CV Length for Professional position

mel.b

I'm currently putting together my CV. I work in a very specific professional field and am applying for a management position. How long is too long for your CV - it's been a long time since I have had to do one. I'm looking at 3 - 4 pages at the moment which I suspect is too long.

Zenify

mel.b wrote: »

I'm currently putting together my CV. I work in a very specific professional field and am applying for a management position. How long is too long for your CV - it's been a long time since I have had to do one. I'm looking at 3 - 4 pages at the moment which I suspect is too long.

IMO a 1 page CV just listing your experience is best.

Write a cover letter then explain how your experience suits the role you are applying for. This has worked for me many times but it all depends on the person reading it and everyone is different.

It really helps if you know what the hiring manager wants and tailor it to that.

Blingy

2 pages max. Good luck.

RossieMan

If you go over 2 pages it's just mumbly crap that's not needed. A good cover letter is more important.

Mrs OBumble

RossieMan wrote: »

If you go over 2 pages it's just mumbly crap that's not needed. A good cover letter is more important.

Provided it'seems well formatted with great headings then length is irrelevant.

I have skills and administration details on one page, job history on one, education and training on another. It's getting to the point where job history just won't it on one page, so will probably go to four pages in the next version. But skim reading it takes 20 seconds max due to headings and formatting.

Also for some professional jobs it's important to have sections for professional membership and publications. Not having them would be more damaging than being "too long".

And for some professional jobs, a cover letter won't even be accepted.

It really depends on your industry and professional.

mel.b

Thanks for the replies. It's not easy work writing a (good I hope) CV and cover letter! I had a go at tackling the cover letter, thinking I would put the information in there to shorten my CV, but then all of a sudden my cover letter was heading towards 3 pages :O so that got the boot as well!

I think I'm almost finished with a draft of my CV if there's someone out there who wouldn't mind looking over it for me?

Stheno

mel.b wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. It's not easy work writing a (good I hope) CV and cover letter! I had a go at tackling the cover letter, thinking I would put the information in there to shorten my CV, but then all of a sudden my cover letter was heading towards 3 pages :O so that got the boot as well!

I think I'm almost finished with a draft of my CV if there's someone out there who wouldn't mind looking over it for me?

You can pm it to me or post up a copy with personal information removed

L.Jenkins

Mine is 1 page long, split into 2 columns. It encompasses, a note on my education and professional certifications studied, Software Engineering and now Accountancy. I also have a note on each job, job title, and months and years as dates only and a brief note on what I did in each role.

I can elaborate on each role in an interview where required, projects listed, my skills and my speaking proficiency in 4 languages.

I would say, write down what you've done in the past, then scrub any useless information and condense any information as much as possible. It could show you're able to get your point across in as few words as possible, without boring the reader or beating around the bush.

Here's an example of a good one.

15YemenRoad

L.Jenkins wrote: »

Mine is 1 page long, split into 2 columns. It encompasses, a note on my education and professional certifications studied, Software Engineering and now Accountancy. I also have a note on each job, job title, and months and years as dates only and a brief note on what I did in each role.

I can elaborate on each role in an interview where required, projects listed, my skills and my speaking proficiency in 4 languages.

I would say, write down what you've done in the past, then scrub any useless information and condense any information as much as possible. It could show you're able to get your point across in as few words as possible, without boring the reader or beating around the bush.

Here's an example of a good one.

Love a proud micromanager.