Comments | lourens: Question for the resource managing types -

lourens

Question for the resource managing types -

Nov 02, 2006 11:38

Time for change.
I have cut, edited, updated & cut it again:

Is a 4 page CV to long?

Comments 32

nexus_six November 2 2006, 11:42:07 UTC

I always did quite well with four pages myself. Don't see why not - it's more important that it's clearly laid out and has sensible font sizes, rather trying to shrink it down to less than four and leave relevant stuff out.

lourens November 2 2006, 11:45:54 UTC

Yeah I know, Im currently using font sizes 8 & 9 mostly. But my CV seems to have grown into a 4 page monster.

In my opinion a CV should be short and to the point. and so I have kept it, but its still 4 pages!

nexus_six November 2 2006, 12:09:40 UTC

Ah, but font size < 10 == bad
You should maybe stick to four pages, but try to cull some more stuff to get it up 10.5 points minimum.

spoox November 2 2006, 11:46:36 UTC

I'm no PR expert, but I think that a brief summary of all of things you have done looks more impressive than the same thing with loads of details. CVs really ought not to be more than 2 pages and generally the more important the job, the more laconic the CV.

lourens November 2 2006, 11:55:05 UTC

A brief summery of all the things ive done'places i've worked is whatI have. along with a very short professional profile and qualifications summary. Its still 4 pages, though I think I might take out my 'oldest' jobs in 1997 - 2000 (though these are there to indicate certain key skills and experience in geographical mapping - though I am much more advanced than back then obviously).

what to do, what to do?

miss_soap November 2 2006, 15:59:16 UTC

Quite. I have the CVs of a couple of CEOs on my desk and they're single-page efforts.

violetsteel November 2 2006, 13:22:11 UTC

I have to dictionary.com laconic. Great word! :)

Thread 7

ollyb November 2 2006, 11:50:19 UTC

Most people don't care how long it is, provided it's good and wide.

Such is the nature of existence.

Wide? lourens November 2 2006, 11:56:18 UTC

Shall I use two A3 pages do you think?

s0b November 2 2006, 11:56:53 UTC

It depends on the job.

My CV runs to 8 pages, this is largely because I spent a number of years as a freelancer and it needs to be that long to avoid the "gap" in your work history

("So, during this 18 months gap between 1994 and 96 were you in prison or in a mental hospital?")

lourens November 2 2006, 12:02:20 UTC

I am currently freelancing, and that is exactly why its so long. do you reckon 4 pages is alright then? have you heard any comments about the lenght of your CV from agencies/employers?

I think I can more abbreviate the 'oldest' contracts...

gaius_octavian November 2 2006, 11:57:14 UTC

2 pages at most I reckon, with decreasing level of detail for jobs further in the past. As someone who interviews people, long CVs are off-putting.

lourens November 2 2006, 11:59:49 UTC

That's what I was thinking..

lourens November 2 2006, 12:05:07 UTC

See s0b's comment above. As an interviewer, what's your thoughts on that?

gaius_octavian November 2 2006, 12:19:21 UTC

I would just put freelancer whenever-whenever and a short summary, maybe listing some example clients and the key skills. I mean, as a freelancer you're still working for a company, but it's a company of 1. F'rinstance, on my CV I worked for a consulting company, but I don't list all the clients of them that I worked on projects for. That way, the time is covered and even if you have a few months off here and there they're hidden in the big block and no-one will even ask.

Thread 7