Getting started: what goes on a CV

It's a Tuesday morning in Soweto. Thabo's phone buzzes — it's his cousin Lerato. 📱

"Listen bafethu — the spaza chain Pick n Go is hiring a cashier at their Maponya Mall branch. R5 500 a month. They want CVs by Friday!"

Thabo has never made a CV before. Excitement and panic hit him at the same time. He starts putting his CV together.

Where should he begin? Let's look at a few things people often put first.

His name & contact

Good — this is exactly right. 👍 The very top of a CV is his name and how to reach him: his name, phone number and the area he lives in. It's the first thing a manager looks for, so they can contact him quickly.

This belongs right at the top, clear and easy to read.

A photo

A photo isn't necessary on a CV — and leaving it off actually protects Thabo. 📸

A photo gives away his age, gender and where he might be from. Some managers are biased (even without meaning to be) and might judge him on that instead of on his skills and experience. Keeping his photo off the CV keeps the focus on what he can actually do.

If an employer specifically asks for a photo, he can send it separately along with his CV — only if he's comfortable doing so.

His ID number

Best to leave his ID number off too. 🪪

Like a photo, an ID number reveals his age, gender and nationality — things a biased manager might judge him on before they even read his skills.

Worse, a CV passes through many hands as it's shared and forwarded. If a tsotsi gets it, his ID number is exactly what they need to steal his identity — open accounts or take out loans in his name.

So he leaves it off. If he's hired and the employer genuinely needs it, he gives it to them then.

Work experience — even with no formal job

Thabo reaches the Work Experience section and freezes. 😰

He's never had a formal job. The page is blank. The doubt creeps in: "Eish, maybe I shouldn't even apply..."

Mamkhulu walks past and sees his face. "Why so worried?"

I've no experience

Mamkhulu laughs warmly. "No experience? You ran the spaza shop for two years. You helped clean ugogo's hair salon. And you are the soccer team's captain. That's all experience!"

Formal jobs aren't the only thing that counts. Thabo takes all this and puts it on his CV.

Make up a job?

Thabo is tempted to invent a job as the CEO of a BIG supermarket. 🚫

Mamkhulu shakes her head: "Don't. They phone to check. The day they catch the lie, you lose the job AND your good name. And Soweto talks."

He doesn't need to lie — he has real things to show.

Describing real experience clearly

Thabo thought about what Mamkhulu said and decided to put his experience as the spaza shop he helped run for two years. 💡

That's real experience — he worked at the till, counted the stock and served the customers every day. That's exactly what a cashier does!

Mara here's the thing: how he writes it down matters. Does he just write a few words, or does he explain what he really did?

Keep it short

He writes just a few words: "Helped at the spaza shop." 🫤

It's true — but it tells the manager almost nothing. "Helped" could mean anything. It doesn't show that he handled money or served customers, so the manager reads it and feels nothing.

He doesn't need to lie or make it bigger than it was. He just needs to say clearly what he actually did, with numbers if he has some.

Tell them more

Much better. ✅ He gives it a clear title and explains what he actually did:

Cashier & Helper — Sithole Spaza Shop (1-2 years)
• Took cash and gave the right change
• Counted the stock and ordered more
• Served up to 50 customers a day

All true — now the manager can see he handled money and served customers, which is exactly the cashier job. The trick: a clear title, real things he did, and a number where he can.

Choosing the right skills

Now Thabo adds a short Skills section. Which is the stronger skill to include?

Hardworking & loyal

Reliable, hardworking, fast learner aren't bad — but everyone writes them, and they're hard to prove.

He should mix in solid, checkable skills too:programs he can use or real tasks he can do.

MS Word, stock count

That's the one. ✅ Basic MS Word · Stock counting · Customer care

Specific and honest. The manager can picture exactly how he'd help behind the till.

Layout: make your CV easy to read

Thabo's CV is growing — but it's becoming one giant block of text, with no space to breathe. 😵

He knows the manager has 80 CVs to get through and he wonders how long do managers spend reading each CV?

A few seconds

Exactly. ⏱️ The first pass is just a few seconds — so his CV must be easy to skim: clear headings, short bullets, one simple font, lots of white space.

He cleans it up — simple text, neat sections, tidy bullets. Much better.

Every word

With 80 CVs to get through, a manager can't read every word — they skim. ⏱️

A messy, full wall of text gets skipped before they reach the good parts. A clean and clear layout is what keeps Thabo in the pile.

Time to tidy it up.

How long should a CV be?

Now, Thabo wonders — how long should his CV be?

1 pager

Spot on. 📄 For a first job, 1 page is ideal — long enough to show his value, short enough to respect the manager's time.

5+ pages

Thabo stretches it to 5 pages to look impressive. 📚

But a busy manager sees 5 pages from a jobseeker and thinks: "This person can't pick out what matters." More pages ≠ more impressive. Let's try again.

References that actually help

The CV needs references — people who can speak for Thabo and say he is a good worker. Thabo knows lots of people. Who should he list?

Spaza shop manager

Perfect. ✅ Good references are people who have seen that he works hard and can be trusted — like someone he has worked for.

And he did the most important thing: he asked them first, so they are ready when the manager calls.

References:
Mr Sithole — Spaza Shop owner — 072 xxx xxxx

Best friend, Thandi

Thabo asks his best friend, Thandi — but employers know that close friends will always say nice things. 🙃 Let's not make things awkward for Thandi.

References should be people who have seen how he works or behaves: a teacher, the soccer coach, or someone he has worked for.

A famous politician

Thabo lists Cyril as a reference, hoping that the manager will never check. Thabo has never met or worked with Cyril before.

Listing someone he's never met is a trap. 🚫

The moment the manager phones them, it falls apart — and now he looks dishonest too. He should use real people who actually know him and have agreed to help.

Tailoring your CV to the job

Thabo looks again at what the Pick 'n Go cashier job needs: stock counting and customer care. He only has one CV. Should he send it as it is, or change it to fit the job better?

Change for job

Yebo! 🎯 He moves his work experience for stock count and customer care to the top, where the manager sees it first. Same true facts — just put in the best order for THIS job.

That small effort makes the manager think: "This person really wants THIS job."

Send it as is

A normal CV works, but it doesn't stand out. If his soccer stuff is at the top and his stock count and customer care experience is hidden at the bottom, the manager might miss the most important part.

A 5-minute change — putting the most useful experience first — can be the difference between the "yes" pile and the "maybe" pile.

Putting it all together

Thabo reads his finished CV one last time. 📄✨

Clean layout. Clear contact details. Real experience, honestly described. Good references expecting the call. The CV also speaks to the job.

He prints out his CV and hands it over to the manager with confidence. He is done!

Thabo's golden rules for a first CV

Thabo got a call a few weeks later — and he got the job! Here's everything he did. You can do the same!

Thabo's 4 Golden Rules for a first CV 📝

1. Start clear and safe. Name and contact (cell, location) right at the top — and leave OFF the ID number and a photo.
2. No formal job? Show real life. Volunteering, family business, school roles and skills all count — and never invent a job.
3. Make it easy to read. 1 page, clean layout, one font, plenty of space.
4. Finish strong. Real references who've agreed, and tweak the CV to match each job.