• 1. What is a CV?
• 2. Sections of a CV
• 3. CV Content and Length
• 4. CV Presentation
• 5. CV Writing Tips
• Back to Career Centre

Step 3 - CV Content and Length | My Hampshire Jobs

The content is possibly the hardest part of your CV to get right. Even if you possess excellent English skills, there are correct and incorrect ways of putting across the content on your CV. Get the content right (and everything else on your CV) and you could land the job of your dreams, but get it wrong and you are arguably just wasting your time.

Great content is not always a matter of just what you say and the way you say it, but also what you fail to say. Remember you need to sell yourself in such a way that your CV stands out above the crowd. You may have exactly the same skills as all your competitors, but if you can sell these skills in a more professional and targeted manner then this could just give you the edge.

Good content means saying the right things in the right way. It is easier said than done to do this, and you need to be honest with yourself and seek help if you know that this is not your forte. Most jobseekers are not professional writers or have a great deal of experience in CV writing, therefore most people if they are honest with themselves, could use some help. This is especially so when you consider that you are competing with applicants who may have had their CVs professionally revised by experts.

CV Page Length | My Hampshire Jobs

There is some disagreement about the ideal length of a CV. Depending upon who you listen to it should be between 1-4 pages. Most experts say it should be 2-3 pages depending upon where you are in your career path.

Many HR executives like 3 page CVs, and this seems a natural length for many mid-career CVs. However, regardless of what length you make it your CV should be:

1. Balanced in presentation : E.g. 3 pages long not 3½ pages, or 2¾ pages.
2. Balanced in content : E.g. Not just 90% pure work experience and very little of everything else.
3. Have relevant content: It is better to have a concise but highly relevant CV than a very long one which waffles.

If you are inflexible about the length of your CV then this could cause problems. E.g. some people who say that CVs should only be 2 pages in length either waffle to extend a short CV, or cram lots of information in as short an area as possible so it fits on two pages. Neither scenario is ideal.

If you have 3 pages worth of relevant information to say, you should say it on 3 pages. If you cram it onto two pages then the CV format and presentation will suffer.

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