Your CV: certifications first if you are targeting energy

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. Region and town.
• Certifications, with validity dates
• Experience. Employer, role, dates and what you actually did.
• Qualifications. CSEC, CAPE, technical diplomas, degrees, professional bodies.

What to leave out

NIS number, marital status, number of children, date of birth. None of it helps the decision.

Energy sector applications

Put certifications where they will be seen first, and state expiry dates:

• Offshore survival and HUET
• Medical fitness for offshore work
• Discipline-specific technical credentials
• Safety training and permit-to-work systems

An expired certificate is worse than none — it signals it was not maintained, and it removes you from consideration for roles with a start date before you can renew.

Name the projects and operators you have worked with where you are able to. In a sector recruiting internationally, specific project experience differentiates more than years of service.

Mining

Equipment operated, site conditions, rotation experience and safety record.

Public sector and professional services

Formal qualifications stated precisely, with institution and year. Applications tend to be structured, so follow the stated requirements exactly.

Describe the work, not the title

"QA/QC Inspector" says little. "Performed weld inspection on subsea flowline fabrication, worked to ASME and API standards, and closed out 200+ inspection reports across an 18-month project" says a great deal more.

Use numbers wherever you have them.

Length

Two pages is normal for technical and project roles where certification and project history need space.

Keep it current

Review certification dates first — those expire, and in this market that is what costs opportunities.