How long should my CV be?

‘How long should my CV be?’ is one of the most common questions a Career Coach is asked and the answer may vary depending on whether you are in the early or later stages of your career. The length of a CV is important and can impact whether your application makes the shortlist.

This article explores the importance of CV length, how long it really should be and provides 5 quick ways to help you reduce the length.

Is CV length important?

Yes, it is! For each application you make, your CV will either be read by a recruiter, hiring manager or Applicant Tracking System (ATS). A high number of CVs often don’t make the shortlist because they include irrelevant information and exceed the recommended three-page rule. Whilst there is no ‘one size fits all’ rule for CV length, you will need to keep your CV concise and focused, yet comprehensive enough to showcase your relevant qualifications and experience.

How long should your CV be?

The ideal length for a CV typically ranges from one to three pages, depending on the experience you have gained throughout your career.

Here are some general guidelines based on different experience levels:

• Entry Level or Graduate: If you are a recent graduate or have limited work experience, your CV should ideally be around one page.
• Professional: For professionals with a few years of experience, aim for a CV that is between one to two pages.
• Experienced Professional: If you have extensive experience (over 10 years or more) or you are applying for senior-level positions, your CV is likely to be three pages long as you will have a lot of experience to demonstrate in your CV.

5 ways to reduce the length of your CV

If you have a CV that is still longer than 3 pages, here are 5 ways to instantly reduce its length.

1. Use minimal space for contact details - Ensure your contact details are at the top of your CV using only minimal space. You no longer have to include your full postal address on a CV, you can just state your name, location and include your phone number and email address on the same line. You can also include your LinkedIn URL here too. 
2. Avoid Personal Information - Leave out personal information such as your date of birth, marital status, health, gender and religion. An ATS generally focuses on keywords, skills, and qualifications that are relevant to the job position so having additional words that are irrelevant may change how your CV ranks against other applicants.
3. Apply formatting techniques - Writing in lengthy paragraphs can make it hard for a recruiter or hiring manager to quickly extract information. Use bullet points, headings and white space to make your CV visually easy to read whilst maximising space. Also remove text boxes or imagery which take up space and can often be rejected by an ATS. The font size is important too; Arial and Calibri in size 10 or 11 are professional fonts to choose but may also help you to keep those pages shorter.
4. Tailor your CV - Emphasise skills and experiences that match the job description and remove irrelevant information or reorder bullet points. Your CV has around 20-30 seconds to impress any potential employer and in that time, they will decide whether you are suitable for the role. For earlier roles held, reduce the number of bullet points or state, ‘Earlier career history available on request’. If you have been employed for a significant number of years its likely you have a lot of experience but only include the detail that is relevant. You may want to consider another format of CV if you want to showcase experience from early on in your career.
5. Remove hobbies and interests – This is quite a controversial one, as some employers and recruiters like to understand more about their applicants. However, if they add no value to your application and your CV is already exceeding 3 pages this section can be removed. If you are exploring a career change and they are linked to the industry you want to move into, or if your hobbies allow you to use skills that aren’t evident in your career, keep them to a couple of sentences.

Whilst the length of a CV will vary dependant on the amount of experience you have, it’s essential to only include relevant information on your CV and tailor your CV to the role you are applying for. Applicant tracking systems may reject your CV if it’s too long but also if it lacks key words and achievements.