To think if you send me more than two pages on your CV, I’m not reading it?

[SnugShaker]

I don’t care how senior the role is - if you can’t summarise your experience in two pages, I’m already switching off. To me, it shows poor judgement, lack of clarity, and zero respect for the reader’s time.

AIBU to think concise = competent?

Depends on the sector. I’m an academic and would expect details of research, publications, teaching and leadership. For senior roles I’d expect 25+ pages and yes we do read them. I would expect a 2-page CV to be unappointable. Standard jobs YANBU.

This exactly, an academic would include their list of publications. A non academic post person aged over 40 might have a long list of jobs, qualifications etc.

Yanbu, people should learn to present their experience concisely.

I do accept that academic CVs are different.

Im mainly thinking that i wouldn't want to work for you!

Recruiters aren't interested in what you did 30 years ago. 10 years max. You need to grab their attention with your current achievements.

Depends on the role and what you ask for in the job spec. If you want CV and 750 word statement its probs running to 3 or 4.

But if you said 2 sides of relevant experience and qualifications I think its reasonable to dismiss people who didnt adhere to that

But why would you include details of your GCSEs on your CV? If you have higher qualifications and a few years of work experience it’s not at all relevant. A few jobs may have specific GCSE requirements but that would only take one line.

It really isn't necessary to list all of your qualifications. Honestly, I don't need to know that you got a B in Food Technology 20 years ago. Most people just list their highest and/or most relevant qualifications, and it doesn't need a lot of space.

Not true, candidates are frequently asked about gaps in their CVs. Often the gap is a gap year

Can you tell us who you work for? So I know who to avoid in the future.

Obviously it’s industry dependent, but we screen out CVs that are longer than 3 pages. If you’ve interviewed enough people, you’ll notice the trend is: people with long CVs = don’t understand/respect the recruitment process, have an over-inflated ego, generally a bit of a nightmare to work with.

Sounds like a humble brag, shows us how senior & powerful you are 🤣

Hardly! I did a lot more recruitment in the earlier stages of my career. These days, I tend to leave it to others, unless it is a really important senior post. Lots of very junior managers will be involved in recruiting staff.

What’s your feelings on a headshot with an inspirational quote at the top OP? 😂

I thought 2 sides was standard. Who lists their GCSE's once they have a degree? '10 GCSE's grade A-C including English and maths' is surely all you would put? I agree with not leaving gaps in your CV but you can very briefly summarise old/irrelevant experience in a couple of lines.

Almost 30 years ago, I received a CV that was 27 pages long. This was for a teaching post in a secondary school (I was the headteacher). CVs are not required in most teaching applications (we require that everyone completes the application form, which contains all the information we want), but he decided he'd send me his CV anyway.

The best part was that he included he was a blood and sperm donor...

As long as you actually read them instead of punting them into an AI sifter for keywords, fine.

Otherwise, you're not going to get all the skills, experience and qualifications on there.

I agree.

Being concise is a skill I struggle with but I understand it's a problem to not be able to learn and implement it.

I think it's part of the modern world where social media has made people think everyone has a story that everyone else should be interested in.

It's fine. Presumably, you are the one who chooses candidates.

True.

Last time I submitted my CV for a job I already had more than 30 years relevant experience. My first job after graduating I spent more than 13 years there but managed to summarise in about two lines. Slightly more for more recent roles and then half a page for current role.

Front page always a summary of qualifications, skills etc.

Oh and one thing that used to perplex me was people putting experience in chronological order with earliest stuff first and most recent last. Surely the other way round is more logical, people are more interested in what you are doing now not what you did in your first job.

I am with you OP, I mainly deal with jobs with application forms with supporting statements. Often we can get up to 60 applications for one job and I have only a few hours to shortlist, so I appreciate information presented concisely, with extra points for linking statement clearly to person spec.

Agree. Having worked in recruitment for many years, my experience is if that a CV is longer than 2 pages then some things on there are unnecessary.

I think the higher up you are the shorter your Cv should be, listing your O'level results from 40yrs ago isn't relevant.

For instance, Dick Whittington need only write 'Thrice Lord Mayor of London' to get a job as a city banker.

I was going to say that! Academic CVs need to list publications, albeit a selection if there are many.

3 pages should be enough though.

To be honest the 2 page thing is a very old fashioned view from when people used to print them out. Now if it’s 2 pages and 2 lines it’s fine because people don’t print.

also I’d personally prefer a longer cv but with more bullets. Ie more white space that used to be unheard of because of the 2 page rule.

I think a longer cv with a cover letter tailored to the job to highlight bits of the CV are great. The applicant isn’t a mind reader on what might pique your interest