How Long Should a Resume Be in Australia?

7 min read

If you've ever tried to squeeze your entire working life onto two pages because someone told you that's the rule, you're not alone.

The short answer is:

For most Australian job seekers, aim for about two pages.

But two pages is a guide, not a law.

A one-page resume can be completely appropriate for someone with limited experience, while a longer resume may make sense if you have extensive, technical or highly relevant experience.

The better question isn't:

"How many pages am I allowed?"

It's:

"How much space do I need to show the employer the experience, skills and qualifications that matter for this job?"

That is what should determine the length.

Why two pages is a useful target

Current Australian employment guidance generally points towards a resume of around two pages.

That doesn't mean every Australian resume must be exactly two pages.

It means your resume should be focused enough that an employer can quickly understand:

• what you've done

• what you're good at

• what experience is relevant

• why you might be worth speaking to

An employer doesn't need your complete life history.

They need enough relevant information to decide whether your experience is worth exploring further in an interview.

If you're still working out what belongs on your resume in the first place, our How to Write a Resume in Australia: A Step-by-Step Guide walks through the complete process.

When a one-page resume can work

A one-page resume can work well if you're:

• applying for your first job

• a school leaver or recent graduate

• early in your career

• returning to work with limited recent experience

• applying for a role where only a small amount of your past experience is relevant

You don't need to stretch a resume to two pages simply because you've heard that two pages is the standard.

If you can clearly show your relevant skills, experience, education and potential on one well-structured page, that's fine.

A strong one-page resume is better than a two-page resume with half a page of filler.

When three pages may be reasonable

There are also situations where trying to force everything into two pages can make your resume worse.

A longer resume may be reasonable if you have:

• extensive relevant work history

• senior leadership experience

• substantial technical experience

• specialist licences or certifications

• major projects or achievements that are important to the role

• a career where detailed experience is genuinely relevant

The important word there is relevant.

Having worked for 25 years doesn't automatically mean you need to describe every job you've had for 25 years.

You may have a long career and still produce a focused two-page resume by giving more detail to recent and relevant roles and much less space to older experience.

Don't cut valuable information just to hit two pages

This is where people can become so focused on resume length that the document stops doing its actual job.

You don't want to:

• reduce the font until it requires binoculars

• remove useful achievements

• squeeze paragraphs together with no white space

• delete relevant qualifications

• strip out context that helps an employer understand what you actually did

A readable three-page resume can be better than an overcrowded two-page one.

Your goal is not to win a page-counting competition.

Your goal is to make your suitability easy to understand.

What should you cut first?

If your resume is too long, don't immediately start hacking away at your most recent role.

Start with information that no longer earns its space.

1. Very old or irrelevant jobs

You don't necessarily need detailed bullet points for every role you've ever held.

If an older job is no longer relevant, you might shorten it considerably or remove it.

For example, if you've spent the last 12 years working in administration, your casual supermarket role from school probably doesn't need six bullet points.

2. Repeated responsibilities

If you've performed similar duties across several roles, you don't need to describe the same task in identical detail every time.

Use the space in each role to show what was different, more advanced or particularly relevant.

3. Long professional summaries

A professional summary should give the reader a quick picture of what you offer.

It shouldn't become a miniature autobiography before they reach your work history.

Keep it focused on your relevant experience and strengths.

4. Outdated or irrelevant qualifications

Your current qualifications, licences and relevant professional development matter.

Every training session you've attended since 2004 probably doesn't.

Prioritise what supports the application you're making now.

5. Personal details employers don't need

For most Australian job applications, you don't need to include personal information such as your:

• date of birth

• photograph

• sex or gender

• marital status

• full home address

That information isn't generally necessary on your resume and it's taking up space that could be used for something relevant to the job.

6. Unnecessary referee wording

If an employer hasn't asked you to include referee details, you don't need to devote valuable resume space to them.

Have suitable referees ready and follow the instructions in the job advertisement or application process.

If referee details are specifically requested, include them as directed.

What deserves space on your resume?

A useful test for every section is:

"Does this help the employer decide whether I'm suitable for this role?"

Information that usually deserves priority includes:

• recent and relevant work experience

• achievements that show your contribution

• skills required for the job

• relevant qualifications, licences and certifications

• examples showing the level of responsibility you've handled

• transferable experience that helps explain a career change

• relevant volunteering, projects or unpaid experience where useful

Your strongest and most relevant information should appear early.

Don't make the employer search page three for the experience that best matches the job.

If you're applying regularly but your strongest experience is getting buried, you may also find Why Isn't My Resume Getting Interviews? Here's How to Fix It useful.

What could a two-page Australian resume look like?

There isn't one compulsory layout, but a simple structure could look something like this:

Page 1

• name and contact details

• short professional summary, if useful

• key skills

• most recent and relevant work experience

• strongest achievements

Page 2

• remaining relevant work experience

• education and qualifications

• licences and certifications

• relevant volunteering or additional experience

• referee details if requested or appropriate

The exact balance will depend on your career.

Someone changing careers might give more space to transferable skills.

A graduate might give more space to education, placements and projects.

An experienced professional may devote most of both pages to relevant employment history and achievements.

The resume should fit the person and the job, not the other way around.

Does an ATS care how many pages your resume is?

Applicant Tracking Systems, or ATS, are used by many employers to help process applications.

The bigger concern is usually whether the system can identify and interpret relevant information in your resume, including your:

• skills

• job titles

• experience

• education

• qualifications

• relevant keywords

That means clear structure, standard headings, relevant wording and readable formatting matter.

Don't add unnecessary pages, but don't assume your resume will automatically fail an ATS simply because it goes beyond two pages.

The human reading it still needs the document to be useful.

Should you send the same length resume for every job?

Not necessarily.

Tailoring your resume can change its length.

For one job, an older role may be highly relevant and deserve more detail.

For another, the same role may only need a brief mention.

Australian employment guidance recommends tailoring your resume to the job advertisement, using relevant keywords and removing information that doesn't support the application.

That means the "right" length isn't just about your career history.

It's also about the job you're applying for.

If your resume is three, four or five pages right now

Don't panic and don't delete half of it blindly.

Try this instead:

1. Read the job advertisement.

2. Highlight the skills, experience and qualifications the employer is asking for.

3. Compare those requirements with your resume.

4. Keep the information that provides evidence of those requirements.

5. Shorten or remove information that doesn't help this application.

6. Move your strongest and most relevant information towards the front.

7. Check that the formatting is still comfortable to read.

If you're still at three pages after doing that and every section is genuinely relevant, three pages may be justified.

If you're at five pages because every job since 1998 includes a complete duty statement, there's probably some editing to do.

So, how many pages should an Australian resume be?

For most Australian job seekers:

Aim for about two pages.

Use one page if that's enough to present your relevant experience well.

Use more than two pages if your relevant experience genuinely requires it.

Don't pad a resume to make it longer.

Don't gut a good resume just to make it shorter.

And don't sacrifice readability simply to hit an arbitrary page count.

The best resume length is the shortest version that still gives an employer enough relevant evidence to understand what you can offer.

Need help with the rest of your resume?

If you're not just wondering how long your resume should be, but also what to put in it, how to structure it and what Australian employers expect, start with our How to Write a Resume in Australia: A Step-by-Step Guide.

Before you send your next application, you can also use Elevana's free Resume Interview Checklist to give your resume a final review.

And if you'd like step-by-step help building and tailoring your resume, Resume Ready takes you through the process in plain English, with practical Australian examples, templates and checks you can use again for future applications.