Two pages is the right call past 8 years of experience, for executive and senior roles, and for academic-leaning CVs. Page two carries Education, Projects, Publications, Certifications, and the long tail of older roles. Use the space, don't pad it.
Past 8 years of professional experience with substantial bullets per role. Executive and senior roles (VP+, Director, Head of) where scope and outcomes can't be conveyed in one page. Academic-leaning industry CVs where publications, talks, or substantial projects warrant their own blocks.
Roles where page two is uncomfortable but allowed: highly technical IC roles (Staff/Principal engineers) where the open source contributions, talks, and patents merit a second page. Roles where page two is wrong: any junior to mid-career role under 6 years.
Older roles in compressed form (2 bullets each, max). Education and certifications. Projects (open source, side projects, freelance). Publications, talks, and patents for technical and research-leaning CVs. Volunteer work if substantial. Languages spoken if relevant.
What doesn't belong on page two: a continuation of recent role bullets (the recent role should fit on page one), interests and hobbies (cut them entirely in 2026), and references (omit; provide when asked).
Yes if you have past 8 years of experience with substantial outcomes per role, or if you're at VP+, Director, or Head of level. Otherwise stick to one page.
Older roles in compressed form, Education and certifications, Projects, Publications and talks for technical CVs, and substantial volunteer work. Cut interests, hobbies, and references.
No. Modern ATS engines handle multi-page CVs cleanly. Page count is a recruiter-readability question, not an ATS one. Two pages of substance beats one page of padding.
Yes. Name and 'page 2 of 2' at the top in small mono type. Helps recruiters re-orient after the page break and prevents detached pages from getting lost.
If page two has only 3 to 5 lines of content, compress to one page. Orphaned content reads as poor formatting and triggers the 'this could have been one page' reaction.
Free. See if page two earns its keep.
Check my CV →