Federal job applicants will soon need to rethink how they showcase their experience. Beginning September 27, 2025, agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length under new requirements laid out in the government’s Merit Hiring Plan. USAJOBS, the federal government’s hiring platform, will block resumes longer than two pages, meaning applicants must update their profiles before applying.
The change is part of a broader overhaul of federal hiring prompted by President Trumps’s Executive Order 14170, Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service. Issued in May 2025 by the Domestic Policy Council and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Merit Hiring Plan aims to streamline hiring, speed up recruitment, and ensure candidates are selected based on skills and qualifications rather than outdated processes.
For decades, federal resumes have been notoriously long—sometimes stretching to 10 pages or more. Under the new plan, those will be replaced with concise two-page documents, and for all Federal job vacancy announcements graded at GS-05 or above, four short written essays, each capped at 200 words. Self-assessment questionnaires are being eliminated, and agencies will rely more heavily on skills-based testing and technical assessments. Applicants will also see improved communication about their application status through USAJOBS and USA Staffing.
OPM say the changes are designed to cut bias, reduce applicant inflation, and help agencies recruit top talent more efficiently.
Job seekers are encouraged to update their resumes now to ensure compliance before the September 27 deadline.
The full OPM memo outlining the Merit Hiring Plan is available here.
(AI was used in part to facilitate this article.)