CV Length : How Many Pages Should a CV be

It is one of the most commonly asked questions by job seekers when writing a CV- “What should be the length of my CV?” or "How many pages should a CV be?"

 

“Not too long, never exceed more than a page”, is usually told by many career advisors. However, the idea and style of creating a perfect professional resume has changed now. In fact, there is no universal guideline to build a resume. It should be created and customized as per the job you are applying for.

Deciding on the length of your resume is a factor that should always be considered while writing it. The ideal resume length mainly depends on parameters such as your work experience, the number of jobs switched, industry, career objective and accomplishments. In fact, the length of your resume should ideally be long enough to brand yourself to the hiring manager.

Here are the key points to consider when deciding on your resume length:

 

One-Page Resume

 

Unless you have several years of experience or accomplishments to mention, going with a short, sweet and focused “One-Page resume” is the right option for you. In short, it is apt to use when:

This type of resume is also the most suitable for job fairs and career networking to provide only the required and crisp information to the reader. Entry-level job seekers and new college graduates should preferably keep their resumes up to one page.

 

Two-Page Resume

 

You should choose to write a two-page resume only when:

If you have moved in your career to a mid-level profession, you have enough work experience, training and credentials pertaining to the job, you require more than one page of your resume.

When writing a two-page resume, it is vital that long pieces of prose are avoided. In this case, use bullets to present important and large information in an easy-to-read manner. A professional resume must include all the key information, such as contact details at the top, career summary, core competency, and work experience. When mentioning your work history and accomplishments, keep the focus on your recent accomplishments to make it easier for the recruiter to understand your skills.

 

Three-Page Resume

 

This is true that hiring managers have a short attention span for each resume. Therefore, you may need a longer resume only if:

 For high-level professionals, it is not possible to confine their resume to one or two page format. Hence, to describe your long career, a three-page resume is required.

You should always let go of any information that does not help you ace the job interview, such as hobbies, outdated accomplishments, irrelevant training.

Other important resume writing tips:

-  Apart from resume length, focus on the content, i.e., avoid mentioning anything that is irrelevant to the reader

-  Design plays a crucial role in creating a perfect resume. Organize the space on your resume avoiding it look crammed with your life story.

-  Create a concise, easy to read and understand format. Your purpose is to get your CV past the applicant tracking system.

-  To steal the glance of your hiring manager screening thousands of resumes for less than 6 seconds, it is vital to make your strongest points easily visible by using bullet points.

-  Leave something to talk about in the job interview.

-  The best way to create an effective resume is by keeping the target readers in mind.

So, are you ready to entice the hiring manager to call you for your dream job?