Kenyan Employers Want These 4 Things From Your CV

By Selipha Kihagi

What Kenyan employers are looking for in your CV is dependent on the job you are applying for. Whenever you are applying to a position you think you are qualified for, it is always important that you meet employers expectation.

It is the only way you can get selected for an interview to determine your further qualifications for the job. So, while your CV includes all your qualifications, how can you ensure that employers are impressed?

The trick is to go beyond the norm and ensure that the important things are easily spotted by employers at a glance. To help you out in establishing this, below are things you should emphasize to get noticed by an employer.

What Kenyan Employers Will Be Looking For

1. Your experience and educational qualifications
Like earlier mentioned in a number of articles on this site, Kenyan employers will give priority to a candidate that meets the experience required over the one with just an education. It will not matter that you have a Masters or various certificates if you do not have the experience. So to communicate that you actually are experience, make sure you put your previous positions and the period worked in bold. You can also include the actual time in brackets. For example; Accounts Assistant, Company Name, June 2013 – August 2014 (I year 2 months)

2. Professional Skills
Once the employer is confident you meet the general qualifications for the job, they will want to know what else you bring to the table. Do you have added skills that can make you a better candidate than other applicants? If you do, the employers will be more inclined to hear more about you. So, remember to include any skills that you think will be an added advantage. Carefully analyzing the job description will give you a baseline for what the employers really want.

3. Your Contact Information
It will not matter how qualified you are or if you included your contacts in the email itself, if your contact information is not provided in the CV then that will be a problem. When writing your CV document and customizing it to look presentable to Kenyan employers, always ensure you have included contact information. This includes a working phone number and email address. Do not lose out on an opportunity because you forgot to include information on how you can be reached.

4. General tidiness and organization skills
Suitably qualified or not, if your CV is disorganized and is giving the recruiter or employers a hard time, that job will not be coming your way. If an employer takes your CV from a batch or opens it in the email, it should make them to keep reading. What this means is, your CV should be well arranged and in good font. It should be neat to look at and information should be in the right places, otherwise employers will not take time to look at the CV further.

For you to get a job in the current job market, you will need to be a step ahead and think like an employer or recruiter.