Your CV is your most important sales tool and it’s important to spend time ensuring it is of top quality – in terms of content and presentation.

Please feel free to download the CV template and / or skills matrix provided on this page and use it for your personal use.
 
Candidate CV Templates

Skills-Matrix

Ensure that you have included all your contact details in your CV, including your cell phone number and your email address.

Remember to include your current earnings, notice period and required earnings. Make sure that when you quote your current earnings you’re a 100% accurate and include all the facts; for example:

How much do you earn?
Is this salary cost to company?
Is anything paid over and above this?
What do you nett?
How much do you contribute towards medical aid and provident / pension fund and life annuity?

Perks such as cell phone allowance, fuel allowance, lunch allowance, internet connectivity, do not form part of your CTC. These are benefits that must be mentioned over and above your CTC. But they are important and must be mentioned.

A 13th also does not form part of your cost to company, but it’s equally important that it’s mentioned.

If you receive bonuses, are they performance based? Is the performance based on company performance? Individual performance? Both? How often do you receive them? How much did you receive the last time you received one? Include this information.

Do not lie about your salary or misrepresent your salary. More and more companies request a payslip at offer stage and we always check this information at reference stage. If you feel you need a substantial increase, make it clear upfront and motivate reasons as to why you feel you are being underpaid.

Make sure you know the difference between a 30 day notice period and a calendar months notice period. A 30 day notice period means you can resign on any day of the month. A calendar months notice period means you can resign on the 1st only, and in some cases, on the 1st or the 15th. Always check your contract and include this information in your CV.

If you are applying for a role in IT ensure that a skills matrix included in your CV. If you’re an IT person, then the skills matrix is possibly the most valuable part of your CV.

Under the employment section, ensure that the start date and end date include the month and year you were employed.

For each company, you should provide a reason for leaving.

If there are any gaps in your employment, you must make it clear why those gaps exist (e.g. study leave, maternity leave, retrenched and looking for work).

If you have mostly fulfilled contract or temp assignments in your CV – you must make it very clear under each employer, to prevent looking like a job hopper.

Always list the technologies you used at each different employer. This is very important and will give the reader a better feel of your level of experience in these technologies.

Where you can and where relevant, provide examples of work. If you’re a graphics designer, attach a portfolio, if you’re a website developer, attach a list of websites. If you are applying for a sales role, it’s vital that you include your targets for the year, and what percentage of target you made as well as a list of achievements.

Often we come across CV’s that include a Microsoft Word Graphic or border. Don’t do it, it looks tacky. Unless you’re a creative designer or graphics designer and you know it looks good.

When you write about your work experience – do not cut and paste your job description. We want to read in your words what you do. Include a bit of information about the company you have worked for. Include your duties and where you can, include assignments that you worked on, the size of your team, the technologies you used to complete the assignments and outline any successes / achievements during your employment.

Make sure that you’ve included enough information about each role but at the same time don’t give us five pages of responsibilities at each company.

Always do a spell and grammar check before submitting your CV’s.