How to Write a Winning CV in Nigeria in 2026: The Complete Guide With Templates and Real Examples

 

In Nigeria’s job market, you have between 6 and 30 seconds. That is the realistic window during which a recruiter at Dangote, Access Bank, KPMG, or Andela decides whether your CV is worth reading fully or whether it goes into the rejection pile. Not 30 minutes. Not 5 minutes. Six to thirty seconds of human attention — and, before that, the automated filter of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that may discard your CV before any human ever sees it.

This reality should reshape how every Nigerian job seeker approaches CV writing. A CV is not a record of everything you have ever done. It is not a biography, a school leaving certificate, or a personal statement. It is a targeted sales document with one goal: convince a specific recruiter, at a specific company, to invite you for an interview. Everything else — every word, every formatting choice, every section — is secondary to that singular commercial objective.

The challenge in 2026 is that the bar has risen on both sides simultaneously. Nigerian employers now receive more applications than ever for the same number of roles — because the internet has made applying easier and because the market for quality jobs remains intensely competitive. At the same time, ATS software filters a growing proportion of Nigerian job applications automatically, using keyword matching algorithms that eliminate technically qualified candidates simply because their CV does not contain the specific words the system is searching for. Over 75% of recruiters now use ATS software to filter candidates by skills — meaning your CV must satisfy both an algorithm and a human to succeed.

This guide is the most comprehensive CV writing resource available for Nigerian job seekers in 2026. We cover every section of a Nigerian CV with specific instructions, real examples, common mistakes, and the ATS-specific adjustments that determine whether your application ever reaches a human reader. Whether you are a fresh graduate writing your first professional CV or an experienced professional updating a CV that is not generating interviews, this guide has what you need.

Part 1: What Nigerian Employers and ATS Systems Want in 2026

Understanding who and what reads your CV before you write a single word gives you an enormous strategic advantage. In 2026, your Nigerian CV has at least two audiences — and optimising for both simultaneously is the central challenge of modern CV writing.

Audience 1: The ATS (Applicant Tracking System). For any company with a significant volume of applicants — multinationals, banks, oil companies, tech companies, government enterprises — your CV is first evaluated by software. A predominant shift in ATS in 2026 is the integration with AI features to speed up the recruiting process, manage larger volumes of applicants, and improve candidate experience. The ATS scans your document for specific keywords, job titles, skills, and qualifications that match the role’s requirements. If your CV does not contain the right keywords in the right places, the algorithm filters it out before any recruiter reads it — regardless of how qualified you actually are. This is not a theoretical risk. It is the daily reality of online job applications in 2026.

Audience 2: The Human Recruiter. If your CV passes the ATS, a human recruiter — typically spending 6–30 seconds on first review — assesses whether your profile matches their mental model of the ideal candidate. They are looking for: immediate clarity about what you do and at what level; evidence of results rather than just responsibilities; a professional presentation that signals attention to detail; and relevance to the specific role they are filling. They are not reading your entire CV on first review. They are scanning for signals that justify reading more carefully.

Today’s Nigerian job market is more competitive than ever. Employers expect candidates to show strong CV writing skills, relevant qualifications, and attention to detail. With remote hiring on the rise, recruiters pay closer attention to formatting, keywords, and professionalism.

The good news about having two audiences is that their needs are fundamentally compatible. Both the ATS and the human recruiter want the same thing: a clear, specific, well-structured document that provides direct evidence of your qualifications for the specific role. Writing a CV that is simultaneously ATS-friendly and human-compelling is not a contradiction — it is the definition of a well-written CV.

Part 2: The Right CV Format for Nigeria in 2026

Three CV formats are used by Nigerian job seekers. Understanding which is right for your situation is the foundational formatting decision:

Format	Structure	Best For	ATS Compatibility
Reverse Chronological	Work experience listed most recent first; education after experience	Professionals with consistent career history; most Nigerian job applications	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent — the ATS standard
Functional (Skills-Based)	Skills and competencies front and centre; work history brief	Career changers; those with gaps; those changing industry	⭐⭐ Poor — ATS struggles to parse this format correctly
Combination (Hybrid)	Skills summary at top; followed by reverse chronological experience	Fresh graduates with limited experience; career changers with strong skills	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good — if structured correctly

The best CV format in Nigeria is reverse chronological, where you list your most recent experience and education first. For fresh graduates, an educational CV format works best, while experienced professionals should use an experience-focused format that emphasizes career achievements and skills.

For most Nigerian job seekers in 2026 — whether fresh graduates or experienced professionals — the reverse chronological format is the recommended default. It is the format that ATS systems parse most reliably, the format that Nigerian recruiters are most familiar with, and the format that best allows your experience to build a coherent narrative from most recent to earliest. Only use functional or combination formats when your specific situation makes reverse chronological genuinely unsuitable.

