How long should a CV be?

The standard across the globe is about 1-2 pages.

But the thing is: It often doesn’t matter.

If you’re a fresh graduate with not much by way of experience, you would do with one page. If you have a seasoned professional with a number of certifications that are critical for the job role, you’d need an extra page to list them all.

In fact, when I hire, I look at the CV for proof that the applicant can accomplish the job I need done. Ideally, I’d like to look at no more than 2 pages. That doesn’t mean that I’d automatically disregard any CV that’s longer. I once got a CV of over 8 pages and I did look through it entirely.

However, I’d never make a CV for myself that’s more than 2-pages long. For a few reasons:

• I’m a writer. I should be able to effectively summarise my 13-years short career in 2 pages. The CV itself is a writing test for me. 🙂

• The key to a successful CV is relevance. I doubt I’d have done more than 2-pages worth of relevant work, for any given job.

• The job of a CV is to get me an interview, not tell them my life story. I’ll tell my life story, the way I want, in the interview.

But, you do you. If your recruiter asks for a longer CV, give it to them. If you feel like you just need one page, go ahead. Don’t let arbitrary numbers and standards limit you. Companies do their hiring in all sorts of different ways — there is no singular right answer.