Write a CV that gets read

Recruiters often spend less than a minute on a first look at a CV. A clear, honest, well-ordered CV makes that minute count.

Keep it short

Two pages is enough for most people. If you're starting out, one page is fine. Put the most recent and most relevant things first.

Start with the basics

• Your name, phone number and email address at the top. Use an email address that sounds professional.
• Your town or suburb. Employers want to know you can get to work. You don't need your full street address.
• Leave out your ID number, date of birth, marital status, religion and a photo unless the job advert asks for them.

Write a short profile

Two or three sentences about who you are and the work you want. For example:

List your work history

For each job, give the job title, the company, the dates (month and year) and three or four bullet points about what you did. Where you can, add something you achieved:

• Picked and packed an average of 300 orders a shift with a 99% accuracy rate.
• Trained four new team members on the scanning system.

Gaps are normal. If you were studying, caring for family or looking for work, you can say so in one line.

Add education, skills and licences

Matric and any further studies, short courses and certificates, your driver's licence code, and computer or machine skills. Languages you speak are a strength: list them all.

Check it before you send it

• Read it out loud to catch mistakes, or ask a friend to read it.
• Save it as a PDF called with your name, for example Thandi-Mokoena-CV.pdf.
• Change your profile to match each job you apply for.

References

Write "References available on request", and let your references know an employer may call them.

When your CV is ready, register it with Go2Work. It's free.