How large should be your CV?

One of the common questions that people (especially rookies) always ask me is that how big should be a CV? Should it be one page or can they take it to the pages and so on. For experienced professionals, I have seen CVs that run into five pages. I once got a CV that was about 7 pages long and the person applying for a HR position had additional annexures describing his achievements and writings. I was wondering if he ever had to write his biography, it would give the encyclopedia series a run for space on the bookshelf.

A CV is supposed to be a brief overview of your professional profile with snapshots of your experience and education. But only a snapshot. Unless you’re the one who has changed job every 2 years and have a total experience of 20+ years, your CV should still fit into a page. Max two.

Consider this, Human Resource people are just given the overview of the profile of the potential hire with a brief requirements about skills, education and experience. They are the ones who primarily shortlist your CVs and are the ones who will never (well almost!) read your profile if it is too long. In fact, some HR professionals either just reject the CVs that are too long (it’s a punishment for them to read so much when they have to read through scores of CVs to filter 2 candidates) or will just pass on to the hiring manager (the technical team) and leave you at their mercy to shortlist your CV. Well, with the teams so busy with their task (and in some cases, they’re doing the task that you would do after joining, that means, they are doing double the work now), there are hardly any chances that they’d read a long CV to filter anyways.

But if you have so much to write, how can you condense them into a page? Heard of the method of elimination? Go for it.

First of all, eliminate huge margins on all sides. CVs with 2.5 cm margins on all sides don’t look neat. It’s a waste of space and it of course paper (when you’re printing it, and someone’s printing it at some point for sure). However, don’t go overboard by cramping chunks of information without enough line spacing.

Second, the font size. Apart from your name and some section headers – and that is optional – any text on the CV above font size 11 is a big NO. It appears that you are shouting right at the face of the person reading your CV and shows lack of knowledge of proxemics.

Third, put relevant information only. Tailoring your CV for the job you’re applying for is important. Some of the common information on CV that’s irrelevant are:

• Father’s Name – I don’t need to know this unless you’re the son of Warren Buffet or Barack Obama. If it’s anyone else, who cares!
• Zodiac Sign
• Passport Number
• Nationality – Is required only if you’re applying for jobs outside your country.
• Religion
• Declaration – I declare that the above information is true to my knowledge and belief. Come on! That’s your CV and not a contract yet. If the information weren’t true, regardless of your declaration, you’d be out.

Next, some information on the CV is relevant only for specific purposes. For example, if you already have 8 years of experience with demonstrated team handling and communication skills, why do you need to mention that you were a member of the school football team; or that you participated in debates and quiz in school? If you’re applying for the position of an Accountant, your interest in travelling or trekking may not be relevant for the job. Instead, highlight on your maths skills. Making your CV relevant will only help you let the recruiter focus on their requirements vis-à-vis your relevant skills rather than getting lost in your biography.

If your CV still doesn’t fit into a page, consider eliminating some information that are optional. E.g. Career Objective. Search Google and you can find the career objective of almost any person on earth. You’ve copied them anyways and I am not interested in it. Especially if you’re not a fresher.

Last, having said that the CV should fit into a page, if everything fails and your CV is just going beyond a page, please ensure that it doesn’t end in less than half of the second page. If it crosses a page, it should cover at least two-third of the next page (preferably full-page). Go on and add that you’re still single, you know 3 languages (of which you can write only one, speak two and understand the third too). Give a brief “Career Summary” and follow it up with details on the next page.

To cut it short, make a CV that should speak positive things about you and should still leave the interviewer with some questions to ask you. Remember that the next step you want is an interview.