Is having a 1-page CV the holy grail?
Discussion
My personal belief (backed up with a little experience of wading through many CV's looking for candidates) is that the target should be to get everything onto 2 pages...
I did try the one page thing a couple of years ago, having read somewhere that it was a sound idea...
Having spent a couple of hours cutting all the 'fat' out (and being relatively pleased with the end result) I sent it around a few agencies... I'm sure different industries/ seniority levels have different expectations, but EVERY call I got back from agencies for that CV was along the lines of "we have a role we'd really like to put you forward for based on what we can see, but need you to revisit your CV and add a little more flesh before sending it to the prospective employer - another page wouldn't go amiss now would it?"!!!
I did try the one page thing a couple of years ago, having read somewhere that it was a sound idea...
Having spent a couple of hours cutting all the 'fat' out (and being relatively pleased with the end result) I sent it around a few agencies... I'm sure different industries/ seniority levels have different expectations, but EVERY call I got back from agencies for that CV was along the lines of "we have a role we'd really like to put you forward for based on what we can see, but need you to revisit your CV and add a little more flesh before sending it to the prospective employer - another page wouldn't go amiss now would it?"!!!
Ultuous said:
My personal belief (backed up with a little experience of wading through many CV's looking for candidates) is that the target should be to get everything onto 2 pages...
I did try the one page thing a couple of years ago, having read somewhere that it was a sound idea...
Having spent a couple of hours cutting all the 'fat' out (and being relatively pleased with the end result) I sent it around a few agencies... I'm sure different industries/ seniority levels have different expectations, but EVERY call I got back from agencies for that CV was along the lines of "we have a role we'd really like to put you forward for based on what we can see, but need you to revisit your CV and add a little more flesh before sending it to the prospective employer - another page wouldn't go amiss now would it?"!!!
Another problem with a 1 page CV is that because some skills often become highlighted in a shortened manner, you find employers and agencies trying to interpret different aspects of the layout/wording themselves which defeats the idea of having a 1 page CV in the first place.I did try the one page thing a couple of years ago, having read somewhere that it was a sound idea...
Having spent a couple of hours cutting all the 'fat' out (and being relatively pleased with the end result) I sent it around a few agencies... I'm sure different industries/ seniority levels have different expectations, but EVERY call I got back from agencies for that CV was along the lines of "we have a role we'd really like to put you forward for based on what we can see, but need you to revisit your CV and add a little more flesh before sending it to the prospective employer - another page wouldn't go amiss now would it?"!!!
I tried the 1 page CV idea once, I basically got told to provide more information on what was included in the page.
In some cases you may even find that employers will use your 1 page CV as an excuse not to hire you if they find one small part they dislike.
BoRED S2upid said:
Stick to 2 pages any more and its likely to go straight in the bin remember the people who are reading them will be reading thousands, well not exactly reading them the first sift they will take seconds to skim each one and won't get off the first page, the next sift might take a look at page 2 but they are rarely going to get to pages 3, 4 etc...
Funny, but the above sentence should go in the bin. Not because it's too long, but because it just doesn't read very well. Kind of proves the point than readability is more important than the number of pages.zippy3x said:
My CV is 4 pages.
However, everything you would need to know is on page 1. The other 3 contain evidence supporting page 1
A CV is a sales brochure. There's no point leaving stuff out that would make someone want the product just to make it shorter. You need to grab them on page 1 and impress them on the following pages.
No the CV is an Ad, your sales brochure is the covering letter, initial chat with the recruiter, you may stand a better chance looking 90% right with a short CV as they may contact you if you look 90% right on a 5 page CV then they can infer the remaining 10% isn't there.However, everything you would need to know is on page 1. The other 3 contain evidence supporting page 1
A CV is a sales brochure. There's no point leaving stuff out that would make someone want the product just to make it shorter. You need to grab them on page 1 and impress them on the following pages.
Also being asked by the recuriter to tweak your CV play up a skill or play something else down.
In which century do people print out CVs to know how many pages there are anyway? You need to capture the imagination within what will open in the top half of a word doc on screen, the only time I'll get to the end is if I'm going to interview the candidate so most of the time I wouldn't know how long it was 
Engineer1 said:
No the CV is an Ad, your sales brochure is the covering letter, initial chat with the recruiter, you may stand a better chance looking 90% right with a short CV as they may contact you if you look 90% right on a 5 page CV then they can infer the remaining 10% isn't there.
Also being asked by the recuriter to tweak your CV play up a skill or play something else down.
Sorry, have to disagree - as recruiter I want to see my buzz words on the first page, but I do need some meat on the bones, which is where the other pages fit in. An agent worth their salt can do the trimming down (if required) before presenting to a prospective client.Also being asked by the recuriter to tweak your CV play up a skill or play something else down.
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