The recommended length of a Product Manager resume has changed over the last year because the hiring process has changed so drastically. How long should your resume be in 2021? Let us clear the air: the standard resume length is two pages.
Due to COVID-19, recruiters’ day-to-day is much different than it was a year ago. Your Product Manager resume needs to cater to their new way of working. Here’s what you need to know about writing a two-page resume.
How Long Should a Resume Be to Impress Recruiters?
In the office, recruiters print out a large batch of resumes at a time for review. No one wants to spend time stapling two-page resumes together or printing them double-sided. That’s the main reason why the recommended resume length has always been one page, until now.
This year, recruiters are largely working from home. Without access to industrial-sized company printers, two-page resumes are no longer an inconvenience because they are being reviewed on screen. In fact, a recent survey showed that recruiters are 2.3 times more likely to prefer a two-page resume.
Still, recruiters receive hundreds of resumes for each open position and each one needs to be reviewed. How are they getting all that work done at home? Applicant tracking systems.
Product Manager Resumes Need to Get Through Applicant Tracking Systems
The applicant tracking systems, also known as ATS, help recruiters scan resumes for authenticity and relevance. Unfortunately, the ATS is extremely ineffective at differentiating between good and bad resumes. It’s up to you to write a resume that is strategically optimized to get through the ATS, while also being a great, easy to read resume for the Hiring Managers you’ll be talking with in interviews.
The ATS is all about keywords. A two-page resume gives you more opportunities to include your keywords and impress the ATS. Despite the importance of keywords for the ATS, you don’t want to sacrifice the quality of your resume either. A two-page Product Manager resume also allows you space to keep the proper font size and margins, along with well-written points detailing your work history.
When Should Your Resume Be Two Pages?
Should everyone write a two-page resume? While the standard resume length is two pages for Product Manager roles, your situation and the role you’re applying for might change circumstances slightly.
If any of the following apply to you, you’ll want to make sure your Product Manager resume is formatted to be two pages long:
- You are not applying for an entry level job. (Let us clarify: product management is not an entry level job.)
- You have previous product management experience.
- Or, you have transferrable experience from another role.
- You have relevant skills and keywords to make note of.
- You are applying online.
If you’re applying for a Product Manager role directly through a company’s website, all of the above points likely apply to you. However, here are some cases when your resume should be shorter or longer.
Should Your Resume be One Page? Three Pages?
It’s important to point out the exceptions to the two-page resume rule. When you’re searching for how long a resume should be, you’re going to get a handful of varying answers. It can be confusing to see the right direction to take, so here’s a quick explanation.
A one-page resume is only acceptable if:
- You are a student or recent graduate with little to no experience in the work force
- You do not have transferrable skills (sidenote: we doubt this is true.)
If you are applying for Product Manager roles, we doubt you have little to say about your work history and transferrable experience. Even as a student, there are plenty of areas to draw from and position your history to demonstrate your relevant product management skills.
Your Product Manager resume should be longer than two pages only if:
- You are applying for a senior role in academia
- You are applying for a government position
With this said, if you are applying for a Product Manager role, it’s unlikely your company will require a resume longer than two pages. A longer length is more suitable for technical and scientific roles where you would need to showcase published works, academic studies, etc.
Again, for Product Managers, a resume should be two pages long.
How to Write a Two-Page Product Manager Resume
Need to know how to optimize your resume for the right eye-catching skills? Check out our video on how to format the skills chart in your resume:
In the days of one-page resumes, a lot of people would alter the margins and shrink their font size to fit as much information as possible onto one page. Realistically, that does more harm than good. Here’s a checklist to apply to your two-page resume to ensure you’re doing all you can to get it through the ATS and into the hands of your interviewer:
- Keep a standard one-inch margin.
- Use an easy to read font in a legible font-size (12pt is the norm).
- Include a skills chart at the top of your resume, not a long bulleted list of skills.
- Be concise and to the point with your work experience, and keep it relevant.
Writing a Product Manager resume is a bit of a balancing act, but you don’t have to go it alone. Schedule a call with our career coaches to learn how Product Gym can help you optimize your resume effectively to land 10 to 22 interviews a week — giving you the best shot at landing the Product Manager job of your dreams.
