How long should an Australian resume be?

Two to three pages for most people. One page if you are a graduate or have under about two years of experience. Four or more only if you are academic, medical, or in a field where publications, registrations or a project list genuinely have to be there.

The one page rule is American and does not apply here. An experienced Australian applicant who compresses to one page usually does it by deleting the evidence that would have got them the interview.

Why the difference exists

American hiring culture pushed hard toward a single page, and a great deal of the advice ranking on Google reflects that. Australian recruiters are used to two to three pages and read them. The practical consequence is that an applicant following American advice arrives looking thinner than their competitors on the same shortlist, for no reason other than having read the wrong article.

A rough guide

  • Graduate, or under two years. One page, and do not pad it.
  • Two to ten years. Two pages.
  • Ten years or more. Two to three. Older roles compress to a line each.
  • Academic, medical, research. As long as the publication and registration lists genuinely require.
  • Government. Follow the pack instructions exactly. If it specifies a page limit or asks for statements against selection criteria, that instruction beats every general rule on this page.

What to cut when it runs long

  1. Duties that repeat across roles. If three jobs all say you managed stakeholders, keep it once, on the one where you did it best.
  2. Jobs over about fifteen years old. A line each, or a single "earlier roles" entry.
  3. The skills list, if it has grown. Twelve concrete skills beat thirty that include Microsoft Word.
  4. Anything that is not evidence. Hobbies, a personal statement about your work ethic, references to being passionate.
  5. Not your achievements. These are the last thing to go, and they are usually the first thing people cut.

Length matters less than the first half page

A resume gets a first pass measured in seconds, not minutes, averaging 7.4 seconds on United States figures, and that pass happens on the top half of page one. That is an argument about structure, not about length: put your strongest evidence where the eye lands, and the page count stops mattering. A well organised three pages beats a cramped one every time. See also the Australian resume format.