Is It Bad to Have a 3-Page Resume?

Written by Teena Rose, ResumeToReferral.com

"I have been looking at a lot of Resume building sites and have noticed that everyone says that I should have my resume down to 2 pages, but is it bad to have a 3 page resume instead? I am graduating from Geomatics Engineering and have some great experiences that would be great for the company." Harsil Jani

Good morning, Harsil. The challenge with "resume rules" concerning page length is that those rules aren't rules at all. They are merely guidelines which vary based on certain situations. Here's some food for thought:

College resumes are typically one page.
Yes, this is true a fair amount of the time ... presuming the college student has no, or limited work experience to speak of. Obviously this statement wouldn't be true for a returning college student who possess many years of work experience completed before going back to school/completing of degree.

Resumes should be one or two pages.
Most of the time, this is true. The page requirement does change whenever the jobseeker is asked to provide more detail; i.e. recruiters sometimes ask for what they call "fleshed out" resumes, meaning they want to see every bit of employment the jobseeker has held over their career. This could mean including jobs from the 1970s, 1980s, and so on. A resume can get very lengthy in these instances.

Resumes should never be more than two pages.
Very untrue! Executives with extensive careers might find it very, very difficult to squeeze all their accomplishments into a such a restrictive space. As I mentioned above, recruiters and hiring managers sometimes want to see every bit of employment history a person has had.

Other exceptions to page length include those individuals who have CVs, not resumes. Since you're a Geomatics Engineer, I'm almost certain you will have a CV throughout your career, not a resume.

Of course, all of the above gets thrown to the curb when working with a hiring entity that has their own particular resume preferences. Jobseekers might find themselves confused and dizzy when reading some people's resume requirements, but the above advice works in most cases.

What's the difference between a CV and a resume?
Although CVs and resumes are beginning to resemble each other, CVs are still very distinct. For example, a CV is typically found amongst those in academic, engineering, science, and other technical roles (not IT). The reason for the CV is mainly because those professionals are involved in tasks not seen with typical jobseekers; i.e. research papers and publications.

In your particular case, your CV (resume) is three pages and you're an upcoming graduate.
Those facts do make me wonder exactly what's being included in your CV, and does give the inclination that yes maybe your CV does need to be widdled down to a more comfortable size. Definitely keep some of things I mentioned above in mind, however. It probably wouldn't hurt to have a resume professional take a look, and provide you with some guidance. Take it to the career services department at your college. They can help you identify what should be included/excluded.

Good luck to you, Harsil.

Regards,
@teenarose