How to Determine the Length of Your CV?

There’s a long-running dispute about whether or not size matters when it comes to job seekers: What is the ideal length for a resume?

If you have invested some time to research resume best practices, you can have probably heard that a one-page CV is necessary. Although there are many benefits of a detailed, one-page CV, deciding how long a CV should be is not easy as restricting it to one page. Readability and content quality are more significant than resume length; therefore, let’s glance at what to emphasize first and how CV length should be evaluated.

As your CV is the key tool that you’ll use to promote yourself throughout a job hunt, it’s crucial to add as much appropriate information as possible about your abilities, experiences, and accomplishments. However, it’s also essential to understand how long your resume should be. Knowing how long your resume should be might assist you in deciding what information you should add to your CV.

How Many Pages Should a Resume Be?

Particularly for students, a one-page CV is quite common, recent graduates and specialists with one to ten years of experience. If you’ve many years of experience or key knowledge from your past, which leads to a multi-page CV, is it suitable for employers? Yes, there is an easy answer to this question. Although, if your CV covers two or even three pages, there are some considerations you should remember.

The ideal length of your CV must be determined depending on many factors, including the type of job you’re looking for and the duration of your appropriate experience and education. Usually, the standard expectation for a resume is that it fits on one page. Although, two- or three-page resumes are more relevant in some situations. Without compromising the style, layout, or format of your CV, your resume should contain the number of pages required to cover all vital info about your qualifications.

When to Use a One-Page Resume

If you can put all of the relevant information about your qualifications on one page, you should use it. For the following persons and backgrounds, a one-page resume is usually enough:

• Students or new graduates

• Candidates to entry-level positions

• Work experience of fewer than ten years in a relevant field

• If you’ve just had one or two jobs with the same boss.

• If you’re thinking about changing careers but don’t have any transferable experience

When to Use a Two-Page Resume

Usually, one page is not enough to express all of the crucial information in a resume. If your resume requires a second page, you should add your most significant achievements on the first page so that the interviewer or recruiter is more inclined to continue reading to the second page. A two-page resume can be suitable for the following people:

• Candidates to mid-level positions

• Work experience of more than ten years in a relevant field

• If you have comprehensive professional achievements

• Students or graduates with massive academic achievements related to the position 

• If you have to remove crucial and significant information to fit on one page

• If you have to compromise design and layout components like headings or key sections to fit on one page

When to Use a Three-Page Resume

Using a three-page resume is considerably uncommon than a one- or two-page resume. Applicants with resumes, which require three or more pages, are more likely to be applying for a position that needs a Curriculum Vitae (CV) rather than a resume. Although, the three-page resume can be appropriate in the following situations:

• If you’ve more than 20 years of professional work experience in a relevant field

• Candidates to senior- or executive-level positions
• Candidates within the field of science or academia

• If you have comprehensive published work or exceptional professional achievements

• If you have comprehensive project management expertise and have to discuss project features or case studies

• If you’re looking for a technical job and have to mention a lot of technological achievements or abilities,

Steps to Decide How Many Pages to Include in your Resume

Here are several steps to decide how many pages to include in your resume, which includes:

1. Read the job description and do research

Read the job description for the job you’re looking for attentively before writing your resume. As you read the job description, look for keywords related to the education, expertise, experience, and qualifications that the employer is seeking. Next, do some research about the company to decide the applicants who would be a perfect match. You can utilize this information to figure out what information about your qualification that your resume requires to include.

2. Consider your career level and experience

Secondly, consider the career level of the job you’re looking for and your relevant work experience. If the job is entry-level, a one-page resume will most probably be enough. A multi-page resume may be required if the employment is mid-level, senior-level, or executive level. Similarly, if you have a broad range of relevant professional work experience and accomplishments over ten years, you can also require a multi-page resume.

3. Review your resume for relevant information

After that, review your resume and decide what information is appropriate for the job you’re looking for. If you discover any unnecessary information, you should eliminate this, mainly if your resume is more than one page long. When examining your resume, you should consider the information about the job description and your study to see if you have any other appropriate information to include in a resume.

4. Review your resume for formatting

Then, check your resume to make sure it’s formatted correctly. Hiring managers and interviewers should be able to review your resume rapidly and discover the most crucial information. Use a multi-page resume if you want more than one page to contain all necessary information in a tidy and ordered manner.

You can start by making sure that each section has a specific heading. Even, you should also ensure that your resume is well-written and spelling and grammatical mistakes-free. Lastly, make sure that there is enough space between sections and white space on your resume to avoid it being over-crowded.

Some Key Takeaways

As your resume is the primary tool that you will use to encourage yourself during a job hunt, it’s vital to add as much appropriate information as possible about your expertise, experiences, and accomplishments. Here we have explained several crucial steps to decide how many pages to include in your resume, which will be helpful for you during the job search process.

If your current company’s job is not oriented to your long-term goals, consider taking immediate measures. Give yourself time and think about where you’d like to be in the next few years. Feel free to contact JobsPivot for more job opportunities and jobs in singapore  to decide your professional path efficiently.