Resume length? Forum

[lymenheimer]

A lot of people are focusing on what you need in the professional world. Trust me, I know a 1 page resume is your best bet when applying to any professional job. I am more interested in knowing what is appropriate for law school applications. I have a lot of real work experience during undergrad and after undergrad and it can't always necessarily be explained by just the title or employer/organization. Additionally, I have a lot of community service throughout my four years of college -- substantial volunteer experience that I dedicated years to. If I were to simply list the employer, position, location, and dates of all the significant things from my resume, that would take about a page. Now, including a one or two line description for each takes it up to 1.5 pages. Many schools said a resume of any length or of 1-2 pages. I'm just wondering what is the best practice here.

Best practice is: keep it to 2 pages or under. Don't put fluff, but don't short-change yourself either.

[hew]

My own advice, which I found to work in my case (but I am only one person), is put it all on there. Don't worry about it being a page and a half. If it's somethig you want them to see, especially if you were consistent as you suggest you were, then do it!

[kaiser]

I can only speak to the legal job-search context in saying that you definitely should limit to 1 page unless extenuating circumstances require that you bleed over into a 2nd page. Perhaps it is more acceptable to utilize a 2nd page in the law school app resume context. But I think that brevity is a virtue in either context. The overarching principle should always be to convey as much relevant information in as little space as possible.

[TracyJackson]

As already been said, one page is best. If you have a lot to put down, or even if you have little to put down, one single page is better than two or three. I know some applications state you can do up to three pages. But don't. Keep it to one, make it concise and catchy. No point making it longer, in my opinion.