Imagine reading a fantasy book with 540 pages; if it is well written, you might not want to come out of the world of dragons and fairies. Oh! How we wish we could just transport ourselves in those magical kingdoms.
However, on the contrary, if the book is just filled with irrelevant sentences, you would find it difficult to continue after completing 50 pages. Let alone read it till the end. You might not even feel guilty taking another one from your To-be-read (TBR) pile while completely abandoning your current read.
The same is the case with CVs. If your CV is well-written and formatted properly, then the recruiter might want to read it to the end. But if you just lay all the information out blandly, chances are your hiring manager won’t even make it to the end.
The ideal length of your resume must be from one page to a maximum of three pages. It must never go beyond that length. If you are clueless about how long a CV should be and what to include, read our guide. Below, we have answered all your questions regarding this matter.
How Much Time Do Hiring Managers Give To A CV?
A recruiter has stocks of unread resumes scattered all around his desk. He needs to cater for each one within a short duration of time. And busting out the myth for you, no, the HRs do not spend every second of their day reading the applications of every applicant. Like us, they also have a personal life and other things to attend to.
So, in general, a hiring manager is not able to give more than 6 to 8 seconds to each application. What? That’s even less than 10 seconds!
To make the most out of this time, make sure to make your resume attractive enough for the recruiter to take out his precious time to read it till the end. Below, we have shared some tips to help you make your CV concise yet covering all the useful details.
How to Make Your CV Shorter
Only Provide Useful Information:
You must keep in mind that a resume is not going to land you a job, rather it only helps you get called in for a meeting. So, instead of including every detail of your life in your application, we suggest you save some points for the meeting.
Your recruiter does not care where you used to work 20 years back. So make sure to only add timely work experience and cut out everything that you did 10 years back. Another important tip is that you must only add appropriate references.
For instance, if you are applying for the position of an academic CV writer, you must add your prior work experience in this field. Your recruiter has no interest in knowing that you also served as a nurse back in the day.
Cut out Optional Sections:
As we have highlighted earlier, your recruiter only gives your application 6 to 8 seconds. So, you only get a couple of seconds to make your impression in front of a hiring manager.
In order to make the most out of this time, we urge you to cut out any useless piece of information. If your resume exceeds more than a page, try cutting out the extracurricular activities and hobbies and interests sections. Moreover, you can also omit the academic publications or your volunteering activities sections to have more space to add relevant stuff.
Format Smartly:
Formatting a CV sounds like no big deal. But in reality, it can make or break the entire look of your CV. Dumping all your details and paying no attention to the fonts or their size can be the greatest ick for a hiring manager.
Instead of writing your information in double-spaced paragraphs, you must try to format your CV smartly. Make use of bullet points in order to make the information easy to read. Rather than using double line spacing, use a single 1.5 line spacing to avoid excess white space in your document. Moreover, use smaller fonts of 10-12 pt.. However, refrain from using smaller than that.
Use Numbers & Data:
Listing your work responsibilities is a futile way of dumping information into your resume. Your hiring manager is well aware of the duties you were entitled to before. For instance, if you were a teacher, your responsibility would definitely be preparing and planning course outlines rather than exploring the space. Duh?
So, we suggest you put a numerical value on what you accomplished in your previous job. Not only will the stats appear catchier, but they will also help your employers have a baseline for comparison. If you are still confused about how long a CV should be, we suggest you get help from any online best CV writing service. Doing so will give you a professional document with an ideal length in no time.
Get Help From A Resume Builder:
Are you still facing trouble narrowing down your CV to 1 to 3 pages? This tip will definitely help you reach your targeted length. Using an online resume builder is guaranteed to make your CV shorter while giving it a unique look. Just select whichever template you like the best and put all the necessary information in it. And voila, you are all set to flaunt your resume to get your desired job.
Balance the White Space:
Even though it is not a general rule of thumb that everyone must follow, however, it is definitely better to keep your application short and concise. It does not mean that you should pack things up in a half or a quarter page. Instead, you have to smartly provide details within a single page without leaving too much white space or leaving no space at all. The art of finding the perfect balance is the key.
If you leave too much white space, then your document will look incomplete and unprofessional. On the contrary, leaving no white space at all would make your resume look cramped and unpleasant. So, give time to your document to balance the white space, and trust us, it will help your CV look a lot more professional.
Final Verdict: A CV Should Be Concise But Must Deliver All The Necessary Information
By reading this blog, we hope that you got the answer to how long a CV should be. Although the ideal length of a CV is not more than a page, 20% of hiring managers tend to think that a CV of 3 pages is also acceptable.
Even though it totally depends on your job sector and recruiter, most people do not want to read your 3-page long autobiography. Trust us, they won’t even read half of it before they dump it in a document shredder mercilessly. Keep this in mind the next time you submit your resume to a hiring manager.