Design principles for 2026:

• Font: Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman at 10–12 point size. These are legible to both ATS and human readers. No decorative or novelty fonts.
• Margins: 1–1.5cm on all sides. Enough white space to breathe; not so much that content is compressed onto extra pages unnecessarily.
• Columns: Single-column layout for ATS submissions. Many two-column CV designs, while visually attractive, confuse ATS parsers that read left to right and cannot understand two-column content correctly. If you are submitting physically or know the company does not use ATS, two-column is acceptable.
• Colour: Black text on white background is the safest universal choice. Subtle use of one accent colour (dark blue or dark green) for section headers is acceptable. Avoid bright colours, gradients, or background graphics.
• Tables and text boxes: Avoid placing important content inside tables or text boxes — ATS software frequently cannot parse content inside these elements, meaning your skills and experience become invisible to the system.
• File format: Send as PDF when submitting directly — PDFs preserve your formatting regardless of what software the receiver uses to open the document. For platforms that specifically request Word documents (.docx) or for ATS-heavy applications, use .docx.

Part 3: How Long Should a Nigerian CV Be?

A CV in Nigeria should be 1–2 pages long. Recruiters prefer concise CVs that highlight the most relevant experience and skills. Only include details that show you are qualified for the role — avoid outdated schooling or irrelevant hobbies.

The length debate among Nigerian job seekers generates unnecessary anxiety. Here is the simple, practical answer:

• Fresh graduate with limited experience: 1 page — and fill it well
• 1–7 years of experience: 1–2 pages — default to 2 pages if your experience genuinely fills it with relevant content
• 7–15 years of experience: 2 pages — be ruthless about what earns space
• 15+ years of experience: 2–3 pages maximum — even with extensive history

The principle is simple: relevance beats completeness every time. That role from twelve years ago might have been fantastic, but if it doesn’t strengthen your case for the particular position you’re applying for, let it go. The Nigerian impulse to document every qualification, every course, every minor achievement, and every job since secondary school produces CVs that are comprehensive records but terrible sales documents. Cut everything that does not directly support your case for the specific role you are applying for.

Part 4: Section 1 — Contact Information

Your contact section appears at the very top of your CV. It must be immediately visible, complete, and professional. Here is exactly what to include — and what to leave out:

✅ INCLUDE:

• Full name — larger font than body text; bold. Your name is your headline.
• Professional title — immediately beneath your name. Example: “Senior Financial Analyst” or “Digital Marketing Specialist” — not “Job Seeker.”
• Phone number — active Nigerian number. For international roles, prefix with +234. Ensure the number is always answered or has a professional voicemail.
• Professional email address — a professional one (e.g., johnchukwu@gmail.com) will impress better than partyboi2000@yahoo.com. AOL and Hotmail are outdated email providers; avoid using them. Create a new professional email if your current one is informal.
• City and state — Lagos, Nigeria or Abuja, FCT is sufficient. You do not need your full street address on a CV.
• LinkedIn URL — if your profile is complete and professional. Customise your LinkedIn URL (linkedin.com/in/firstname-lastname) before listing it.
• Portfolio link — for creative, technical, or writing roles where a portfolio is relevant. GitHub for developers; Behance or Dribbble for designers; personal website for writers.

⛔ DO NOT INCLUDE:

• Date of birth / age — not required on a CV; can expose you to age discrimination
• Religion — not relevant to your professional qualifications
• Tribal origin / state of origin — unless explicitly requested by the employer (some government roles require this)
• Marital status — not required unless specifically asked
• Passport photograph — unless the job posting specifically requests it (some government and banking applications do)
• National Identification Number (NIN) — never put this on a publicly circulating document; share only when specifically requested at a later recruitment stage
• Gender — not required on modern professional CVs

The omission of personal details like religion, age, and tribal origin is not evasiveness — it is professional standard practice. While some Nigerian employers may request details like state of origin, religion, or marital status, only include these if they are explicitly asked for. Including them unsolicited can introduce irrelevant factors into an employer’s decision-making process and does not strengthen your application.

Part 5: Section 2 — The Professional Summary

The professional summary — the 3–5 sentence paragraph that appears immediately below your contact information — is the single most important section of your CV. It is what the recruiter reads in the first 6 seconds. It is what the ATS uses to make its initial relevance determination. It is the section that either compels the recruiter to read on or gives them permission to stop.

A professional summary is your elevator pitch. It should be placed prominently at the top of your CV, right after your personal details. This is your opportunity to highlight your key achievements, skills, and career goals in a few sentences.

A strong professional summary answers three questions in three to five sentences:

1. Who are you professionally? (Your role and level of experience)
2. What is your strongest value proposition? (Your most relevant skills and achievements)
3. What are you looking to do? (Aligned with the specific role you are applying for)

❌ Weak Summary (What Not to Write):

Why it fails: Empty phrases (“hardworking,” “dedicated,” “team player”) that every applicant writes. No specific skills. No achievements. No indication of what the person actually does. The recruiter learns nothing actionable from this summary.

