Structure
- One page. Employers scan for seconds, not minutes — make every line earn its place.
- Order: contact details, short summary, education, experience/activities, skills.
- No formal job yet? Lead with school projects, volunteering, and the Employment Readiness Course itself — it counts.
- Newest first in every section (most recent at the top).
Wording
- Start bullets with a verb: led, built, organised, resolved, trained — not "responsible for".
- Add a number where you can: "helped 30 learners", "cut errors by half".
- Keep your summary to 2–3 sentences: who you are, what you can do, what you're looking for.
- Match a few words from the job ad itself — it's what gets you past a keyword filter.
Leave off
- ID number, religion, marital status — not needed to be considered, and it's your info to protect (POPIA).
- A photo, unless the employer specifically asks for one.
- Anything you can't back up in an interview. Rather undersell than get caught out.
- Spelling slips — read it out loud before you send it, every time.
Before you apply: save a copy for each job and tweak the summary and skills to match that specific ad. A CV that's "close enough" for every job loses to one that looks written for this one.