I’ve currently got a couple of CV’s that can be tailored to specific roles depending on the job specs etc.

Both are 2 pages long and list my last 3 positions in the RAF.

I’ve been contacted by a recruitment agency about a particular role and the chap I spoke with suggested adding the rest of my RAF career to my CV, the problem with this is that it will add at least a page to my CV.

Are there any hard and fast rules with this kind of thing, I’m happy to do as he said if it helps me secure a role but on the flip side I don’t want to bore potential employers with a CV that’s far too long.

Any thoughts?

It’s not about length, it’s about relevance.

Two pages of shite is two pages too long. Ten pages of relevant experience info is perfectly ok if it takes that.

Two pages. Three at a pinch if there’s sufficient relevant and/or technical information to include.

The recruitment agent will know what the hirer is looking for. Listen to them.

I tend to summarize more for older roles. Still keeping mine to two pages, but font size may have decreased a bit.

It’s not about length, it’s about relevance.

I’ve been telling the ladies that for years…

Recruitment agencies often don’t really understand who they are selling to whom.

I generally go for a personalised cover letter and 2 or 3 pages of experience & qualifications depending.

Aside from the cover letter, which is more of a personal statement, keep the guff in the work history to a minimum.

Aim for 3 pages max. Keep it relevant.

There are no hard and fast rules, it just needs to read well and have no waffle.
For example if you have 10 years experience in IT, you wouldn’t bother mentioning that you are proficient in Microsoft word, it’s already a given assumption.

15 years on recruitment, I’ll let someone else decide if that means I’m qualified to comment!

2 is ideal but 3 is fine, anymore and it won’t be read. Get the good stuff in the first page ideally, the further down you go, the less detail it’ll be read in.

But as mentioned above, some clients have a preference and the recruiter should know what that is.

Recruitment agencies often don’t really understand who they are selling to whom.

Without starting a recruitment consultant debate, anyone any good certainly will.

Without starting a recruitment consultant debate, anyone any good certainly will.

Yep, true. Not all recruitment people are good, some are very good if they understand the industry they are recruiting for 🙂

For example if you have 10 years experience in IT, you wouldn’t bother mentioning that you are proficient in Microsoft word, it’s already a given assumption.

We hired someone once, mid 40s, worked in Telecoms and had never used Microsoft Word – was very surprised how that was even possible in this day and age….

We hired someone once, mid 40s, worked in Telecoms and had never used Microsoft Word – was very surprised how that was even possible in this day and age….

Certain parts of comms are a different world, particularly the old school guys who’ve been at BT since forever.
Broadcast is the same, I recruited some ex-BBC engineers a while ago and their level of knowledge in one specific area was incredible but, even though they were “techies”, they struggled outside of that tight sphere.

15 years on recruitment, I’ll let someone else decide if that means I’m qualified to comment!

Well you helped me work wonders on my CV, and I now have a great job (although not the original one I was desperate for help with my CV for mind!)…

2 is ideal but 3 is fine, anymore and it won’t be read. Get the good stuff in the first page ideally, the further down you go, the less detail it’ll be read in.

Couldn’t agree more. Even if it’s a super technical role that you’re applying for and you want to go into huge amounts of detail, get the basics into the CV, the whole point is you want to entice the recruiter to ask you some more questions about what you’ve written on your CV, by… You’ve guessed it… Asking you to an interview!

No more than 2 and about a half.

Two ideally.

My boss doesn’t even read them which is **** embarrassing in the interview.

Thanks for the replies.

Even now Im still confused on the best length for it.

Both of them currently are band on two pages. If I add the bits he suggested its an extra 6 postings of 3 years each to write about even though the roles have been pretty similar??

Could I just group it together along the lines of :

1998 – 2013 Weapons Engineer…… Then go on with a short paragraph of what Ive done over that period?

Or because its such a long period would you break it down?

I just want to make sure its right !

1998 – 2013 Weapons Engineer…… Then go on with a short paragraph of what Ive done over that period?

