The standard length for a resume in Canada is 1-2 pages. It will vary in length depending on the amount of work experience you have.
- If you recently graduated from high school and have only had one or two jobs, then a one-page resume is sufficient.
- If you have been working for much longer and/or have other relevant information to share (eg. your volunteer work, awards, etc.) then your resume will probably be two pages.
- If you have three pages for your resume, question yourself whether or not everything that’s included in your resume is relevant for the employer to read.
It’s okay if your resume is three pages due to pertinent information being included (eg. all your employment experience and other resume sections that relate to the job) or if the employer asks to see specific details (eg. your last ten years of work experience with all duties included), but this is more common for people applying for high-level careers.
Pay attention to your font size and spacing between each resume section. Using font size 11 or 12 (depending on the font) without too many space between each section will prevent your resume from becoming really long.
Some final tips:
Make sure that your name and page number are on each page of your resume, so that if your resume gets printed out along with other applicant resumes, your second page won’t be lost in the pile.
Make sure that each of your resume sections aren’t split between two different pages. For example, you don’t want a list of bullets to start on page 1 and continue on page 2. It is best to re-arrange your resume sections so that each grouping is contained to the page they are on.
Lastly, your resume sections are like a puzzle. You can try re-arranging the order of each section, making slight adjustments to the margins, and shorten long sentences to make things fit the way you want them to.
If you need assistance with your resume, an advisor from Student Employment Services is happy to help. Book an appointment via CareerCentral: www.nic.bc.ca/careercentral.
