How long should a CV be?

It’s the age-old debate of quantity versus quality. The perfect length for a CV has always been a hotly debated topic, but the truth is that there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Clearly, 35 pages is too long and two sentences is too short, but there’s no hard and fast rule. As a rule of thumb, one to three pages generally suits most people.

Let’s find out which CV length is right for you.

Entry level

One page is generally enough for your first step on the career ladder. You only need to outline your education and skills, although if you have any experience from weekend jobs, pocket-money work or volunteering, you'll be able to fit that on too.

Mid career

Two pages is often hailed as the perfect CV length and when you're established in your career it's probably what you should be aiming for. However, don't drag out to two pages what could easily fit on one, just for the sake of having a CV the "right" length. The content of a CV, and therefore how long your CV is, depends on your personal experience.  

Executive

 If you can fit your CV on two pages, do. It's still the ideal to aim for. If it feels like two pages is selling you short, by all means extend it to three - but make sure every word counts.

Is your CV too long or too short?

Check out the hints and tips below to see if there’s any way you can make your CV the length you're aiming for.

How can I make my CV longer?

If you’re struggling to fill a page, it’s likely that you don’t have much professional experience. Ask yourself these questions to make sure you’re telling the recruiter everything they need to know to make an informed decision:

• Have you remembered to add a profile section?
• Did you add enough detail to your professional experience to enable the reader to fully understand what you’ve done and what skills you’ve acquired?
• Have you considered voluntary work that you could add?
• Have you taken on any responsibilities at college, at university or in extra-curricular clubs?
• Did you include your successes and achievements, as well as your responsibilities, for every job?
• Is your education section detailed enough? Did you add university modules, projects, theses, high grades and skills acquired?
• Are there any skills associated with your hobbies that you could add?
• What can you offer, that other applicants potentially can’t? For example, IT applications you can use, languages you know and so on

How can I make my CV shorter?

A far more common problem is having to cram years of experience onto a few pages. When you have a significant amount of experience under your belt, it can seem impossible to fit everything in! Try these hacks to make your CV a more appropriate length:

• Less is more – there’s no need to include every single detail of your career, so be selective
• Save something for interview – just give an overview of the scope and general remit of your jobs
• Avoid repetition by grouping similar jobs together under one heading
• Summarise any roles you held over 10 years ago – it’s your recent career that people are most interested in
• Don’t include a reason for leaving any job
• Include only your highest-level qualification
• Tailor the CV to every application, removing irrelevant detail from the master CV each time

Presentation  

Your ultimate objective is to grab the recruiter’s attention and influence them to progress your application. Try to lay out your CV so that you make full use of the space available. Having a few lines dangling at the top of a new page, or a page that finishes half-way down doesn’t look great and shows a certain lack of attention to detail. Buy yourself some wiggle-room with these tips on making your CV fit the page perfectly:

• Adjust the font size (not so tiny that it’s unreadable or so large that you look like a clown, though!)
• Adjust the page margins
• Add plenty of white space
• Avoid solid walls of text - bullet point instead where appropriate
• Play with the size of the headers

Final thoughts on CV length

If you’re still wondering how long a CV should be, remember – there’s no perfect length. As long as you’re telling the reader enough to pique their interest but not drowning them in detail, you’re probably on the right track.

If you’re still unsure and want more input on your CV, please send it to Word Dragon for an evaluation or a rewrite – I’m looking forward to hearing from you!