A one-page resume keeps only what proves you fit the job: a two-line summary, your last 10 years of relevant experience with 3–5 bullets each, education, and a short skills line. Use one column, 0.7–1 inch margins and a 10.5–11 pt font. Cut old roles, unrelated duties and filler before shrinking the text. Most people with under 10 years of experience should use one page.
Recruiters scan a resume in seconds. A tight one-page CV puts your strongest evidence where they look first, and it forces you to drop the lines that dilute it.
Who should use a one-page resume?
| Your situation | Pages |
|---|---|
| Student, graduate or fresher | 1 page |
| Under 10 years of experience | 1 page |
| 10+ years with several relevant roles | 2 pages are fine |
| Academic CV, medicine, research | As long as needed (publications, rotations) |
| Job ad asks for a one-page resume | 1 page, always |
Free one-page resume template
Our free Word templates are built to fit one page: the simple resume template and the no-experience template. Setup instructions are in resume format in Word.
How to fit your resume on one page: what to cut first
Layout settings that save space
| Setting | Use | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Margins | 0.7–1 inch | Under 0.5 inch |
| Font size | 10.5–11 pt body, 16–20 pt name | Below 10 pt |
| Line spacing | 1.0 with 2–4 pt after paragraphs | Double spacing |
| Dates | Right-aligned on the job title line | A separate line for dates |
| Columns | One column | Two columns that break ATS reading |
One-page resume example
One-page resume (fictional)
[Your Name] — Marketing Coordinator · [City] · [email] · [LinkedIn]
SUMMARY: Marketing coordinator with 4 years in B2B software. Grew newsletter sign-ups from 2,000 to 9,000 in 18 months.
EXPERIENCE: Marketing Coordinator — [Company] — 2022–Present
• Planned 2 product launches with sales and product teams; 340 demo requests in the first month.
• Rebuilt the email nurture flow; open rate from 21% to 34%.
Marketing Assistant — [Company] — 2020–2022 · Social media calendar for 3 channels; ran 12 webinars.
EDUCATION: BA Communications — [University], 2020
SKILLS: HubSpot, Google Analytics 4, Canva, copywriting, Excel
When is a two-page resume better?
Use two pages when cutting would remove relevant evidence: senior roles, technical jobs with several projects, or careers with many relevant employers. Never stretch to two pages with filler, and keep the most important information on page one.
Mistakes that make a one-page resume worse
- Shrinking the font to 8–9 pt to squeeze everything in.
- Removing all white space so the page reads as a block.
- Deleting your best achievement to keep an old duty.
- Using a two-column template that ATS software reads out of order.
- Is a one-page resume better?
- For most people with under 10 years of experience, yes. It is faster to read and keeps the focus on relevant results.
- What is a 1 page CV format?
- A one-column layout with summary, experience, education and skills that fits on a single A4 or Letter page.
- Can a one-page resume have two columns?
- It can, but single-column layouts are safer for applicant tracking systems.
- Should a fresher's resume be one page?
- Yes. See resume format for freshers for the section order.
Build and preview a one-page resume in the ArcPixel resume builder for free; the PDF download is paid.