If you’ve spent years fine-tuning a five-page+ federal résumé, welcome to a brand-new playbook. Under the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Merit Hiring Plan—released May 29, 2025—every vacancy announcement at GS-5 and above (including SES) now starts with a résumé capped at two pages.
Why the change?
It starts at the top.
Executive Order 14170—signed January 20—set the tone for a more efficient, skills-based federal hiring model. It instructed agencies to ditch outdated practices, make hiring faster, and align more closely with merit principles.
OPM followed up with the Merit Hiring Plan in May, which includes the résumé limit as a key component. Agencies are now required to accept a streamlined two-page résumé for all GS-5 and above positions. Senior Executive Service (SES) applications must also follow the same cap.
While OPM’s policy memo mandates immediate implementation, most agencies have aligned rollout with the start of Q4 hiring—effective July 1.
What this means for national security professionals
If you hold (or are pursuing) a security clearance, this shift affects how you present your work—especially in competitive roles in cyber, intelligence, and federal contracting. There’s less room to bury key contributions in pages of description. You’ll need to focus on mission impact, measurable results, and relevance to the job you’re targeting.
This change also makes federal résumés more comparable to those in the private sector, easing transitions in and out of government service. For those coming from industry, the shorter format lowers the barrier to entry—no more guessing how to craft a 7-page résumé in federal-speak.
But it also means there’s zero room for fluff. Your résumé needs to match keywords from the job posting, demonstrate Constitutional alignment, and reflect current priorities like EO compliance, efficiency, and public trust. Federal hiring is getting faster and more selective, and a lean résumé is now your ticket to entry.
Five ways to trim your federal résumé (without losing your impact)
Here’s how to stay within the two-page limit while still landing interviews.
1. Lead with results, not responsibilities.
Ditch the “responsible for…” phrases. Use accomplishment statements instead.
2. Use numbers to quantify your impact.
Budget size, clearance level, headcount, percent improvements—metrics matter.
3. Match your résumé to the job announcement.
Mirror the language in the posting. The right keywords help both HR reviewers and automated filters.
4. Condense older experience.
Jobs over 10–15 years ago can be summarized in a line or two—unless highly relevant.
5. Keep formatting clean and readable.
Use bullet points, consistent headings, professional fonts, and no fluff. Aim for scannability, not storytelling.
How to pivot if you’re targeting a federal job
Start the process by reviewing your existing résumé with a word count and space audit. Aim for no more than 900 words total across the two pages. Identify where you can cut outdated content, combine bullets, or remove duplicative achievements.
Next, map your résumé content directly to the Qualifications section of the job announcement. If the posting says “experience developing and executing strategic plans,” include that language—word for word—if it applies.
Prepare a running list of stories to draw from for the new essay-style assessment questions that will become standard under the Merit Hiring Plan. You’ll need to demonstrate values like Constitutional integrity, accountability, and efficiency with real-world examples.And make sure you’re tracking agency-specific formats and templates—some departments are already sharing preferred styles on their career pages.
And finally, keep a long-form résumé offline. While you won’t upload it to USAJOBS, it may be helpful for background investigations, internal HR requests, or your own tracking of clearance-relevant duties.
résumé Changes and Hiring Freeze
The résumé cap is only half the story. A government-wide hiring freeze remains in place until July 15, 2025. When it lifts, agencies will move to an attrition-based cap that allows one new hire for every four employees who depart. National security, public safety, immigration enforcement, and other mission-critical roles have been—and will remain—exempt from both the freeze and the 1-for-4 rule under OPM/OMB waivers, with the DoD running its own exemption pipeline for readiness-critical billets. Keep an eye on USAJOBS and agency sites; postings released under an approved exemption can move fast, and a tight two-page résumé will keep you ready when that window opens.
