How long should a CV be?

The honest answer is: as long as it needs to be and not a line longer, and "needs" is decided by what the reader will use. A recruiter reading a CV for the first time spends well under a minute on it. The question is not whether two pages are allowed — they usually are — but whether the second page earns its place.

The common rule of thumb

In most markets the widely repeated guidance runs like this. Students and people with under about five years of experience: one page. Mid-career professionals: two pages. Senior people with long, relevant histories: two pages, occasionally three in Australia or for executive roles where a longer record is expected. Academic CVs are a separate matter and have no page limit. These are conventions, not rules — nobody discards a strong 1.3-page CV — but they reflect a real reader's tolerance. A one-page CV from a twenty-year career reads as if something has been left out; a two-page CV from a recent graduate reads as padding, and the reader starts looking for what was padded.

What the second page costs

Recruiters tend to read the first page closely and the second page quickly, if at all. That means the second page should contain the material that matters least if it is skimmed — older roles, education for experienced candidates, additional certifications — and the first page should contain everything you would want them to see if they stopped there: contact details, summary, your current or most recent role in full, and your core skills. If your most persuasive achievement is on page two, the length is not the problem; the ordering is.

What to cut when you run over

Cut in this order. First, duties that any holder of that job title would obviously have had — "responsible for answering customer emails" tells a reader nothing they did not already assume. Second, roles older than about ten to fifteen years, which can be compressed to a single line each or grouped under an "Earlier experience" heading with titles and dates only. Third, the objective statement, if you have one; a two-line summary is more useful and shorter. Fourth, hobbies and interests, unless one is genuinely relevant or unusual. Fifth, the phrase "references available on request", which everyone assumes. What you should not cut is white space: a CV squeezed onto one page with 9-point type and no margins is harder to read than a well-set two-page one, and harder for a parser too.

What to add when you are short

A half-empty page looks unfinished, and early-career candidates often have more to say than they think. Projects — university, personal, open source, volunteer — with a concrete outcome each. Coursework or a dissertation title that relates to the role. Part-time and temporary work, described for what it demonstrated rather than what it was. Languages with an honest level. Certifications and online courses, if they are relevant and completed. The test is the same as for cutting: does this line give the reader a reason to want a conversation? If yes, it belongs; if it merely fills space, leave the space.

How the app shows length

The live preview paginates as you type, and the page count is shown next to it, so you see the moment a line pushes you onto a new page rather than discovering it at export. A common workflow is to write everything first, watch the count, and then trim the second page from the bottom until either it disappears or what remains is worth keeping. The three layouts fit different amounts of text on a page — Compact fits the most — so switching layout is another lever before you start deleting. The ATS check panel also flags length as a checklist item, but it is a nudge based on the conventions above, not a judgement about your particular career.