How long should a CV be?

[Frogsandsheep]

There is no application form and I could do a short covering letter but they’ve just asked me to send over my most recent cv! It’s to do some occasional lecturing at a university- I already have a job but want to get involved with this particular institution.
Mine is currently 3 pages - education, employment, further training and experience, personal statement (covering details of skills, character and interests) and references.
Is this all wrong? I’m in a senior position now but it was a structured application form that got me this job and it’s been a while since I’ve done a cv. Thanks

2 pages max. Personal statement can largely go in cover email, references keep for later.

2 pages. Have you googled for examples? They’ve changed since 2004 when I last did mine.

Specific industries may vary but the standard is 1-2 pages. I'd go over it and make sure all the information is relevant for this specific application.

2 pages maxand tailored for the role you are applying for

A page is usually enough but you can go to two if you have to. Chop down all the education and early experience. Push the here and now.

You don't need to put references on a CV, and don't put "references available upon request" either. So that'll help you get rid of a few lines.

I would try and get some advice on academic cv specifically. I know universities academic jobs are one of the examples where cvs can be longer. Not sure if that would apply to occasional lecturing though compared with a job with research elements etc.

But yes you can usually cut back on early experience and education.

One page preferably. You could cover much of your personal statement in your cover letter - does any employer really care what your hobbies are?
Cut references.
Limit your education to university and post graduate - a list will suffice.
Your most recent and relevant employment is the only one that needs going in to any detail.
Google it there are many samples online.

Deffo only 1 page I'd say

What education and employment can I cut? I have 5 university qualifications plus lots of training and relevant courses etc so that’s long.
I have not put anything about hobbies, more about skills that are relevant. Do I need to put all my employment since university? It’s now 2 and a half pages but a whole page is a list of qualifications and places of employment 😩
I might cut lots of it into a cover letter and send them both

Have you tried removing employment that isn’t relevant to job you’re applying for (especially if it’s from 5+ years ago)
e.g., retail sales assistant

I’ve reduced the font to 11 and done single line spacing! It’s now 2 pages exactly but rather packed - will that be ok? I really want this opportunity and everything in there feels relevant

Again, you need to look at some lecturer specific cos! And UK ones not US as they have different expectations at US universities. 3 pages is not unusual for academic posts. More detail will usually be expected about university level education, research, publications.

Cvs not cos

While 2 pages is standard in the UK it really depends on your industry sector.

One of my friends used a 7 page CV for an academic role and got it. While she was writing her CV some of her family were having a go at her saying to was too long and should be 2 pages but they work in different sectors where they mostly use application forms when applying for jobs.

I work in a STEM sector and depending on the organisation my CV can be from 4 to 12 pages. The longer length is for scientific organisations who have a specific CV format where they want to know the ins and outs of all my qualifications and my relevant full employment history.

@Frogsandsheep

I’ve reduced the font to 11 and done single line spacing! It’s now 2 pages exactly but rather packed - will that be ok? I really want this opportunity and everything in there feels relevant

Make your margins slightly narrower? Any sentences you can reword to get rid of the odd word which saves a whole line? Titles that can be reformatted to display qualifications on fewer lines etc?

How crammed is it? This is a medium one I’d say (from my research when I was redoing mine).

Academic CVs are different to a standard CV.

The Prospects website gives good advice as well as some examples.

@SueEllenMishke

Academic CVs are different to a standard CV.

The Prospects website gives good advice as well as some examples.

Did you mean that to me? I think that cv is a normally ‘full’ one, for a non academic job too? Or do you not?

3 pages for an academic CV is fine.

No Greyishdays I was responding to the OP.

However, an academic CV is different and is typically longer than a standard CV of two pages. Academic CVS need to also include publications and papers presented at conferences.

My (academic) CV is 11 pgs long. Even though I'm a nobody in the academic world.
3 pages of blurb & 8 pgs of 'publications'.

Long Long Long for a Uni job OP.
If it's purely teaching job then go into detail in cover letter about your teaching & admin skills.

2 pages max

.. I have senior colleagues who still put in their casual jobs from 1987 on their full CV. Nothing gets forgotten on an academic CV. Maybe drop the O-level & A-level grades I guess, after Dr'd.

@SueEllenMishke

No Greyishdays I was responding to the OP.

However, an academic CV is different and is typically longer than a standard CV of two pages. Academic CVS need to also include publications and papers presented at conferences.

Yeah. I probably shouldn’t have used an academic example