CV & approaching agents

[DodgyAgent]

Don't forget to begin the CV with all your references and contacts

[psychocandy]

Seven to eight pages here.
But then I am an old git.
Never had a problem getting gigs.
Front page summary, skills etc.
Last page degrees, contact details
In between, summaries of all the gigs.

Are you serious?

I've been around a while too but I dont think anyone cares that I was a COBOL programmer 20 years or so ago.

[TheFaQQer]

How long are your CVs?

3 or 4 pages - can't remember, as I've not looked at it for a while.

Do you call agent after sending him/her your CV?

Never.

[FMCG]

Mine is 4 pages but also have a single page version.

Most times submit both simultaneously when dealing with a person. Their prerogative to read the single sheet and then move onto the detailed document.

If obvious that it is going to be "machine read" then only send the 4 pager. Most of the important details are at the front with subsequent pages demonstrating evidence.

Some people are going to have a few years experience whilst others decades and multi roles/projects and hence struggle with one size "2 pager" fits all. Similarly, think 4 pages is verging on maximum.

[SpontaneousOrder]

If you're worried about length, just make sure all of the important stuff is at the front. An agent worth dealing with won't bin your cv for being too long when he (my hypothetical agent is a man, as always) sees that everything after the first page is optional to read.

[diseasex]

3 pages here
1st being sales pitch why im good and what i do well. rest employment details and projects

[RSoles]

Seven to eight pages here.
But then I am an old git.
Never had a problem getting gigs.
Front page summary, skills etc.
Last page degrees, contact details
In between, summaries of all the gigs.

[SueEllen]

I had a shorter 2 page CV and agents actually apologised because they didn't realise I was so experienced.

So I leave mine at 4 pages in a decent sized font. Most clients then have it printed to fit on 2 A4 pages.

The agents remove my contact details so if it's 2 lines over 4 pages it doesn't matter but I don't like it like that.

I did have a couple of clients' who wanted a standardised CV. So I had to dig out all my old CVs and the result was 10-12 pages. (I was working with people who had doctorates so they expected more detail.)

[NickFitz]

Three pages for me, but only by dint of using a single line in a smaller font size for anything older than ten years.

I'm thinking of expanding it to four pages though - a few projects could have slightly more detail, and enlarging some headings while adding a little extra whitespace will make it easier on the eye.

It's not as if anybody does more than glance at anything past the top half of the first page anyway, and scrolling quickly through four pages rather than three isn't likely to put anybody off. And there's more likelihood of them actually noticing a point of interest in a page laid out with loose spacing than if it's been buried in a wall of text just to abide by some rule that's more relevant to the days when people printed everything out.

[PurpleGorilla]

A decent bio paragraph should convey all you key selling points, then qualifications, certificates, employment history and a bullet for each project; 2 pages - simples.

[AutomationGuy]

There used to be mamy popular beliefs: CV should not be longer than 2 pages, jobseeker should call agent after sending him CV... I can't squeeze my CV to less than 3.5 pages. Less than 2 doesn't seem to be possible if you are expected to list all the projects I've worked on. While doing some recruitment, I have seen maybe 2 CVs not longer than 2 pages (out of dozens).

How long are your CVs?

Do you call agent after sending him/her your CV? I usually get a call from the agent just after I send my CV anyway...