By Chanuka Jeewantha · Published · Updated
"Keep it to two pages" is the most repeated CV rule and one of the least reliable, because it assumes one market and one career stage. The honest answer is that length depends on where you are applying and how much relevant experience you have. Getting it wrong in either direction costs you.
It depends on the market
The UK expects two pages, occasionally one for early-career, and a longer CV there reads as an inability to prioritise. Australia and New Zealand are comfortable with two to four pages when the detail is relevant, and government roles there add key selection criteria on top. The Gulf accepts two to three pages and expects more personal and project detail. Singapore rewards concision, often one to two pages.
Applying the wrong market's length is a common and quiet mistake. A three-page CV into a UK role, or a stripped one-page CV into an Australian government role, both signal that you do not know the market you are applying to.
It depends on your stage
A graduate with one internship does not need two pages, and padding to reach them weakens the CV. A senior professional with fifteen years of relevant work cannot compress into one page without cutting the evidence that justifies the level. Match the length to what you genuinely have to say that is relevant to this role.
The keyword is relevant. Fifteen years does not mean every role gets equal space. The last decade earns detail; the early jobs shrink to a line or two, or drop off entirely once they stop adding anything.
How to cut without losing what matters
When a CV runs long, the fix is rarely smaller margins. Cut the oldest and least relevant roles to a single line. Remove responsibilities that are assumed in the job anyway. Delete the generic profile adjectives that could describe anyone. Merge repetitive bullets that make the same point twice.
What stays is the recent, the relevant and the evidenced. If a line does not help this specific application, its length is not the problem. Its presence is.
The short version
- Length depends on market: two pages UK, longer for Australia and the Gulf, concise for Singapore.
- Match length to relevant experience, not to a universal rule.
- Recent roles earn detail; old ones shrink to a line or drop off.
- Cut assumed duties and generic adjectives before you touch the margins.