Your CV: languages, qualifications and certifications with dates

A CV has one job: to make someone decide, in seconds, that you are worth reading properly.

What it needs

• Name and contact. A mobile number with WhatsApp and a professional email address.
• Location. City and region.
• Qualifications. Certificates, diplomas and degrees, with institution and year.
• Experience. Employer, role, dates and what you actually did.
• Languages. Kiswahili, English and any others, with honest levels.
• Referees. Commonly expected — two or three, with their consent.

What to leave out

National ID number, marital status, number of children, religion, tribe. Discrimination on several of those grounds is prohibited under Section 7(4) of ELRA.

Tourism and hospitality

A distinctive sector in Tanzania and it screens accordingly:

• Languages — European languages open specific markets
• Guiding qualifications and park knowledge
• First aid and safety training with dates
• Named properties or circuits worked
• Availability across the season

Naming specific parks, routes or lodges demonstrates the local knowledge the sector values.

Mining

Safety certifications near the top with expiry dates, specific equipment and site experience, and rotation availability.

NGOs and development

Formal qualifications stated precisely, project experience with named donors, monitoring and evaluation skills, and clear written English — reporting is a core deliverable.

Agriculture

Crop and equipment familiarity, supervisory experience, and availability across harvest cycles.

Describe the work, not the title

"Safari Guide" says little. "Led wildlife safaris across the northern circuit for groups of up to eight, worked in English and Italian, and held current first aid certification" says a great deal more.

Use numbers wherever you have them.

Length

Two to three pages is accepted, particularly in the NGO sector where project detail is expected.

Keep it current

Review certification dates first — in guiding and mining an expired certificate removes you from consideration.