This. But, if there’s anything specific you did or used in that period that would be useful or relevant for the job you’re going for, mention it.

If you still get kickback from the recruiter then ask them how long they’d suggest you go.

6 postings of 3 years each

No civilian employer wants to read the details of 18 years of postings ime

6 postings of 3 years each

No civilian employer wants to read the details of 18 years of postings ime

That should be 5 postings !

I can only offer an academic perspective, but I think in most cases > 2 pages is too long. It can be helpful to break the sections into relevant experience (specific for the post) and other experience (not directly relevant in a technical matter sense but may evidence useful skills e.g. teamwork etc). If ‘other’ is longer than ‘relevant’ then something is probably wrong.

All cases where I’ve been on an appointing panel have had a list of ‘essential skills’ and ‘desirable skills’, which should be made clear in the job advert. In some respects the initial sifting of applications is a spreadsheet exercise so structuring a CV and covering letter to make it easy to tick off the ‘essential’ criteria will help you get to interview.

That should be 5 postings !

No worries, mine should be 15 years in that case 😉

I have just been promoted to my bosses job. Apparently I was the only candidate with a 2 page CV and 2 page covering letter. This was strongly in my favour, as clear and concise was one of the job specification criteria.

2 pages ideally with the focus on the last 10 years.

Look for any areas where there may be wasted empty space on your CV and reduce or remove this.

Don’t include references or hobbies and interests.

2 pages ideally with the focus on the last 10 years.

Look for any areas where there may be wasted empty space on your CV and reduce or remove this.

Don’t include references or hobbies and interests.

This is exactly how mine is structured now.

As above 2 pages, you can go to three but I’m yet to see any one pay much attention to the third page. The CV is to get an interview (not the job), they are looking for prob six things and usually only paying attention to three key aspects. These six things need to be apparent (ie bloody obvious) quickly and clearly, ideally seen in seconds rather than a minute plus. Good luck!

Depends on the role, contract type, sector, etc. etc.
I was once encouraged to add to my cv – it got to 6 pages – but did it’s job and got me a good contract.
Many are also machine read to look for key words and phrases.
As per my original post, listen to the recruiter, it’s in their interest to get you into a job.

Two pages. I like solid achievements in role by year or job. followed by education. Hobbies mentioned at the end of the covering letter to show you are rounded.

2 is indeed ideal, but its the first one that matters. It needs to tell them at a glance why you’re interesting and relevant enough to talk to. I re-visit it for every role I apply for, and make changes as necessary.

If specifically asked for additional roles than fit on two pages, just list them with at most a very brief summary of any relevant ones.

The one that got me the current role had a one line summary at the top beneath my name. The main page was then dedicated to recent and relevant roles, but with a vertical side panel on the right which listed contact info, specific skills, education and qualifications. By putting that panel on the right, all the relevant stuff was visible instantly, and I could fit all my employment history on the two pages, the earlier roles just being dates and job titles.

I’ve normally found covering letters needs to be quite short, and sometimes need to fit into a specific online form anyway these days. In many ways, this is more important, and possibly harder to get right than the CV.

Have one CV with every last bit of information about yourself in it.

Copy and edit it, to focus on what each potential employer is asking for, trying to keep it to two pages

Edit: Basically what malgray said

Can’t believe nobody has suggested just making the font smaller yet.

I think that anything more than 2 puts people off. As a recruiting manager you are never going to read all the way down. Just last 2-5 years. After 20 years in same company I have now moved 3 times in 4 years with a 2 page CV. I re summarise the back end to keep it this way. I also think a good covering letter that shows how much you want the job and why you are qualified plus what value you could add from D1 is equally as compelling

Normally I’d go with the 2 pages everyone else is recommending, but in this case your recruiter obviously thinks the whole of your RAF career has relevance to the job you’re applying for. And as you’re applying for a specific job that that recruiter has been hired to find someone for, I’d be inclined to go with their suggestion.

