How to write a CV in Nigeria

Use a reverse-chronological format: your most recent job first. Nearly every recruiter expects it, and screening software reads it best.

Keep it to one page if you're a graduate and two pages if you're experienced. Use a clean layout with clear headings, one or two fonts and plenty of white space. Save and send it as a PDF so it looks the same on every screen.

Put your name in large text at the top, then one line with your city, email address and phone number. Add a LinkedIn or portfolio link if it's up to date.

• Use a professional email address: firstname.lastname@gmail.com, not cutebabe2000@yahoo.com.
• Your city is enough. You don't need your full home address.
• Leave out date of birth, marital status, religion, state of origin and LGA unless an advert specifically asks.

Three or four lines at the top that say who you are, what you've achieved and what you're looking for. This replaces the old "career objective".

For each job: your title, the employer, the location and the dates (month and year). Then three to five bullet points.

Each bullet should describe something you achieved, not just a duty. A useful pattern: action + what you did + result. Use numbers wherever you honestly can: customers served, money saved, time cut, targets met.

Course, class of degree, school and years. Experienced candidates can keep this short. Graduates should put it above work experience and can add a line about a final-year project.

Add professional qualifications (ICAN, CIBN, CIPM, COREN, NMCN, PMP and so on) here or in their own section.

Include it in your first few years: your place of primary assignment, the dates, and what you did. If you're still serving, give your end date. If you were exempted, say "NYSC exemption certificate" with the year.

A short list of hard skills and tools that match the job: software, systems, languages, technical methods. Skip vague words like "hard-working" unless your bullets prove them.

These take up space and can count against you:

• A photo, unless the employer asks for one (most multinationals and foreign employers prefer none).
• "References available on request": employers assume it.
• Hobbies that say nothing about you ("reading, travelling").
• Your primary school, and secondary school once you have a degree.
• Long paragraphs. Recruiters skim.

Read the advert and highlight the skills and requirements. Make sure the ones you genuinely have appear in your profile and bullets, using the advert's own words. Reorder your bullets so the most relevant come first.

Never add experience, qualifications or numbers you don't have. Employers check, and it can cost you the job after you've been hired.