im looking for a new job to better my career and i have a large CV of 3 pages, is this ok?

Generally it should be two pages max; I normally bin CVs longer than that.

Yep 2 - with a good summary paragraph at the start

summary paragraph of what?

i have had loads jobs part-time contracts and stuff and i feel they are valuable to say why iv had so many

Originally posted by LadyInRed
summary paragraph of what?

Your experience and qualities; something that will catch the eye of the recruiting manager.

As a general rule if applying for a permenant role keep it to a couple of pages. For a contract role it should be longer. This is because normally the interview process for a contractors position is much shorter therefore more needs to be gleaned from the CV.

That's what out HR have said anyway

Agree with what's posted.

For permie roles 2 pages, but for contract, or highly technical roles, longer CVs are often needed to encompass the technical skills.

My 'technical contracting' CV runs to 5 pages and it seems to work.

Joe

thanks will tweek it some more and then let it out to people,
desperate to find a better job, i have no way of moving other than sideways in this job

No more than 2, any more than this and they will probarbly go in the bin

2 pages, good personal statement and its great if you use bullet points to highlight your qualities and experience.

Idea is to make it as easy to read as possible so the simpler and clearer the layout, the better.

One further very important point - when giving names and addresses of your referees, make sure that you give all the details correctly including the full postcode and the person's job title is helpful as well.

I keep mine to one double-sided page not too long for a potential employer to feel it's a chore to read through but with content tailored for each application to ensure they want to interview me and expand on some of the points.
I'd not worry too much about using up valuable space with referees names and addresses on a cv - referees won't be contacted until an offer of employment is made, at which point your potential employer can ask you for them.

Definately definately no more than 2 pages.
If any potential employee sent me a CV longer than 2 pages it wouldn't even make it to be read fully.

I personally prefer 1 page CV's (depending how well it's put together) but 2 pages is the absolute max.

Any more than 2 pages and it looks like you've had too many jobs and not the sort of employee that is likely to stick at one job for any length of time (i.e. time waster).

Good luck!

Originally posted by hotphil
I'd not worry too much about using up valuable space with referees names and addresses on a cv - referees won't be contacted until an offer of employment is made, at which point your potential employer can ask you for them.
I agree with this statment.
A simple sentence at the closing of your CV stating "References available on request" should suffice.

Also, don't use the abbreviation CV or the words Curriculum Vitae anywhere on the CV. It's obvious what it is ;)

I also find certain agencies don't mind it mine being 3 pages but others prefer it to be 2.
If I am applying directly to a company I normally cut it down to 2.

I agree 2 pages max, succinct and to the point

Its also dependant on the type of job you're applying for. My CV is 4 pages long, starting with personal details and an profile/key skills, followed by qualifications/training, followed by previous occupations and finally any other relevant information.

I work in law and from experience, law firms like to see a comprehensive CV. My qualifications/courses take up almost 2 pages.

As long as the content keeps the prospective employer interested then (sometimes) its better to be thorough, but not so thorough that you have nothing to talk about at your interview.

Don't put your CV in a plastic wallet/folder - you want first impressions to be that of the content, not what colour folder you used.

The senior Partner at the firm of solicitors I work for is more likely to put a CV in the bin if its in a fancy presentation folder because its the content that he's looking to be impressed with.

Harvey Nash bin any CVs longer than 2 pages.

FACT!

Better still condense it all down to ONE page and hope that your working life isnt half a century

Harvey Nash bin any CVs longer than 2 pages.

FACT!

Well, probably explains some of the crap candidates I've seen from HN in the past... :) I also recruit for clients via agencies, so I've seen the whole thing from both sides.

I'm in a similar situation to FierySatsuma in that you can't distill technical expertise in to a short space. Most recruitment agencies who provide IT contractors seem to have very little idea about the technical skills they're looking for, and so every little helps on a CV, from my experience.

I recently was looking for some sofwtare developers and received several two page CVs which told me bugger all about what I needed to know! If I get sent a dozen CVs to help me select two contractors, I'm going to want to use those CVs to determine who to interview. I recently had the experience of interviewing 5 people who had 2 page CVs which told me absolutely nothing that I needed to know, and as a result wasted a day of my life.

I'd rather have CVs that tell me what their skills are and how they've used them.

I appreciate that I'm in a specialist area, but if recruitment agencies count pages before reading qualifications and skills, it's perhaps no surprise that more often than not, in my experience, they do a poor job in putting the right candidates up for interview. And after all, they get a decent commission for placing the candidates; perhaps they should try earning it by reading the CVs? After all, it's their job.... :)

Joe

Further to my previous post on this thread - I submitted a 5-page CV to a Partner of the firm of solicitors I already work for, in application of an internal position. I was interviewed last week and the first thing I was told was that my CV was very interesting and impressive. I find out on Monday whether I got the job.. I'll let you know.

