Tips for Keeping your CV on Two Pages

Generally a two page CV is more than sufficient to show your experience, expertise and skill set to date. The adage ‘less is more’ is absolutely key to creating a two page CV. Knowing what to include and exclude can prove difficult, particularly if you have a lot of experience you want to show a prospective employer. These useful tips can help you get your CV comfortably on two pages.

Brevity

• Stick to short succinct statements.
• Keep to the point. Don’t waffle.
• Make every word count – perhaps there is a more succinct way to put it to get the same message across.
• Be ruthless – consider what the employer really wants to read about.

Reduce Details on Older Jobs

• Shorten your CV by taking out or reducing details on older or less relevant jobs.
• Listing older jobs with minimal information is usually more than adequate.
• Most employers are only interested in your employment history over the last 5-10 years.
• Usually your current or most recent roles will be the information that interests the employer most.

Filter out irrelevant details

• Think in terms of what the employer is looking for – there is no need to cram in everything you did.
• Filter out information that is not relevant to the role.
• Try to match your skill set to the job requirements.
• Make choices over details to include and / or exclude based on how well they will assist your application.

Avoid clichés

• Best not to waste precious space on overused phrases.
• It is better to show and tell the employer how you gained these skills.
• Seek to prove you have the required skills to do the job.

Don’t waste space with personal details

• Present your personal details on 1 or 2 lines at the top of your CV.
• Make it easy for the employer to contact you.
• Your date of birth, marital status, etc. can be excluded from your CV.

A final tip to consider if you are still struggling to get your CV on two pages, is to rework the line spacing and margin width. Sometimes a little readjusting is all that is needed.

Other Tips

For more helpful information to support your job search, see our Job Seeking Tips.