Curriculum Vitae

[David Martin]

I would imagine a headline writer's CV should be half a page maximum.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Remembering a CV I once received, if you include foreign languages don't put the same one twice.

Dutch?

[David Martin]

Dutch?

[nicknack]

Double.

[David Martin]

Quits

[Tim Hall]

I read a CV the other day. Five pages! According to a colleague, there was a three page appendix as well.

[Poly Hive]

Sadly despite getting in touch with the trainers we get unsolicited CV's near every week. We do not employ staff btw.

I used to write them for the guys on the rigs.

The best one so far? No name........... anywhere. And this is "approved" by the agency doing the training and no doubt paid for out of our taxes.

PH

[perpetual dan]

I've just finished first draft of covering letter and CV for something that I'd really quite like to get.
3 pages + 3 pages. 
May take some focus tomorrow to bring the length down, but at nearly half past midnight now is the time to unwind my brain so I can function tomorrow!

[Jakob]

Mine is creeping up on 3 pages now, not including cover letter and showreel breakdown.

[citoyen]

Three pages is fine if you genuinely have three pages worth of stuff you have to say about yourself. The problem is that most people don't.

Good luck Dan.

[Jaded]

3 pages is ok if pretty much everything in it is relevant to the job you are applying for.

[Ham]

Sorry but even if it is relevant, 3 pages is too long. Whatever it is that you want to show, you should be able to do it in a max of 2 pages, such that they will be interested enough to ask you in for interview.

[perpetual dan]

Well, the letter shrunk to almost two pages without a lot of work. Today's task: polish and distill to get the signature to fit on the 2nd page!

The resume also trimmed a bit, but not to 2 pages. I'm doing a pretty diverse job at the moment and applying for something that is also multi-skilled. There are three things that merit more than a 2 line description, most things only get one line. I'm happy enough with the resume now - the last job I applied for, and got to interview, my CV was 13 pages  and personal statement 2 and a bit - but that was a different sort of beast.

[Jakob]

Sorry but even if it is relevant, 3 pages is too long. Whatever it is that you want to show, you should be able to do it in a max of 2 pages, such that they will be interested enough to ask you in for interview.

Bear in mind that I work in an industry that's mostly contract based. Typical employments go from 6-12months and the companies/projects I've worked on in the past are all relevant. This means that most entries will contain company, position, duration and a 1-2 line project description.
(It's basically an expanded version of this: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1201709/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1)

Then add skill-set description and 3 pages is tight, even without any personal fluff.  Add cover letter, showreel and and showreel breakdown and it's 5+ pages. Luckily I can now rely on a online showreel this days and no longer have to send out DVDs/tapes.

[Tigerrr]

I spent the last 15 years recruiting.
Lots of good comment up thread.
Biggest mistake in cvs is length, and waffle.
Cv is a pitch for interview first, with about 30seconds life.
Later it may then be used in interview as a discussion stimulus.
The stuff you did 10 years ago is irrelevant, unless your most recent role failed.
Keep it brief, know what you are selling, and cut out adjectival or meaningless noise.

[Jakob]

Again, I think it depends highly on the industry. It's important that people see that I've been working at the top level of the industry throughout my career.

[perpetual dan]

Well, it got me an interview 
Which I had earlier. I don't change job often, I'd forgotten how stressful the build up is. They were as nice as they look on the web. I hope that where I didn't have the best answer in my head that "not a bullshitter" will go in my favour.

[Tigerrr]

Again, I think it depends highly on the industry. It's important that people see that I've been working at the top level of the industry throughout my career.

Quite agree, but if that is a headline, put it in the headline summary, rather than leave it to be deduced by reading the detail, or worse on page 2.

[Jakob]

Except a headline is not enough (Anyone can claim that). Project,employer and role is still important and needs to be included. This is SOP for my industry