Length of CVs

[Support Monkey]

I think if your going for a senior or niche role chances are there are only going to be a few applicants then the agent may well read through the CV in its entirity however if its a fairly generic role which could atract alot of applicants it needs to be short and to the point.

i don't see any reason to put down a lengthy description of something you did 20 years ago, who is going to be interested in your project to ugrade from Win NT to 2000 or your MCP in Win95

3 pages is more than enough

[mavster07]

I think if your going for a senior or niche role chances are there are only going to be a few applicants then the agent may well read through the CV in its entirity however if its a fairly generic role which could atract alot of applicants it needs to be short and to the point.

i don't see any reason to put down a lengthy description of something you did 20 years ago, who is going to be interested in your project to ugrade from Win NT to 2000 or your MCP in Win95

3 pages is more than enough

True, but if a client is looking for a senior systems integrator type person and wants to see what you've been doing since Day Dot, then they'd want to see detail for all your roles....some agents are a bit anal as well about gaps so you have to explain them....


Like you said, its horses for courses...

[craig1]

My generic CV for agencies is 4 pages long and has been for a long time.

Page 1. A one-page bullet-pointed summary version of my CV with the key projects I've completed and the technologies I'm competent in listed along with my target sectors. This is deliberately aimed at agencies and their search engines. I make sure agents know that it's not part of my full CV and that they can detach it prior to submission. Some submit it as a separate "evidence" sheet to clients and it helps get through to those clients with the attention span of a small child with ADHD.

Page 2. Skills and basic stuff. This is the foot-in-the-door sales blurb to convince the reader to read the detail on the later pages.

Pages 3 & 4. Detail of roles done with a concentration on the type of role I'd like to do in future. For example, I did training as part of one role but it's not on my CV as I hated doing it.

Last bit of page 4. The borderline irrelevant stuff that's "nice to know" such as education and career fillers. For example, my time in the army many moons ago is 100% irrelevant for my current role and I'm fed up hearing agents telling me to cut it but that one-line entry has secured me a few contracts in the past when I've been borderline unqualified for a role.

In that format, my CV has secured me many contracts over the years including a few without interview. I am seriously reluctant to change it based on the opinion of some of the 17 year old recruitment consultants who have been in contact recently. In the past, I have walked away from agencies where the agent has amended my CV to make it more "readable" without my permission. I don't mind too much when they snip out my contact details but I get seriously upset if they touch the content without permission.

[Svalbaard]

I have also found that the majority of contractors who I leave a message with or send an email to never call me back. initially frustrated at this and knowing how you guys feel about agents I now just happily assume that if they were available then they would call me back

3 pages.

Guess it depends on how you approach them. If an agent phones me up or leaves me a message that starts "I have a role available and reviewing your CV I feel you would be a good fit etc..." then I am usually more inclined to phone that agent back, even if they are from a small agency that I might not have heard from.

Unfortunately, most aren't like that and generally start "I have reviewed your CV... would you consider a permanent role?" or "can you send me a copy of your latest CV."

[pmeswani]

3 pages.

Guess it depends on how you approach them. If an agent phones me up or leaves me a message that starts "I have a role available and reviewing your CV I feel you would be a good fit etc..." then I am usually more inclined to phone that agent back, even if they are from a small agency that I might not have heard from.

Unfortunately, most aren't like that and generally start "I have reviewed your CV... would you consider a permanent role?" or "can you send me a copy of your latest CV."

The problem I have is where an agent tells me that he has Contract roles for me and wants me to contact him. I contact them (by phone and email), leave them a message to call back and they don't bother coming back.

Communication failures happens both ways. Some Phish, Some Bait and a handful are genuine.

[2BIT]

Having spent the last few months getting much more involved in searching through the CV database to find CVs I find it incredible in this day and age that contractors are still producing Cvs of 9 plus pages . There is also a direct correlation between the contractors who are available and the length of CVs. So the chances are that if someone is available who appears to have the skills that are required the chances are ruined by a long CV.

To be fair I have reviewed a good number of CVs of CUKers and have found almost all of them to be really good.
I have also found that the majority of contractors who I leave a message with or send an email to never call me back. initially frustrated at this and knowing how you guys feel about agents I now just happily assume that if they were available then they would call me back

No more than two pages- nice to have it print double sided on one sheet of A4, a lot of agents who have got in contact have not even read those two pages but I don't mind being targeted via a keyword search, its the client I will discuss the details of the role and my experience with in depth- the agent facilitates that match

in terms of getting back to agents, if on a contract I try to answer every email but tend to not answer any phone calls (especially withheld numbers), if not on a contract i'll always call back but only if it's not an obvious fishing call. so you could probably assume the people you contact are unavailable for work

[TheFaQQer]

4 pages.

1 - Statement. Key Skills. Achievements
2 > 4 - Client history. Technologies and modules picked out in bold so that they don't have to read it if they don't want to.
4 - Certification and courses (both attended and run)

[jmo21]

in terms of getting back to agents, if on a contract I try to answer every email but tend to not answer any phone calls (especially withheld numbers), if not on a contract i'll always call back but only if it's not an obvious fishing call. so you could probably assume the people you contact are unavailable for work

Same approach as me!

[The Agents View]

Same approach as me!

All of the approaches mentioned, have some credibility.

To put my 2p's worth in - 3-4 pages is fine, but limit the information given and it will always shorten up.

Role
Dates
Company

What were you brought in to do?
What did you do?
What did it mean to the client?

Maybe an understanding of the technologies involved (NOT ALL OF THEM!)

Simple, to the point, and showing value.

10 page CV's are for permies......

[SuperZ]

We need to dig that thread out from a couple of months ago where they guy had a 15-20 page CV and would not budge in the face of all of us trying to tell him otherwise.

That might have been me? Guess what,CV is one page longer now. Left previous gig, sent one application and landed one new contract. It works for me at the moment.


Happy contracting days everyone

(THis post was longer but already gone over it all before . Whatever works for the individual.)