Longer resumes now more acceptable.

• Position: Job Market - Brief article

The old standard of keeping your resume to one page may be on its way out, suggests a survey by Accountemps, Menlo Park, Calif., a specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance, and bookkeeping professionals.

While 52% of executives polled believe a single page is an ideal length for a staff-level resume, 44% say they prefer two pages. That compares to 25% polled a decade earlier who cited two pages as the optimal length; 73% of respondents preferred a single page at that time. Respondents also seem more receptive to three-page resumes for executive roles, with 31% saying it is the ideal length, compared to seven percent 10 years ago.

"A number of employers are willing to spend a little more time reviewing application material so they can more easily determine who is most qualified and act quickly to secure interviews with these candidates," notes Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of Managing Your Career for Dummies. Although employers may be willing to review longer resumes, job seekers should not go overboard, Messmer...