How many page you CV is ..?

**RichardCranium** · 5 February 2010, 16:52

A short answer to counter some crud:

There are those who say "Only 2 pages for a CV". This is true outside of IT. For those in IT with work experience, a 3 page CV is OK because we need the extra space to cover hardware, software, etc.

**chicane** · 5 February 2010, 16:56

Originally posted by Darren_Test View Post

Are you guys sticking to 2/3 page CV rule..? Is it practically possible to have 2/3 page CV to cover 10+ years experience..?

3 pages max. Can you honestly say that what you were doing in 2000 is that relevant to the work you're doing nowadays?

My CV covers no more than the last 5 years of work in detail, but clearly states that I have 10 years experience in my particular field.

**Darren_Test** · 5 February 2010, 17:01

Another issue is even if you make your CV to 2/3 page, pimps wany all buzz wors in each project..! So if you shorten your CV you might not even get through pimp's buzz word filtering..

**DodgyAgent** · 5 February 2010, 17:07

Originally posted by Darren_Test View Post

Guys,

I am trying to see where I am going wrong with my job search.
I do have 10+ years experience with 10 different companies.
I use 4 different CVs with out any major difference between them, but longest one is 5 Page CV & shortest one is 4 page CV. Each of these CVs do have corresponding cover letters saying applying for xyz role.

Are you guys sticking to 2/3 page CV rule..? Is it practically possible to have 2/3 page CV to cover 10+ years experience..?

Please state your CV size if you can.

thanks..

If it is a mass of text then no one will olook at it.

Roles and duties and achievements bullet points please.

Any work from pre 2005 summarised with names and dates of employers plus key roles and key achievements summarised together.

**larson** · 5 February 2010, 17:13

Agree with DodgyAgent.

If I was at a more senior (executive) level, and personally responsible on behalf of a large business for multi-million pound investment or profit, then sure, go for 3 pages, well-known FTSE/Fortune 500 achievements require a lot of detail.

For normal or senior engineers/developers: use bullet-points and the obvious keywords related to your sector(s), two pages should be do-able and pretty easy to beautifully present when you fire them off.

I'm (un?)fortunate enough to know quite a few agents who I consider good guys, and even they would just laugh at a four or five page CV. A close friend showed me a CV they had received for a role. Four pages, with actual long sentences in the first person:

"In this role I was responsible for XXX, management of XXXX, including the following projects:"

It was easily the largest CV I had ever seen, and was genuinely surprised that someone who was clearly a smart cookie had not even done any basic research as to tips for CV writing; bullet-points usually suffice.

Oh, and don't try squeeze too much in with a size 8 font, at least 10, preferably 12. Keep in mind old-schoolers often print CVs off for interviews, and might get peeved if their aged eyes can't see the text!

**BolshieBastard** · 5 February 2010, 17:18

Originally posted by Darren_Test View Post

Guys,

I am trying to see where I am going wrong with my job search.
I do have 10+ years experience with 10 different companies.
I use 4 different CVs with out any major difference between them, but longest one is 5 Page CV & shortest one is 4 page CV. Each of these CVs do have corresponding cover letters saying applying for xyz role.

Are you guys sticking to 2/3 page CV rule..? Is it practically possible to have 2/3 page CV to cover 10+ years experience..?

Please state your CV size if you can.

thanks..

Im in a similar position to you ie over 15 years testing experience. How do you cram in all the info in 2 pages? You cant.

So, I decided to limit the cv to 3 pages but even then I had to use 9 point font!

First page is profile followed by my testing skillset then achievements in things such as planning, analysis, prep & execution, defect management etc.
Second page is my last 3 jobs in bullet point detail.
Third and final page is a list of my other jobs limited to from / to, position, UAT or CIT etc and environment followed by test tools competency and training history.

You have to be ruthless in what you put in or leave out and be prepared to emphasise certain aspects for each job.

Im not saying its perfect by any means but there again if agent \ client doesnt see what they are looking for on the first page in 30 seconds, hasta luago buddy!

**JimBobTwoTeeth** · 5 February 2010, 17:26

I've just reduced mine to two pages and it does look a hell of a lot better. Clear, concide & focused.

I summarise all my management & tech experience in a 'Management Synopsis' & a ''Tech Synopsis' so keyword searches will pick it up.

The rest is short role descriptions.

**HairyArsedBloke** · 5 February 2010, 17:39

I had someone send me a CV a couple of years ago who had 20+ years of history. He managed to keep it to two pages. What he did was to be brief as they got older and cut off everything beyond, I think, 10 years and put a line like, “details of older history available on request or at my website”. It struck me at the time as a good idea. You can go into as much detail as you like there.

**BolshieBastard** · 5 February 2010, 17:41

Originally posted by HairyArsedBloke View Post

I had someone send me a CV a couple of years ago who had 20+ years of history. He managed to keep it to two pages. What he did was to be brief as they got older and cut off everything beyond, I think, 10 years and put a line like, “details of older history available on request or at my website”. It struck me at the time as a good idea. You can go into as much detail as you like there.

Yeah I tried that approach for a while but just had agents saying what did you do before so and so date!

How many page you CV is ..?