How long should a CV be? What is the ideal CV length? [+Tips]

How long should a CV be? What is the ideal CV length? [+Tips]

You know WHAT to write. The question is – HOW to write it and HOW long should your CV be? The answer to the question of how long a CV should be in 2021 is not as obvious as some may think.

You are creating a CV. You know why you are doing that – You also know what you want to include there – You know WHAT to write. Let us imagine a recruitment expert dealing with two exemplary scenarios:

RECRUITMENT EXPERT CHECKS A LONG CV 

– 3 PAGES FILLED WITH TEXT 

What will he think about the candidate?

He may think that the candidate is very experienced, has achieved a lot in life, and is eager to do even more in the future.
However, he may also think that such a person is conceited, cannot present ordered information, select key data, and distinguish valuable pieces of information from those less important ones. 
It is obviously highly dependent on what you put in your CV – you may go for precise information or decide to waffle. Let us say it bluntly – when an expert receives 5 or 25 CVs and every one of them is about 3 pages long, he will not read all of them carefully. Do not torture the poor recruitment expert with an essay about you. It is not the right time to do that. 

Research says that for one offered position, there are 50 candidates. While it's true that a recruiter spends around 4 minutes reading a resume, the first 6 seconds decides about whether your application will be read further or not.

RECRUITMENT EXPERT RECEIVES A SHORT CV 

– HALF A PAGE WITH SOME HIGHLIGHTED POINTS…

AND THAT’S ALL 

What will he think about the candidate?

He may think that the candidate is a man of few words, a humble person, or an individual who do not know how to present himself/herself.
She/he may also think that the candidate knows nothing about the branch of industry they want to work in and has no experience (you should mention all works similar to the one you are applying for, even if it has had the form of a traineeship – remember to add pieces of information showing that you are worthy of a given job)
The expert may even think that you do not really want to convince the employer with such a short CV.

WHAT TYPE OF CV TO CREATE THEN?
A concise one. ;)

WHAT you write is the most important thing, but THE WAY you put it may also impact the reception of the document. 

So, A CV should be 1-2 pages long. 2 is the absolute maximum. The best idea is to limit yourself to one page, unless you really want to tell the recruitment expert a bit more about yourself.