How to Write a CV That Will Get You Hired in Kenya

Know how to write a CV and get the job

Your CV is the very first document that employers and recruiters will look at in their recruiting process. It will be used to judge your suitability for a position and compare your competence to other well qualified candidates. While a Cover Letter may be required in your application, most recruiting managers have confessed to only paying attention to the CV. For this reason, it is prudent that you take note of how to write a CV that gets you through to the interview.

To write a CV that gets you hired, you will need to know more than just the basic formats preferred by employers. You can query the internet all you want about acceptable formats in Kenya, but what will matter most is the contents of your CV. What recruiters want to know is; Do you have the needed level of experience and education? Do you have any outstanding skills to help you perform in the role? Do you have any industry knowledge?

If your CV can answer these questions in only under a minute (the average time a recruiter skims your CV), then you can predict your interview chances. For those stuck on how to write a CV and anyone having a hard time getting interviews, this guide should come in handy.

How to Write A CV and Get Hired

Before we even begin on how to write a CV, please note that employers and recruiters want to see a simple CV that is easy to read. Below is a guide on how to write a CV and get hired.

1. The Layout
When it comes to writing your CV, there is no specific format that you need to follow. However, the layout should be simple and professional. Use a standard font and size – not too big or too small – and avoid different fonts or colour. You never know how the recruiting manager will react to your choices, especially the colour.

Also in layout, make sure you market yourself appropriately. For example, if a position is particular on years of experience (where the advert uses Must Have), let the recruiter see your experience first before education, and vice versa if the role is focusing on education.

2. Your Personal Details
How to write a CV under personal details section should not need much explaining so this if for those who forget to input their contact information. Your personal details include your Official names, mobile number (preferably 2), and professional email address. And to show you are digitally savvy, maybe include your LinkedIn page and Twitter.

Information on your marital status, age, nationality and gender is only important if the advert includes them as a requirement. The same applies to your photo.

3. Career Profile or Objective Section
This is one place most candidates go wrong when it comes to how to write a CV. In this section, employers want to know who you are and what you want in just a paragraph. It is like answering the interview question, “Tell Me about Yourself”, only this time it is in written form.

For your career profile, give a summary of the CV. State your education background, expertise in terms of key skills and competencies, professional experience and what you are currently looking for. Remember to be brief, specific and avoid being generic at all costs. Hardworking, detail oriented and the like is too obvious. Refer to this sample CV for a Career profile example.

4. Your Work Experience Section
This is the most important part of how to write a CV. Why? Recruiters in Kenya will always give priority to someone with experience over one without. If you are a fresh graduate, stop asking where you need to get the experience employers are looking for. Seek out internships and volunteer opportunities in your field to get the experience needed.

Your work experience should explain your previous positions under these five areas; Company Name, Position Title, Duration of work, Duties & responsibilities, and Achievements. Most candidates miss out on interviews for leaving out their duties and duration worked, don’t become one.

Including your achievements for every role held is an added advantage as it confirms that you can perform exceptionally well. Learn more on how to highlight achievements in a CV in this post.

5. Your Education Background
The information you include in this section will depend on your years of work experience. If you have extensive experience a KCSE grade may not count as much, but if you have little experience, then you can include more information. When you write a CV, the most recent level of education should be at the very top; remember your audience will take less than a minute to decide if you deserve more attention.

If you have any certifications, consider including them under a subsection rather than listing them generally as part of the education. They could be the reason you stand out from other applicants, so the aim here is to highlight them. For accounting professionals, please stop listing each CPA section and the year completed. If you are a finalist then just say CPA finalist or CPA section 6, and if not a finalist, mention your last section or the one you are currently pursuing.

6. Skills & Competencies
This section is particularly important to positions that advertise key skills as standalone requirements. What does this mean? You browse through an advert and requirements are detailed under position summary, Duties, education and experience, and then Key skills and competencies as a sub section.

While you may have the years of experience needed, some professions like IT and Accounting require that you are able to work with particular software and systems. This is where you include that expertise.

7. Hobbies & Referee Sections
When it comes to steps on how to write a CV, these two sections cannot be overlooked. Recruiters may not be very concerned about your hobbies, but if you have one that helps add value to the role, then include it. If you like making new friends or socializing for example, this is an asset to a Sales & Marketing position but a downfall to a Web Design professional. So unless the hobby or interest helps make your case, leave out the hobbies section altogether.

Your referees section should include relevant people who have interacted with you and can vouch for your performance. A former boss will be preferred to a former colleague, and your university project coordinator is a better reference than the Student dean.

Bottom line
If you follow this guide on how to write a CV, you can be sure of coming up with a document that gets you to the interview. Do not assume that a recruiter will read through your CV word for word to see your qualifications, they never do.

Recruiters usually have key words and specific information they are looking to find in your CV; if they spot these words then you get more attention and if they don’t, you risk the chance of not being considered. Applying for jobs in Kenya is a tough competition and only those prepared to meet recruiter’s expectations get to the interview stage.

Have a question on how to write a CV? Query us below.