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Ask HN: How important is it to stuff your CV into one page?

9 points by platzhirsch ↗ HN
Recruiters and CV Reviewers don't have much time, so its often recommended to put only the most important information on one page, especially for new graduates.

I am writing my CV in LaTeX and it takes 2 pages, I am a soon to-be new graduate as well and I dislike the idea to switch the page layout only to press all the information into one page. The most important facts are on page one and some additional (Awards, Certificates, detailed skill set) are on page two.

How important do you think is this rule of thump or is it already outdated? I am just afraid that my CV could be sorted out just because it is long and the recruiter don't want to waste time reading it.

14 comments

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yashchandra
" am a soon to-be new graduate " I am assuming you do not have any real world experience yet other than internships possibly. In that case, anything over 1 page is overkill in your case. In general, 2-3 pages is max. that a Resume should have. Anything over that, it is pointless. I suggest you keep your 1 pager resume and another doc. where you list your projects/experience in detail. If anyone is interested, you can share your detailed doc. in addition to your 1 pager Resume/CV

EDIT: since the OP has clarified his experience, I did not mean to insult his experience earlier. But like i said, for recent graduates, usually 1 pager is good enough in the US at least. It could be different for other countries. For example, I know that in India, people even add their date of birth etc. on their Resume/CV which is actually not required/recommended in the US.

platzhirsch
I have worked as a working student for more than half a year, also I will write my master thesis in the industry dealing with "real world problems". On page 1 are: Skill list, Education, Experience with details about the work done. Page 2 is only sugar: my skill set ranked with year and self-evaluated knowledge, awards, certifications, activities. But you would say anyway that it would do more harm then good?
yashchandra
"But you would say anyway that it would do more harm then good?" Not at all. It may not do any harm but it may not do you any good necesarily. Usually, recruiter/managers scan only for 2-3 seconds unless they find specifics that they like.You can keep Page 2 of course. There is no hard and fast rule.
platzhirsch
"[...], I did not mean to insult his experience earlier. [...]"

No offense taken, you had an absolute valid point there and even with my experience (which is not that much) it's out of question that I can shrink it to the size of 1 page.

debacle
If it's a CV, it's not important at all. Write a book.

If it's an American style resume, then it's pretty important but not superlatively important. Your resume can be 2 pages (maybe 3 if you're awesome), but assume that the second page will never get looked at (and make sure your good stuff is on the first).

Edit: Also, it helps to have multiple resumes. My project management experience is ~2 lines on my programmer resume, but on my project management resume it's most of the page (obviously).

yashchandra
Agreed with multiple versions of Resume. I have always believed that what you know does not matter. What you can offer the prospective employer that they are looking for, matters. Big difference.
paulsutter
We could give better feedback if you posted the draft of your CV. I'd be surprised if you can't fit everything important into one page. But maybe my assumptions are false, and certainly our advice would sound a lot more compelling if we could point out specific things that to emphasize or remove.

Think about how long Steve Jobs' resume would be. You could fit it on half a page. Is your background really more significant than his?

therealarmen
If a C-level executive of a public company can fit their CV into one page... you can fit your CV into one page.
platzhirsch
This is not a question of whether I am able to do that I am totally able of doing it, I just don't want to, because I am questioning whether this is necessary.
ig1
President Obama can fit his CV into his name, why would anyone need more ?

As you become more senior and you gain a public profile, the importance of your CV diminishes. This is true even of developers, many senior developers are hired because of their reputation and not their CV.

blacklooksgreat
My uncle was a Col. in the Air Force, taught at Air Force Academy, Naval War College, wrote 3 books, got a PhD, and was the dean of a department of a University. When he was 45 and I was 15ish, he said "Always have a one page resume." If he could do it, so can you.
eshvk
I had a 2 page resume and I was fresh out of school, you will be fine. The market is so choked at the moment that if you are from a decent school, with decent grades and nice internships, a recruiter will take the time to give it the look over.

But yeah, optimize it as much as possible: remove as much as you can remove but like I said don't worry too much about the 1 page requirement...