Federal resumes used to run many pages. That changed in 2025. The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which sets federal hiring rules, now limits resumes to two pages. Since September 27, 2025, USAJOBS restricts all resumes to two pages, including uploaded resumes and ones made with the USAJOBS resume builder. OPM’s guidance says that if the only resume you send is longer than two pages, you are ineligible for further consideration. This guide sums up OPM’s guidance pages, which we checked on September 24, 2026. Always follow the job announcement you are applying to.
The two-page limit
OPM applies the limit to competitive service and excepted service jobs under Title 5, the law that covers most federal civilian jobs. It covers internal and external announcements, on USAJOBS or another site.
Agencies outside Title 5, and judicial and legislative branch agencies, can accept longer resumes, but only if the announcement says so and explains how. Jobs that need a curriculum vitae (CV), often in medicine and research, may ask for it as a separate document.
If you send a two-page resume and a longer one, OPM tells agencies to review only the two-page version. Read the “How to Apply” and “Required Documents” sections of every announcement.
What OPM says to include
OPM’s applicant guidance lists: • Contact details: your name, email address and phone number. • For each relevant job: job title and employer, including series and grade for any federal position; start and end dates with month and year (for example, 05/2019 – 08/2022); and the number of hours you worked per week. • Education, certifications and licenses when relevant or required: school name, completion date, degree type and cumulative GPA, plus any documents the announcement asks for, such as transcripts. • Optional details when relevant: current security clearance, job-related training, language skills, organizations and affiliations, publications, and eligibility for special programs, such as those for military spouses or people with disabilities.
OPM also says your job descriptions should match the announcement and address all required qualifications. Brief descriptions are fine if they show you can do the work at the level the announcement asks for.
How to fit your experience on two pages
OPM’s own tips: put your most relevant and recent experience first, use short, results-focused language, use wording from the job announcement, focus on skills, and remove outdated or unrelated experience.
For layout, the USAJOBS Help Center text that OPM quotes recommends a sans-serif font such as Lato, Calibri, Arial or Helvetica, 0.5-inch margins, 14 pt for titles and 10 pt for body text. It also recommends saving as a PDF so the formatting and page count do not change. Files must be 5 MB or less.
Match the qualifications in the announcement
Each announcement lists the qualifications needed for the job, often including specialized experience at a set grade. Reviewers check your resume against them. Use the announcement’s wording where it truly describes your work. Make sure each required qualification appears in a job entry that has dates and hours. With only two pages, a short, specific bullet that names the task, its scope and the result usually does more than a long paragraph.
- Check that your final PDF is two pages or fewer before you upload it.
- List the hours you worked per week for every job, as OPM’s guidance asks.
- Include series and grade for any federal position you have held.
- Use the announcement’s wording where it accurately describes your work.