How long should a CV be?

How many pages should a CV have?  Headhunters, receive dozens of CVs each week from Senior Executives in the B2B SaaS sector.

 

These CVs can vary from anywhere from 1 to 20 pages in length!   Many Executives struggle to squeeze all of their career history into less than 3 pages and some even include cover letters, University Certificates and References from previous employers!

 

CV length is a crucial factor and can make the difference whether you are invited to interview or not.  

 

When you consider your CV only has 20-30 seconds to grab the attention of a Headhunter, the ease and readability of the document should be concise.  

 

If you are applying for a job online, then your job application is normally going to be one of hundreds, so it is more important to make it short and grab the attention of the Hiring Manager.  Recruiters have to browse hundreds of CVs and do not have the time to read pages and pages of data.   As a result, a lengthy or confusing CV could make a difference in you getting the job or not.  

 

Some tips:

• Include more focus on your achievements and roles over the last 10 years because employers are not so interested in what you did 20-30 years ago, so this can be shortened
• There is unfortunately some ageism in the SaaS industry.  Make it tough for someone to guess your age for instance
• Make it really obvious what your speciality is
• Include a short description of what your employers do.  Recruiters do not have time to google and research company / employer names 
• Less is more
• Bear in mind that often the Recruiter doing the first screen maybe inexperienced, therefore keep it simple
• Add achievements rather than long details of a job description
• Make it modern and add some colour!
• 6 more tips!

 

Conclusion

Get straight to the point, focus on recent roles / achievements, keep it simple and try to ensure the CV is between 2 and 3 pages because this will increase your chances of standing out.   Bear in mind the word count too and the font size, it is not just about how many pages!

 

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