How about do a new version of the CV with all your postings on it, and have the recruiter proof read it. Ask them if there is anything in there that should emphasised because this employer is looking for it, or can be removed as not relevant.

Can’t believe nobody has suggested just making the font smaller yet.

a) someone already has and b) it’s a really daft idea. Not only do you still have a (too) long CV but it’s harder to read.

CVs have one purpose, which is to get you an interview offer. It’s then served its purpose. It’s as long as it needs to be, but shouldn’t be weighed down with nonsense – no-one really cares about your job in McDs 30 years ago even it demonstrates “dealing with the public. Culling is difficult, it’s hard to sum up five years in your life in one sentence but it needs to be done – the farther back you go, the less detail you need to be giving. List achievements rather than duties – “successfully managed a multi-million pound project which delivered ahead of time” is better than woolly stuff like “worked as a project manager liaising with other departments both on my own and as part of a team.”

Don’t include references or hobbies and interests.

See, this is the problem with generic CV advice. You ask a manager what they’d want to see and you then know what one person wants. When I’ve been involved in recruiting I like to see hobbies listed, it makes the candidate more of a person rather than a D&D character sheet. It also helps make you memorable, especially if it’s something a little out of the ordinary; when you have a stack of CVs in front of you it’s much easier to go “oh, shall we get the mountain biker and the footballer in?” rather than “well how about Brian and Jennifer?”

And get somebody to proofread it (for rogue apostrophes, for example…)

Just found this thread looking for cover letter advise – haven’t written one for years but CV needs a bit of elaboration.
Is it both addresses and “dear Sirs”? Feels awfy old fashioned.

Most people will just read almost all of the thread, not notice your post is a month detached from the rest of the thread with a different question and just type a response to the OP.

Like I just did. I’d go for “Wotcher!” in comic sans.

If this is a particular request for particular detail for a particular job with a particular employer, just add another page as a standalone appendix or whatever you want to call it.

If they really want to see it, it’s there, and you don’t have to worry about it unbalancing the rest of the CV, or shoehorning it into a format that works well everywhere else.

How did you get on, renton?

Agreed, new thread required Batman!

I missed the OP’s thread too, so didn’t spot the new question, just assumed it was an update.

No Civvy will understand the postings details.

I would write the CV geared specifically to the role you will be in.

Summarize your skills and why they are relevant. demonstrate dealing with people who aren’t in the forces. Civvy’s don’t respond to shouting.

I am not from a forces background but I have worked with several over the years. some have done exceptionally well some, took a lot of adjusting.

As per my original post, listen to the recruiter, it’s in their interest to get you into a job.

Unless s/he has already got the perfect candidate, and you are just the filler of the two “potentials” the recruiter has been asked to provide.

 haven’t written one for years but CV needs a bit of elaboration.
Is it both addresses and “dear Sirs”? Feels awfy old fashioned.

Yes, both addresses. If there’s a specific person mentioned on the advert, then them. If not, I’d probably go with “Dear Sir or Madam”

There are loads of hits for “covering letter template” on google…

Hi all,

Just to update:

I went for the interview, was surprisingly calm until I was called through. I feel as though I gave a good account of myself to the interview panel however on reflection I have realised I was saying “erm” a bit to often when trying to find the correct terminology. Will remember to not do it for the next interview.

When it came to the bit where they asked me if I had any questions I said I did and got my little notepad out as I had wrote them down. At this point the main interviewers body language changed and he crossed his arms etc and started looking like he would rather be anywhere else but here. Another member of the interview panel got his phone out and started texting. It just felt like they didn’t have time for me anymore and if they are like this on the interview what will they be like if I got the job.

Is this the norm??

Needless to say I wont be accepting their offer should it happen.

So your CV got you to the interview stage?

I’d call that a success in terms of your original question.

So your CV got you to the interview stage?

I’d call that a success in terms of your original question.

I guess you could say that however I believe it was more down to one of the interview panel being ex military himself and recognising some of the work I had done.

Ive applied for about 20 other roles and not heard anything back……