But to reiterate, length has no real issue as long as the content keeps the prospective employer interested. JoeP made a good point - How specialist your experience or the position you are applying for is an important factor.

I'd go with 2 pages, but I don't agree that 1 page is best. I find it difficult to capture everything that's relevant in 2 pages and i've had 3 jobs in total (1 being a placement). I can see in 10 years time that the early jobs will just be a list with a few highlighted skills.

Oh, and despite recieving some absolutely appaling cv's, i've never just put one straight into the bin. I've stopped at page 8 (or thereabouts) and written something bad on the front though.

You should have more than one CV.

I tend to take my full 5 page CV and edit it down to suit the application I am making. Two pages, one sheet double sided, with a clearly headed Executive Summary near the top of Page 1.

I have a general CV on Jobsite which is stuffed full of keywords and is not designed to be human readable (although it is, just a little repetitive) so that it gets picked up when people search for certain skills (i.e. the CV mentions HTML, PHP, CSS, Lingo, Actionscript, ECMA, Apache, Linux, Debian, Director, Authorware, Photoshop, Freehand, Acrobat etc. etc. and these terms are repeated constantly).

Then when I get a call, they get the 'real' CV - which is a generic version, strong executive summary and skillset.

As a result I get a lot of calls through Jobsite (mos are quite uninteresting).

Hiya,

It does not really matter about how many pages your CV has, it is how you set it out and what you put in it that counts.

If the recruiter is good they will not just chuck it away and risk losing a good candidate.....

Your CV is the first thing a recruiter will have to make a first judgment of yourself, you will need to make a good impression. On your CV th first thing they will look at is career history, make it clear, head it with your position and the dates you were there. Pick out key points that you did whilst in the position. DONT just write a full paragraph it gets boring, then add your education details, make sure you add every qualification you have.

Anyway. My opinion

My C.V had just one line:
"I am confident and outgoing, when do I start"?

Most people list what JOBS the have done when they should be listing what SKILLS they have and used to do those jobs

So don't put "I worked in a shop" put "I dealt with customer enquiries, handled cash and credit cards etc etc etc"

It all depends on the job and what stage of your career you are at. A one page CV is fine if you are a school leaver but is impractical and doesn't do you justice if you have more than a few years experience. 2-3 pages is nice, as long as it isn't 3 pages crammed to every edge with info - keep it well spaced out and nice to look at and any decent employer will not have problems reading it to the end! Just make sure you put the really good stuff in the first few lines and you should get them to read it all. Pages and pages of stuff is just dull to read if anything.

Hiya LadyinRed,

There will always be differing opinions on how to write a CV, but I've never ever not been offered an interview for a job after sending a CV, so mine is obviously doing it's job okay! Here's what I do...

First of all, open with your name and contact details. Then go straight into a short 'profile'. I tend to keep this to a paragraph, sumarising my key qualities, what I'm doing now and the kind of position I'm looking for.

Next I have a skills section, when I use bullet points to highlight my strengths. I ALWAYS taylor this to the particular job I'm going for, and take care to include key words from the job advert or job description. For instance, if they are looking with someone with good communication skills then one of my bullet points might say 'great communicator with professional telephone manner - always an approachable and competant member of the team'.

Next I list my employment history, starting with current job first. But I just to stick to a paragraph on each of my most recent jobs to date, with my key responsibilities and acheivements. I too have done many a part time job and picked up all kinds of skills, but generally employers don't want to plough through hundreds of different roles, and it makes you look like you change jobs too quickly. So when I've written about what I call my 'career jobs' I then have a section titled 'other employment', which is a paragraph mentioning other part time jobs and skills picked up. "From the age of 16, throughout my education I have always held down a part time job, and picked up a range of skills.... bla bla bla.... I am great at multitasking following a stint as a waitress.... bla bla bla... I have always been held in high esteem by all my past employers."

Then I include my educational qualifications, and a personal interests section. Some people don't bother with this, but I think it shows you've got character, and if you're clever you can taylor it to the needs of the job. For example, if they are looking for an outgoing team leader, then social team hobbies will look good. If they are looking for a librarian, then an interest in classic literature might look good. And so on. But don't lie, it has to be something you actually do. Just make sure you play up the interests that indicate you have the right personality for the job, and gloss over your recreational drug use or base jumping addiction!

Finally, at the bottom I state my date of birth and that I hold a driving licence. I never bother using up room with references, because an employer won't contact them straight away anyway. But I always put 'references available from current and previous employers upon request' at the bottom of my CV, so they know I'm not hiding anything or avoiding it.

This never takes up more than two pages.

I tend to keep a 'skeleton CV' on file, and then ammend it slightly for each particular job application, so I'm flagging up the relevent skills and experience. As I say, everyone is entitled to their opinions on this, but my CV has always got my foot in the door.

Good luck on finding something! I know what you mean about having itchy feet, I've had exactly the same thing recently so I've just accepted a new job. I start in a months time. :D