Tag Archives: job

8. Don’t Leave Gaps

What would you think if you were reading a book, and 50 pages were missing in the middle? You would notice, right? And you would want to know what happened. If you knew a book had 50 pages missing, would you even read it? The same can be said of your CV. You can’t leave out previous jobs, or times when you were not employed. Always cover everything. If you were unemployed for a time, explain what you were doing in that time to promote your career and keep moving forward. You are always learning new, transferable skills, so explain them.

Avoid Clichés and Phrases That Don’t Mean Anything

Are you a ‘dynamic individual with the passion to improve a business’? So is everyone else you are competing with. Too often we see CVs loaded with clichés which make your more impressive achievements less believable and less significant.

Check Your Spelling and Grammar

There is nothing more off putting with a new CV for our recruiters than poor spelling and grammar. Employers expect your CV to be perfect, because it is a snapshot of the quality of your work, and is important. Give your CV to other people to read so they can spot errors before you send it out. A CV with poor spelling and grammar can see your application in the bin before it’s even been properly assessed.

There you have it. Ten of the most important tips we can give you about your CV, from the people who will be reading it. Now make sure your CV is looking great and makes you look amazing, then upload it to Careers in Africa by clicking here.

Your next career move could be right around the corner.

Have you considered attending a Careers in Africa Recruitment Summit in 2016? Sign up now by clicking here to apply, we will be in London and Paris in the Spring, followed by Nairobi, Abidjan and Johannesburg later in the year.

10 CV Writing Tips You Need to Know Part 2<<

4. Be Impressive in Everything you Write

You’re an impressive candidate, with excellent skills, outstanding experience and a phenomenal drive. Make sure the person reading your CV knows that. Align your CV with the client’s interests. Are you applying for a finance job? Give examples of times you have made excellent investments and helped your current employer. Are you a qualified oil & gas professional? Point out the different successful projects you have worked on, and explain how you had an impact.

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5. Be Honest

Your potential employer needs to trust you to do a great job. How can they trust you if you exaggerate parts of your CV? Promote your real skills, and don’t add information that you could be asked about in interview that you can’t back up.

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6. Adapt Your CV to Every Job You Apply For

You can apply at careersinafrica.com with one application and we can search for your CV in any role we have in the future, but that shouldn’t stop you adapting your CV when you apply. If you are hoping to move into a management position, add details of your leadership experience. If you are applying to work in a particular sector, redesign your CV so that your experience in that sector is more detailed.

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7. Keep Your CV Updated

We see a lot of CVs which have become rotten over time. If you haven’t changed your CV in the last 6 months, what that says to us, and your potential employer, is that you haven’t done anything particularly impressive since your last update. Make sure your CV is always up to date, with exciting details of your most recent successes, not a list of your duties.

10 CV Writing Tips You Need to Know Part 3>>

10 CV Writing Tips You Need to Know Part 1<<

It’s the beginning of 2016, and as the well wishing subsides and we crawl back into our routines, taking part in the inevitable dieting and general review of our lives, it’s a great time to be proactive about your career. The first thing you can do is get your CV up to standard.

There are hundreds of CV writing tips across the internet, but only this one comes straight from the recruitment consultants at Careers in Africa. The team have given us their top 10 tips for making your CV reflect you in the best possible way.

Here are the 10 most important things that you need to know to make your CV stand out!

1. Two Pages Are All You Need

We read hundreds of CVs a week, and we search those CVs for key details that matter to our clients. When our clients read your CV, they do the same. Anything more than two pages, and it gives an impression that you might lack clarity in your communication. It also means your most impressive achievements get lost amongst the less useful information you have written.

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2. Clarity is Key.

Don’t be tempted to squash ten pages of information into two. If your CV has tiny writing, or is everything in squashed onto the page, it becomes difficult to read. It also looks bad. That doesn’t make a great impression on recruiters, or on employers. Make sure there is adequate space around your text to make it look clear, and make sure the font is big enough to read without having to zoom in.

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3. It’s Not a Life Story, it’s a Window into Your Potential

We’ve never read a CV and looked at the long list of every qualification you have completed. What matters is your degree, post graduate qualifications and technical qualifications. Equally, employers look at your recent job titles and your work, not your first job when you weren’t qualified. You should always be proud of all your achievements, but your oldest qualifications, first jobs and that time you represented your school at football aren’t going to land you your next job.

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10 CV Writing Tip You Need to Know Part 2>>

10 Quotes about Employees that Africas Best Employers understand.

Take your opportunity to have your say about what makes one of Africans Best Employers stand out in the African business environment. Careers in Africa Employer of Choice initiative aims to collect the views of every African employee to see which of the top 500 employers in Africa is the best for their staff. Click the infographic to take a short, 10 minute survey which will allow you to give your views on African employers.

You can share this on social media to get your networks to take part, giving people like you a chance to directly change the way employers view their most important asset, their employees.

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