How long do you reckon a CV should be?

[thesaint sfc]

I've written one which is about 5 pages long which seems a bit excessive. I'm sure most employers only read about the first few paragraphs so I'll be concentrating on making that William Shakespeare worthy. Does it matter if there is a load more if they're not going to read it anyway? Where the f*ck is that stupid jillsaint when you need her? She's always harping on and now she can finally contribute she's not here.

[View From The Top]

No more than two sides.

[Jimmy_D]

Tailor your CV to each job you apply for.

 

Make sure relevant skills, training, education and experience are highlighted on the first page.

[thesaint sfc]

I'm not so tight fisted that I'm going to put it on one piece of paper.

 

What next? Toilet roll?

[thesaint sfc]

I'm applying for IT jobs in London so hopefully I won't need to tailor it too much! I'll try and get some of the uninteresting bloat out of it though - thanks. Got to be one of the hardest things to do

[View From The Top]

I'm not so tight fisted that I'm going to put it on one piece of paper.

 

What next? Toilet roll?

 

When I'm doing a sift of applications and rarely get beyond the 1st page and never beyond page 2.

 

In fact, our organisation stipulates CVs should be no more than two sides of A4.

[tpbury]

What's this obsession with sides of 'paper' - so 80s? Direct your future employer to your web site/linkedin/facebook/ whatever. Make it interesting and easily consumable with the front page being the 'come and get me' headline of your previous CV. Have links to previous companies' web sites and links to mocked up work that you completed there (e.g. an infrastructure diagram based on what you did at current employment). It shouldn't be too hard to make the page accessible only to those employers you want to see that you're looking for work. And if Monster et al don't have this facility, set up your own business which provides this kind of portal.

[sambosa75]

2 pages. Never more. People who read CVs will not read through pages and pages to find what they are looking for. They will scan CVs and if they dont find what they are looking for, the CV goes on the "No" pile. Much better chance they will find what they are looking for in 2 simple pages.

[Smirking_Saint]

No more than 2 pages, don't go OTT and just ensure that whatever job you are applying for has a CV tailored towards it. For instance, if I apply in the future for a job in the electrical distribution industry they don't need nor want to know about my previous IT experience/training/qualifications.

 

That said, if you are just going to post it up on the net then make sure that you have the keywords within your CV that can be easily traceable if employers do a search, I.E you want to turn up on as many searches as possible. (obviously don't just bullet point a load of buzzwords).

 

If I get a CV, I want to know relevant experience, training and qualifications, any big projects you have been involved in and perhaps a background about yourself, I don't really care if you have a dog and like music TBH, your CV gets your foot in the door basically, but you will be ultimately judged on your interview.

[Minty]

Tailor your CV to each job you apply for.

 

Make sure relevant skills, training, education and experience are highlighted on the first page.

 

This. I want to see the key information upfront, HOWEVER, if it is there, I will skim read the rest of the cv, even if it is 3 or 4 pages, sometimes reading the whole thing.

 

It is usually clear very quickly if someone has put effort into personalising their cv for the role they are applying for, and if they put the effort in to prepare their cv, I put the effort in to read it. But the first page or two get me interested.

 

On the flip side, poor spelling and grammar are instant turn-offs, as are 'fancy' graphics or attempts to stand out that are out of place.

 

I'm not in IT, so there will be specific things they look for, but I would summarise it as:

 

Get my attention with what I want to read, and then I'll have a look at the rest to see what might make you different.

[Minty]

your CV gets your foot in the door basically, but you will be ultimately judged on your interview.

 

This too. I've spoken to some people before who've not got an interview who said 'But I was going to tell you that at interview'... well, sorry, but if it's not on your cv and it's important, and I can't read minds yet, then how was I supposed to know?!

[thesaint sfc]

OK. Can you give me a job for 100k a year please?

[Minty]

I can, yes.

 

I just don't want to.

[thesaint sfc]

Why? I'm really nice.

[thesaint sfc]

My name is thesaint sfc. I’m a hard working confident individual who thoroughly enjoys achieving targets and exceeding expectations. I am dedicated and determined and feel I often work best using my own initiative working towards my responsibilities. I am a forward thinker and a fast learner. I am very interested in technology, business, sales and IT and I am able to pick up things very quickly using my own intuition and experience. Although I am young I have already had a lot of life experience which has made me very strong willed and self-motivated. I enjoy being given tasks and being able to complete them in my own manner.

