How long should a resume be?

There is no rule enforced by anyone. There is a habit: recruiters spend seconds on the first pass, so the first page has to do the work.

Working guidance

• Early career, career change, students — one page.
• Two to ten years in a relevant field — one page strongly, two if the evidence is there.
• Ten-plus years, senior or executive — two pages is normal and accepted.
• Academic CV — no limit; include everything relevant.

Better questions than "how many pages?"

• Does every line on page one help the reader say yes?
• Are roles older than ten years taking up space a recent achievement needs?
• Is anything repeated between summary, skills and experience?

The real failure mode

Not two pages — two pages of padding. A tight two pages always beats a stretched one.