Resume Length Checker: Words, Bullets per Job and Pages
Upload or paste your resume to count its words, characters, bullets, bullets per job, longest bullet and pages, next to the length guidance for your experience level. Switch to cover letter mode for the 250–400-word check.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
Uploads are checked as soon as they are read.
Your counts appear here
Words, characters, pages, bullets, bullets per job and the longest bullet, each next to the guidance it is judged against.
Should a resume be one page or two?
The question is not how many years you have worked but how much of your history is evidence for this job. The bands below are the same ones in our guide to resume length: one page or two. A posting that asks for one page overrides every row.
| Experience level | Recommended length | Primary focus |
|---|---|---|
| Entry-level (0–5 years) | One page | Education, internships, and potential |
| Mid-level (5–10 years) | One or two pages | Key achievements and leadership roles |
| Senior (10+ years) | Two pages | Strategic impact and career progression |
How many bullet points per job?
Recent, relevant roles earn the space; old ones shrink. Working guidelines from how many bullet points per job, not a rule any recruiter enforces. Keep each bullet to one or two lines, roughly 15 to 30 words.
| Career level | Current or most recent role | Previous role | Older roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student or entry level (0–2 years) | 3–4 | 2–3 (internships, part-time jobs) | 1–2, or list title and dates only |
| Mid-career (3–10 years) | 4–5 | 3–4 | 1–2 |
| Senior (10+ years) | 4–6 | 3–4 | Title, employer and dates, or leave off |
| Executive | 4–6 focused on outcomes | 2–4 | Grouped into an "Earlier career" line |
How long should a cover letter be?
No longer than one page: about 250 to 400 words in three or four short paragraphs. The word range is a working guideline; the one-page ceiling is the rule. Details and an example at the right length in how long should a cover letter be.
| Measure | Target | Hard ceiling |
|---|---|---|
| Pages | Under 1 page | 1 page (non-academic) |
| Words | 250–400 | ~450 |
| Paragraphs | 3–4 | 5 |
| Sentences per paragraph | 2–5 | 6 |
What to cut when a resume runs long
- Bullets that describe duties anyone in the role would have, or that repeat a result already stated.
- Older or unrelated jobs: reduce to title, employer and dates, or group them under one “Earlier experience” line.
- Bullets over 30 words: they are usually two bullets, or one with a clause to drop. The bullet point rewriter gives shorter versions.
- Fix the content before the font size or margins; a second page with three lines on it reads like a formatting accident.
Resume length FAQ
How many words should a resume be?
There is no official word count; the working rule is pages, not words. Entry-level resumes (0–5 years) fit on one page, mid-level (5–10 years) on one or two, senior (10+ years) usually two. The checker's page estimate assumes about 550 words per page at a readable 10–11 pt size, which puts one page near 500 words and two pages near 1,000; treat those as the estimate's assumptions, not as targets.
How does the checker count pages?
From a PDF, it reads the real page count. From a DOCX or pasted text it estimates, because Word computes pages at print time and does not store them: the estimate assumes about 550 words or 48 lines per page and is labelled "estimated" in the results. Export a PDF for an exact count.
How are bullets per job counted?
Lines that start with a bullet marker (•, -, –, *, or a number) are bullets. A line that contains a date range (Jan 2020 – Present, 2017–2019) starts a new job block, and the bullets below it until the next date line or section heading belong to that job. When the resume has an Experience heading, dates under Education or Certifications are not counted as jobs.
How many bullet points per job should I have?
Use 3 to 5 for your current or most recent relevant job (up to 6 in a senior role), 2 to 4 for the role before it, and 1 to 2, or none, for older or unrelated jobs. Keep each bullet to one or two lines, roughly 15 to 30 words. These are working guidelines, not a rule any recruiter enforces.
How long should a cover letter be?
No longer than one page: in practice about 250 to 400 words in three or four short paragraphs, with roughly 450 words as the ceiling. Switch the tool to cover letter mode to check yours against that range.
Length is right. Is the content?
The ATS resume checker scores keywords, format, content, impact and presentation and gives you the top three fixes.
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