 

Is that a good first paragraph? Should I put in - can I have a job please? at the end?

[saint_stevo]

makes you sound like a self righteous ****

[Deppo]

What is a "forward thinker"?

[Verbal]

My cv is like a novel you can't put down.

[bridge too far]

What is a "forward thinker"?

 

A soothsayer / clairvoyant / fortune teller?

[saint_stevo]

Team player, communicator and troubleshooter should be in there for an IT C.V i reckon.....

[thesaint sfc]

I've got loads about communication. I'll squeeze it into my first paragraph. Thanks babes. Working in London you have to be a self righteous c*nt.

[Gemmel]

Keep it to a single page.

[tpbury]

Dunno. Reads well - I would want to instantly see examples of your achieved targets and forward thinking. If you back up that paragraph with evidence for each sentence, then you'd be very attractive. Maybe trim the 'I am young' bit out and put the rest into bullets with the corresponding evidence. Don't say 'although I am young' - if you wish to allay prospective employers' fears about your youth, maybe indicate what you achieved in a factual manner - e.g. 'implemented office solution at age 17'. Perhaps 'routinely ignore advice from middle aged Saints fans' would be a positive also!

[Deppo]

I enjoy being given tasks and being able to complete them in my own manner.

 

Enjoying being given tasks makes you sound like a primary school student and doing those tasks in yr own manner makes you sound naughty.

[thesaint sfc]

Yeah I took that bit out - thanks Deppo xoxo

[Thedelldays]

surely employers actually get it that most "paragraphs" in CVs are just a load of crud...

[thesaint sfc]

Dunno. Reads well - I would want to instantly see examples of your achieved targets and forward thinking. If you back up that paragraph with evidence for each sentence, then you'd be very attractive. Maybe trim the 'I am young' bit out and put the rest into bullets with the corresponding evidence. Don't say 'although I am young' - if you wish to allay prospective employers' fears about your youth, maybe indicate what you achieved in a factual manner - e.g. 'implemented office solution at age 17'. Perhaps 'routinely ignore advice from middle aged Saints fans' would be a positive also!

 

Would it work replacing although I am young with 'At 21...'

[thefunkygibbons]

No career of merit can fit on one page

 

Put the obvious stuff up front, such as contact details, then an accurate list of qualifications and then the job roles (including dates) setting out job title, responsibilities and main achievements

 

Guff like hobbies, number of children etc has no place on a CV

[thesaint sfc]

surely employers actually get it that most "paragraphs" in CVs are just a load of crud...

 

Yup - can't imagine a more mundane job. No wonder jillsaint was so boring.

[Gemmel]

No career of merit can fit on one page

 

Absolute tosh.

 

Keep it to a single page

[thesaint sfc]

So I'll alter the layout to a few things I've achieved, 2 or 3 paragraphs of a similar length to above without any crap in them and then the rest of my achievements and things I have learnt. Then my qualifications (might as well not have them on there tbh) and then a bit about what I do in my personal life. Would you put a voluntary job on there showing what you have achieved in that too? Although it's not specific to IT, I've learnt a lot about communicating with people and that sort of thing from doing it.

[thesaint sfc]

Absolute tosh.

 

Keep it to a single page

 

I think the first page should only contain essential information, but a 1 page CV looks pathetic IMO. I've read through CVs for a company and the one pagers were all students. Nuff said.

[Minty]

It's all about evidence. If you're good at something, demonstrate how/why. Give examples. Anyone can say they're good at something, but I would want to see how you've shown that in the past. And not necessarily in a work environment. I've taken on many good members of staff because they have done voluntary work or other things outside of work which demonstrated their skills or hard work.

[thesaint sfc]

I think my strongest asset is communication so I need to go a bit more OTT with that in my opening paragraph but I think its coming together! Down to 3 pages now (with a little help of adjusting margins)

[thesaint sfc]

Do people still bother with cover letters? What should you include in that?

