Crafting application documents is time consuming. After all, your goal is to collect all the information required to earn a great new position while not overloading your resume with unnecessary factual. It can be a delicate balance, and one that leave many jobseekers confused as to how long their curriculum vitae (CV) should be.
Is a 3-page CV too Long?
When writing a CV, being succinct is critical but so is including all of your critical information. So, rather than worrying about whether you should write a one-page CV or a three-page CV, focus instead on honing in on the most important points about your education, skills, and experience.
The length of your finished CV should correlate closely with your level of experience. The rule of thumb is that generally you should write about one page per decade of experience. Using that logic:
- A one-page CV should suffice for recent graduates and those with limited work experience.
- A two-page CV is the average length for most mid-career professionals
- A three-page CV is fine for those with long work histories, extensive published work, or exceptional accomplishments.
In other words, if warranted, a three-page CV is absolutely not a deal-breaker. In fact, the information on that third page could be just the push you need to get you to the top of a recruiter’s pile.
Follow these 4 CV-writing best practices as you create career-advancing application documents to determine how long your CV will be.
Evaluate Your Career Level
One of the first ways to determine how long your curriculum vitae ought to be is to examine your career level. If you are a recent graduate or new to the workforce, you’ll need far less space to describe your education, skills, professional experience, and publications. In this case, consider limiting your CV to one or two pages. Make it long enough to include all of your important information without adding any fluff.
If you have significant tenure in your current role, have participated in many different research projects, have had many articles or paper published, or have many years of work experience, it then becomes more appropriate to consider a longer CV.
Restrict Nonessential Information
Especially within the academic field, it can be tempting to list everything you’ve ever done: every paper, every project, every class taught – everything. Resist the temptation!
When listing teaching experience, use the exact titles of the course you’ve taught but skip including all of your prior course codes. You can use the valuable real estate in your CV to demonstrate to hiring managers on why you’re the best candidate without going into that level of administrative detail.
In fact, watch the language you use throughout your CV. Yes, your target audience is someone who is in your field and who will likely understand industry jargon. But keep in mind that your CV may also be shared out with other professionals during the recruiting and hiring process. As such, the language used needs to be appropriate for those who may not be as well versed in your field.
Since you are immersed in your industry, it may be hard for you to spot industry-specific language that other may have trouble understand. To check for this, you may want to have a friend or family member read over your CV to ensure a layman can also understand the points you're including about your career and background.
When writing a CV, being succinct is critical but so is including all of your critical information. So, rather than worrying about whether you should write a one-page CV or a three-page CV, focus instead on honing in on the most important points about your education, skills, and experience.
Be Selective with Peripheral Information
Your potential hiring manager is going to be most interested in the experience and education you have that is directly related to the position they are filling. However, hiring for fit as well as skill is also a consideration, so providing additional information about yourself could help you stand out.
Consider using just a bit of space on your curriculum vitae to provide a few details about the following items of interest:
- Extracurricular activities you have been involved in during college, if you are a recent grad, or currently
- Volunteer projects you’ve pursued
- Hobbies or activities you participate in, especially those that relate to your field
If you choose to include these additional items on your CV, be sure to include only neutral activities or associations. For example, you should always avoid mentioning religious or political affiliations, which could introduce unconscious bias into the hiring process.
Remember, to keep this section brief. While, adding this type of information to your CV is an opportunity to share a bit of your uniqueness as a person, it should not take up real estate that could be used to feature work-related information. The idea is to pique the interest of a potential colleague or future boss, not tell them everything you do in your spare time.
Bring It All Together
A curriculum vitae has a slightly looser flow and design than a resume and also typically runs a bit longer. This doesn’t give you carte blanche, however.
Once you’ve assembled all the information necessary to write your CV, do take the time to apply standardized formatting, including headings and use concise bullet points rather than long paragraphs. In other words, make it easy for someone else to pick up your CV and quickly read about your credentials.
Remember that you have but a few moments to capture their attention before another candidate is considered. Once you’ve nailed down what to include, make your one- or three-page CV truly shine so that you are ready to share it with the world.
