Am I doing myself a disservice with 2page CV?

[wakingfire]

What do you all think about length of CV nowadays? I have edited mine like crazy to get it down to two pages, but I have 20 years experience in good jobs, plus relevant extra-curricular work, awards and training to fit on too.

A good friend showed me hers briefly and it was over four pages long. I've been using the two-page CV since I was 16 - and I managed to fill it then.

I am now job hunting to get my career back after three years working in a different area, I've had non-stop rejections and I was wondering if I made my CV longer it would perhaps sell me better?

It's much more likely the opposite. Outside of academia and a few other fields with non-standard norms, anything more than 2 pages would hurt you.

That said, your CV could be two pages long and still poor quality (most 16 year olds won't have nearly enough substance for two pages). 20 years into a career, I also doubt your extracurricular activities are adding much. I'd focus on your last 10 years of work and prune other stuff down.

When I'm recruiting I absolutely hate long CVs. Pet hate is people who have clearly just added stuff for every post since they were 16, or include GCSE results etc. Not relevant!

The main thing is making sure you adapt it for each job to emphasise the most relevant elements and to write a good covering letter.

It might make sense to have a longer 'master' version that you edit down for each application.

Having said that, it might vary by industry. Have you spoken to any agencies? Or got any feedback from any of the applications you've put in?

I have gone to many recruiters in the past. I work with one or two now who are VERY good at what they do. They have an intrinsic knowledge of the market, they're competent, they don't put you forward for stuff you aren't suited for.

I had a 2 pager. He said to me don't be afraid to take it to four if it's needed. He did advise that on my last four roles which are most relevant to the next job I want to do, to expand the detail on those the most. Since they involve a lot of problem solving and that's a required capability I was told put plenty of examples in here of the types of problems you've solved.

So I've done that.

Only just started putting my CV back out there so can't tell you if it's worked doing that or not, yet!

I would say, I'm 51, so if I included every job I've had since I left school, my CV would be like a medieval parchment! So I make the much older jobs v short descriptions and expand on the ones that are most recent and most appropriate.

Rejections are one thing (at least it's a response), it's the being ignored and never getting responses that cheeses me off!

I have more faith working with the agencies I'm working with about finding work than the endless applying for jobs online. Also, do not rule out contacting directly the companies that do the thing you want to do and asking what they've got and can you come in and talk to them etc. Generally I find if I get in front of an interviewer about a job, I do well - but that's usually on the back of the introduction and recommendation of the agency.

I've also beefed up my LinkedIn and made sure that just before one of my line managers left a few weeks ago, that I got him to put a recommendation on there and I'll be doing that with other colleagues as well.

Two pages is plenty, I hate people's cv's with loads of blabber on them. Focus with brevity on key points/jobs and they're more likely to want to meet you for further info than giving away too much before you've even got a foot in the door imo

That's all great advice, thanks everyone for your comments. Well I've had some rejections and mostly been ignored.

The trouble with my extra-curricular activities is that I was half heartedly trying to merge them into my main job - but would probably be better off thinking more carefully about how or if I do that.

I'm guilty of not really tailoring my cv in most cases - I've just been doing first few applications to recruitment agencies to see the lie of the land. I probably need to think a lot more carefully about each role.

Also I'm thinking part of the problem is that I had a very linear career until I had children, since when I started my own business, then became a teacher, and the applications that I'm doing now are based on my linear career which ended over 5 years ago. I thought I would be in a good position as there are no gaps and I've kept working, but it means all my relevant experience is 10 - 15 years old.

Do you think anyone would be interested in that old experience? Even though it was with top companies?

What format are you using for the CV? If you're using a traditional chronological employment history type format, you might want to try a skills based format instead (some advice here: www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/skills-based-cv-template/).

That would allow you to focus on skills (including any from non-work activity) rather than focusing on the timeline.

Do you have any friends/contacts in the industry who could have a look at your CV for you? That might be a useful way to get feedback.

Good luck OP! Let us know how you get on.

I used to work in recruitment and anything more than 2 pages isn't read, IME.