[Deppo]

What's this obsession with sides of 'paper' - so 80s? Direct your future employer to your web site/linkedin/facebook/ whatever.

 

I direct all my prospective employers to my Facebook page and ask them to 'Like' me if they want to employee me. I got my current job because they were particularly impressed with the way that I had managed my 'Farmville' farm economically and by my leadership skills in building, managing and motivating a team of Ninjas in 'Ninjas versus Pirates'.

 

I now head up the European division of British Petroleum.

[suewhistle]

Whatever you do don't use the complete (and long-winded) dog's breakfast that is the EU standard. Two pages maximum. I do actually include interests right at the end since some of them can be relevant to my teaching job, show team mentality, energy and may connect with the interviewer in some way.

 

Standard FE college application forms in the UK are a pain, but where I live now it's all contacts, haven't ever been interviewed, and it's all word of mouth.

[saint si]

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?28135-Writing-a-CV&highlight=vitae

[mcjwills]

No career of merit can fit on one page

 

Sir John Harvey Jones had a one page CV, if you do not know the name google him and you will realise if he only needed a 1 page CV anyone can get away with one

[Hamilton Saint]

2 pages.

[saintbletch]

My advice would 2 pages and cut out the padding and get straight to the point. How do you do that? Well here's how...

 

It's about pink elephants...

 

When writing a CV, most people naturally want to tell a career story from start and build to an impressive finish.

 

When sifting through a mountain of CVs most employers want, either by training or subliminally, to make a match to the job they are recruiting for in the first 2-3 sentences and will then confirm their gut feel by browsing career and education details.

 

The two needs are at odds with each other. Our attention span when we start something new is at it's greatest and wanes over time. So we need to put our most important content early in the story when our readers attention is at it's greatest. Hopefully they are then hooked and read for the detail.

 

If you can fit a question into your opening line, all the better. As humans we find it difficult to avoid processing a questions as we are scanning text. We feel the need to construct the sentence in our minds before answering it - which forces us to stop scanning and concentrate.

 

Why does the most successful SPAM email always start with a question? Because it forces us to process the subject even though it might contain the words Canadian and Pharmacy. It's a psychological trick. If I say to you "Don't think of a pink elephant". You have to first think of the elephant, colour it pink before you process the instruction not to think of it. It's the way that most of our brains are wired.

 

Look at my opening line. That explains why you're still reading. Assuming you are. Because you feel I'm going to come to the point sooner or bloody later. But I bought some of your time with those opening lines.

 

So my advice would be that it is ALL in the opening. The rest of the CV will have to contain information that will not cause you to be rejected but if you haven't won them over in the first line, paragraph, half-page; then you're dead already. You want to make an interview list so you can win them over in person. So...

 

1) Personalise every application to each specific job.

 

2) Read their job description and make a note of all the words and terms that they use to describe the skills and attributes they believe the successful applicant will posses together with the experience they think they are looking for.

 

3) If you feel you have some very specific headline experience for the role, write an eye-catching headline. Perhaps you worked for a competitor or have some very relevant, maybe unique technical experience. "I believe my 5 years experience working for ACME (a competitor) makes me a good match...".

 

4) Write 3 sentences at the top of your CV that uses, as best as you are able to, their words and terminology to describe why you're a match for the job. Don't be afraid to embolden certain words (although you should use your judgement as to whether that might make it look a little amateurish). Try to use a question if you feel comfortable doing so.

 

5) Add a career history that again highlights information relevant to the job you're approaching. Always make it specific to the job you're applying for. Reverse chronological order.

 

6) Add an education and personal summary section - avoid being to trite or cheesy with your personal description.

 

7) Avoid putting something ONLY in the covering letter. Most CVs that crossed my desk as an employer had had the letter removed by the fascist HR dept. Assume the recruiting manager will only have a CV.

[Hamilton Saint]

Do people still bother with cover letters? What should you include in that?

 

In my opinion, the object of the cover letter is to demonstrate that you can string sentences together effectively - to show that you can communicate in a coherent and articulate manner. Depending on the type of job you are applying for, this could be the crucial consideration.

[Deppo]

My advice would 2 pages and cut out the padding and get straight to the point. How do you do that? Well here's how...

 

It's about pink elephants...

