CV length nowadays

[PerfectStorm]

Mine's a good 4-5 pages, had it done by CVIA - with highlights on the front page. They'll read the bits they need to and agent can always shorten it if they want. No shortage of roles.

[TheDude]

I also fail to see the issue with repetition - part of my "sales pitch" is that what's really complex, niche work for some is bread and butter day to day work for me that I can do with my eyes closed. If you're looking for a brain surgeon, you probably want the one with a long list of successful surgeries, not just a very impressive latest one.

Depends on the role you are hiring for. Developers will often cite their 'experience' when trying to justify suitability for a role using new/different technologies but if you are looking for (say) a scala/spark developer then someone with 20 years of Java/C++ and Oracle experience isn't necessarily going to be a great fit despite them trying to convince you otherwise.

[vwdan]

The point of a CV is to get an interview. People think that it is there to get you a job but that's not the case. .

An over simplification, surely? I've done some hiring and quite often we'd wind up sat there with a few candidates CV's after interview, especially if things were really tight between a few.

The CV is your sales brochure, fundamentally, and I'd expect it to be referenced throughout the hiring process.

I also fail to see the issue with repetition - part of my "sales pitch" is that what's really complex, niche work for some is bread and butter day to day work for me that I can do with my eyes closed. If you're looking for a brain surgeon, you probably want the one with a long list of successful surgeries, not just a very impressive latest one.

[northernladuk]

At a minimum, you need to say what you were there for, and what you achieved - for example, "I provided interim management of a team, saved £40,000 in cashable savings and achieved a 7% improvement in throughput". (Both true, incidentally) That might get their attention.

Sadly you also have to squeeze in the keywords the agent put in the original advert so there is a chance they will actually bother to look at it properly.

And that's just to get you in front of the client. Once you are there you could argue they want to see repetition. They have nothing but a piece of paper in front of them. What on a one pager tells them you've decades of experience delivering exactly what they want. Does a client engage a consultancy to do some work for them because theyve done it once or because they've done it five, six times and more.

Sounds very much that he's in love with his CV again and is forgetting the needs of the people in the chain. I'm sure it works for them but I'm also sure it puts blockers in the way that a more open minded approach to their CV would not have. The CV is for the agent and the client, not for the contractor to be proud of. What we think sometimes doesn't matter if it's bucking the norm that they are looking for.

[malvolio]

The point of a CV is to get an interview. People think that it is there to get you a job but that's not the case. My CV used to be 3 pages, but I recently decided to slim it down and when you really start boiling things down, it's surprising how much repetition and non-achievements were there. For example, I stated that I managed a team of 10. But didn't say how good I was at doing it or how successful I had been. I now have 3 versions of my CV.

1 page very to the point version which is the one I use most often.
2 pages, which fluffs it up a bit but, I rarely use this.
4 pages, which is my personal version containing all the bits I might want to swap into the 1 pages to suit the role.

At a minimum, you need to say what you were there for, and what you achieved - for example, "I provided interim management of a team, saved £40,000 in cashable savings and achieved a 7% improvement in throughput". (Both true, incidentally) That might get their attention.

Sadly you also have to squeeze in the keywords the agent put in the original advert so there is a chance they will actually bother to look at it properly.

[kloos]

The point of a CV is to get an interview. People think that it is there to get you a job but that's not the case. My CV used to be 3 pages, but I recently decided to slim it down and when you really start boiling things down, it's surprising how much repetition and non-achievements were there. For example, I stated that I managed a team of 10. But didn't say how good I was at doing it or how successful I had been. I now have 3 versions of my CV.

1 page very to the point version which is the one I use most often.
2 pages, which fluffs it up a bit but, I rarely use this.
4 pages, which is my personal version containing all the bits I might want to swap into the 1 pages to suit the role.

[Robinho]

Mine is 4 pages,

I don't see the point in compacting it, clients aren't obliged to read it all are they, and i doubt agents manage to get halfway down the first page.

[_V_]

The best CV is simply a tag cloud, because basically, all agents do now it match buzzwords on the CV to buzzwords on the job advert.

[BolshieBastard]

I like CVs that are brief and to the point.

I hate CVs that cover decades of irrelevant or obsolete technologies.

I don't care what version of Delphi you used 20 years ago - particularly if you are the type who tries to hide their lack of relevance with arrogance, bluster and war stories.

I especially hated the CV with two pages on the candidates philosophy on software development which raised just about every red flag possible.

I like short cvs as well. The trouble is, 95% of agents have no idea and are no more than call centre staff meaning you have to cram in what I consider to be not very relevant stuff to grab their attention.

An 'agent' working for one of the then so called big agencies some time ago, once said to me during a phone conversation that it was 'difficult to determine what your role was'! This despite 'Test Analyst' being clearly stated in each role description. I mean what hope have you got?

[TheDude]

I like CVs that are brief and to the point.

I hate CVs that cover decades of irrelevant or obsolete technologies.

I don't care what version of Delphi you used 20 years ago - particularly if you are the type who tries to hide their lack of relevance with arrogance, bluster and war stories.

I especially hated the CV with two pages on the candidates philosophy on software development which raised just about every red flag possible.