An employer with 200 applications spends a few seconds deciding whether to keep reading yours. Everything in this lesson is about surviving those seconds.
Put your name and contact details at the top, and your most recent experience directly below. Do not open with a long paragraph about yourself, because it is the part most employers skip.
Two pages is the maximum. One page is better if you are early in your career. Use the same simple layout throughout, and no photograph unless the employer asks for one.
Write what you did and what changed. "Served customers" is weak. "Served customers at a busy till, handled cash and closed the shop three nights a week" tells them you were trusted.
Describing the same shop job.
What happens: It could be anyone in any shop. It shows the job existed, but nothing about you in it.
What happens: Trusted with money, trusted with people, trusted with keys. Same job, and now the employer can see what kind of worker you are.
Should I include my ID number and address?
Your city or area is enough. A full street address is not needed to apply and it is personal information you are giving to strangers. Never put your ID number on a CV you send out, because it is used for identity fraud. If an employer needs it after making an offer, they will ask.
How do I explain a gap where I was not working?
Say what you did with the time, briefly and without apology: studying, caring for family, doing piece jobs, looking for work. Gaps are extremely common in South Africa and most employers know it. What they notice is someone who seems to be hiding something, not the gap itself.
Before you move on
- Put name and contact details at the top
- Rewrite one duty as something you did and changed
- Remove your ID number and street address
Check what you know
4 questions. Have a look at what this lesson asks.
Sign in to take this quiz
Reading is free and always will be. Answering counts towards your progress, your streak and your certificate, so we need to know who you are.
Sign in or create a free accountIt takes a minute and costs nothing.