How long should a UK CV be?

I screen 80-100 CVs a week from my recruitment desk. The two-page rule isn't a stylistic preference — it's how the medium actually works. Eight seconds on the top half of page one decides whether I keep reading. Another twenty seconds skim if I'm interested. Page three almost never gets read unless something on pages one or two has already convinced me you're a candidate I want to interview.

When one page is right: graduates, candidates with under three years of total experience, contractors with short engagements, people returning after a long break who don't have much recent material. Forcing two pages here creates padding, and padded CVs read worse than tight one-page CVs.

When three pages is acceptable: academic CVs (where publication and grant history is part of the document), senior consultancy CVs at partner level, specialist technical CVs where project portfolio matters (architects, lead engineers, complex programme managers). Even at three pages, page one must still earn the read on its own — the assumption that the recruiter will keep flipping is wrong.

The most common failure I see: candidates pad to two pages when one would work, because they've heard 'two pages is the standard' and assume one looks under-experienced. It doesn't. A tight one-page CV from someone with two years of experience reads as confident and edited. A bloated two-page CV from the same person reads as hopeful filler. Edit ruthlessly, then check whether what's left is genuinely two pages — if it isn't, don't pad it.