A CV has one job: to make someone decide, in seconds, that you are worth reading properly.
What it needs
- Name and contact. A phone number with WhatsApp and a professional email address.
- Location. Town or village and district.
- Experience. Employer, role, dates and what you actually did.
- Qualifications. With institution and year.
- Certifications, with validity dates.
- Citizenship status, where relevant to localisation requirements.
What to leave out
Omang number, marital status, number of children, religion. None of it helps the decision.
Government and parastatals
This sector screens on formal qualifications, stated precisely with institution and year. Recruitment tends to be structured and documentation-heavy.
Follow application instructions exactly. Public sector processes are procedural, and a submission that skips a required document is often set aside without review.
Mining
Safety and technical certifications go near the top, with expiry dates. They are frequently threshold requirements.
Include the specific equipment, systems and standards you have worked with, and any rotation or remote site experience.
An expired certification reads worse than none.
Financial and professional services
Professional qualifications and memberships stated clearly, along with relevant sector experience.
Tourism
Guiding qualifications, languages, and experience in remote or camp-based operations.
Describe the work, not the title
"Plant Operator" says little. "Operated heavy mobile equipment on a diamond mining site, worked a two-week rotation and maintained a clean safety record over three years" says a great deal more.
Use numbers wherever you have them.
Length
One to two pages for most roles. Public sector applications may require more detail and supporting documents.
Keep it current
A complete profile means employers find you in their searches. Review certification dates first.