 

When writing a CV, most people naturally want to tell a career story from start and build to an impressive finish.

 

When sifting through a mountain of CVs most employers want, either by training or subliminally, to make a match to the job they are recruiting for in the first 2-3 sentences and will then confirm their gut feel by browsing career and education details.

 

The two needs are at odds with each other. Our attention span when we start something new is at it's greatest and wanes over time. So we need to put our most important content early in the story when our readers attention is at it's greatest. Hopefully they are then hooked and read for the detail.

 

If you can fit a question into your opening line, all the better. As humans we find it difficult to avoid processing a questions as we are scanning text. We feel the need to construct the sentence in our minds before answering it - which forces us to stop scanning and concentrate.

 

Why does the most successful SPAM email always start with a question? Because it forces us to process the subject even though it might contain the words Canadian and Pharmacy. It's a psychological trick. If I say to you "Don't think of a pink elephant". You have to first think of the elephant, colour it pink before you process the instruction not to think of it. It's the way that most of our brains are wired.

 

Look at my opening line. That explains why you're still reading. Assuming you are. Because you feel I'm going to come to the point sooner or bloody later. But I bought some of your time with those opening lines.

 

So my advice would be that it is ALL in the opening. The rest of the CV will have to contain information that will not cause you to be rejected but if you haven't won them over in the first line, paragraph, half-page; then you're dead already. You want to make an interview list so you can win them over in person. So...

 

1) Personalise every application to each specific job.

 

2) Read their job description and make a note of all the words and terms that they use to describe the skills and attributes they believe the successful applicant will posses together with the experience they think they are looking for.

 

3) If you feel you have some very specific headline experience for the role, write an eye-catching headline. Perhaps you worked for a competitor or have some very relevant, maybe unique technical experience. "I believe my 5 years experience working for ACME (a competitor) makes me a good match...".

 

4) Write 3 sentences at the top of your CV that uses, as best as you are able to, their words and terminology to describe why you're a match for the job. Don't be afraid to embolden certain words (although you should use your judgement as to whether that might make it look a little amateurish). Try to use a question if you feel comfortable doing so.

 

5) Add a career history that again highlights information relevant to the job you're approaching. Always make it specific to the job you're applying for. Reverse chronological order.

 

6) Add an education and personal summary section - avoid being to trite or cheesy with your personal description.

 

7) Avoid putting something ONLY in the covering letter. Most CVs that crossed my desk as an employer had had the letter removed by the fascist HR dept. Assume the recruiting manager will only have a CV.

 

Do you think you could repost this having cut out the padding and get straight to the point

[Deppo]

If the common understanding is that it should be 2 pages, you should make yours 3 pages so that you stand out from your competition. Perhaps you could make a montage of various family holiday snaps on the first page to get them interested in you and see that you are well-travelled and a good family man?

[saintbletch]

Do you think you could repost this having cut out the padding and get straight to the point

 

LOL

 

I'm just honoured that you felt compelled to read it all Deppo.

[bristolsaint29]

I read them every day, any more than 2 pages and it is unlikely to get anywhere as I don't have time, should be contact details at top then a statement about you, bullet point your jobs.

 

Interests and hobbies -Do not care what you do in your spare time as you're not at work then.

 

You have on average about 30 seconds to get a persons attention otherwise they will get bored.

[dubai_phil]

Good mate is an HR VP for a multi-national.

 

2 pages. Very basic listing of your work and your achievements.

 

Oh, and Spell Check it (he reckons a good 20% don't even bother to do that)

 

It is designed to give them something to want to know more about, not to give your life history & names of your pets or the name of your Kindergarden teacher

[saintscottofthenortham]

My cv is like a novel you can't put down.

 

My CV is like a novel you can't pick up...

 

[St Chalet]

Two pages, Focus on last two roles only.

 

If you are in IT, don't just focus on technical skills - the business area / industry experience will be as relevant.

[norwaysaint]

A lot of what people are talking about here should be part of a covering letter surely? or has the employment market changed a lot since I had to worry? For my last application I used a one page CV and a one page covering letter and walked into the job. I've had quite extensive experience and qualifications too, plus plenty to say about how I would do the job. Maybe it's different in different job markets.