion of a 1-page resume is not appropriate in today’s market.

My writing philosophy has always been that a resume has to tell a compelling story and be easy to read.  To be effective, a resume has to have a compelling value proposition that answers the big “Why should I hire you?” question.  Having established a theme indicating the skills and experience you offer, the theme should be continued throughout the resume to establish a personal branding statement.  This means that you need to showcase skills and accomplishments, and for people with over 7-10 years of experience, this generally leads to a 2-page resume.

Now recruiters love 1-page resumes but they have a different motive.  They have open job orders to be filled and can call a client and say, “I have a great candidate for you”.  Their interest is to drive towards the interview so they only want to whet their appetite with a short synopsis of who you are.  This works because they can call decision makers, but it will not work the same for you.

In short, you should focus on the content of your resume and not be burdened by the notion that your resume needs to be 1 page.