Your cover page should be brief, addressed to: The advertiser, or the name of the person you are addressing (Mr or Ms and the initial and surname eg. Mr S Ngcobo), his/her title the name and address of the company the date of your letter Dear Sir/Madam (whichever is applicable) Re: APPLICATION FOR THE POSITION OF …………………. I hereby submit my CV in support of the above application. (If you have relevant experience you can make a statement about it, eg. I have been a buyer for the 4 years in the last company I worked for, please refer to my CV for details.) Kindly contact me on one of the numbers below if you need more information or if you would like to meet with me. Yours sincerely (Ms) or (Mr) …………………. Contact numbers: …………………
DO NOT: include a picture, border print, and other fancy artwork, do not use a whole page saying “CV”, and do not use large typeface. VERY IMPORTANT! If you are responding to an ad, or to a position you know is vacant, ensure that your CV is reflective of the knowledge and experience you have for the particular job, eg. You may be a salesperson as well as a stock controller in your previous position, and the position you are applying for is Stock Controller, then you can adjust your CV to focus more on the stock control aspects, without leaving out the sales part. You may (if you want to) include a recent (head and shoulders only!) photo of yourself Go straight into the CV, as follows: 1. Curriculum Vitae of: Full names and Mr or Ms in brackets 2. Address 3. Email address 4. Contact numbers (home, mobile and alternate number) 5. Drivers Licence code 6. Own car or not 7. Nationality
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND: 1. Highest qualification obtained 2. Courses/ subjects studied and results (essential for new entrants in the job market) 3. Dates: from – to 4. Institution 5. Professional registration (if any) 6. Date obtained 7. Current studies 8. Other relevant courses completed, duration, institutions and dates
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY: 1. CURRENT (OR MOST RECENT) EMPLOYMENT ORGANISATION: SECTOR (NATURE OF BUSINESS): POSITION: REPORTS TO: DATES (FROM / TO): BRIEF JOB DESCRIPTION (5-8 most relevant points): 2. PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT Continue as per above Do not include more than 5 previous employment records.
OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION: eg. Special duties Projects undertaken Leadership roles (even if temporary) Accolades/ awards Other REFERENCES: To be supplied on request (It is not advisable to include references’ names and contact details on a CV)