✅ Strong Summary — Digital Marketer:

✅ Strong Summary — Fresh Finance Graduate:

Notice what the strong summaries have in common: specific numbers (3+ years, 60%, 2 years), specific tools and skills (Meta Ads, QuickBooks, Google Analytics), and a specific target (fintech sector, Nigerian commercial bank). The weak summary could apply to anyone. The strong summaries could only be written by the specific person they describe.

Part 6: Section 3 — Work Experience — Achievements, Not Duties

The work experience section is where most Nigerian CVs fail most badly — and the failure is almost always the same one: listing job duties rather than achievements. Numbers make your experience credible and impressive. The difference between a duty and an achievement is the difference between a job description and a reason to hire you.

Duty (Weak)	Achievement (Strong)
Managed client accounts	Managed 15 client accounts worth ₦200M, achieving 98% client retention over 18 months
Developed email campaigns	Developed email marketing campaigns that improved open rates from 18% to 39% in 3 months
Led a content strategy	Led a content strategy that increased website traffic by 72% in 6 months, generating 1,200 qualified monthly leads
Responsible for financial reporting	Produced monthly management accounts for a ₦500M turnover business, reducing reporting cycle from 10 days to 5 days
Trained new staff members	Trained and onboarded 12 new customer service representatives, reducing average onboarding time by 30%
Handled customer complaints	Resolved 95% of customer complaints within 24 hours, improving NPS score from 42 to 67 over 6 months
Managed social media accounts	Grew Instagram following from 8,000 to 45,000 in 9 months through targeted content strategy, achieving 6.2% average engagement rate

The formula for converting a duty into an achievement is: [Action verb] + [What you did] + [Measurable result]. Not every achievement will have a perfect quantitative result — but most have some measurable dimension if you think carefully about the impact of your work. Revenue generated, cost saved, time reduced, percentage improved, number of people trained, scale of responsibility — these are the dimensions that make your experience vivid and credible rather than generic and forgettable.

How to Structure Each Work Experience Entry

Each job should be presented in this order:

1. Job Title (bold) — the role you held, not a creative re-interpretation
2. Company Name — the full, official name of the organisation
3. Location — city, state (Lagos | Port Harcourt | Abuja)
4. Employment Dates — Month Year – Month Year (March 2023 – February 2025) or Present
5. 3–5 bullet points — each beginning with an action verb, each describing a specific achievement or significant responsibility, most quantified

For roles older than 7 years or roles clearly irrelevant to the position you are applying for, two to three bullet points are sufficient — or the role can be summarised in a single line if very old. The most recent, most relevant role deserves the most space — five to seven bullet points is appropriate for your current or most recent position.

Part 7: Section 4 — Education

Education placement on your CV depends on your career stage:

• Fresh graduates with limited work experience: Education goes at the top, immediately after the professional summary. Your degree is your primary qualification and should be the recruiter’s first evidence-point.
• Professionals with 2+ years of experience: Education goes after work experience. Your experience is now more relevant than your degree, and the recruiter should see it first.

For each educational qualification, include: institution name, degree and field of study, graduation year, and class of degree (First Class, Second Class Upper, etc.). For WAEC/NECO results, you do not need to list individual subject grades — simply note the certificate and year unless specific subjects are required for the role.

Unless you’ve just graduated, you don’t need to include subject breakdowns, module lists or your marks. Recruiters just want to know what you studied, where and when. That’s enough. If you’ve done additional professional development or industry training, definitely include it. It shows you’re investing in your growth, which matters to employers.

For Nigerian CVs specifically, list qualifications in reverse chronological order (most recent first): postgraduate degree, undergraduate degree, professional certifications, NYSC, secondary school (WAEC/NECO). Primary school education (FSLC) is not required on a professional CV.

Part 8: Section 5 — Skills — Writing a Skills Section That Passes ATS

The skills section is the most important section for ATS compatibility — because keyword-matching algorithms scan specifically here for the technical skills listed in the job description. A skills section that contains the right words in the right format can be the difference between an ATS pass and an ATS fail, independent of how strong your experience actually is.

The cardinal rule: Your skills section must contain the exact keywords from the job description you are applying for — not synonyms, not paraphrases, not similar terms. If the job posting says “Microsoft Excel,” your CV should say “Microsoft Excel” — not “spreadsheet software” or “MS Office.” ATS systems match literal strings, and keyword variation that seems obviously equivalent to a human reader may be completely invisible to the algorithm.

Structure your skills section into clear categories for both ATS readability and human scannability:

Example Skills Section — Finance Professional:

Important note on soft skills: Every candidate lists “communication,” “teamwork,” and “leadership” as soft skills. These words mean nothing in isolation and are increasingly ignored by both ATS systems (which have been tuned to ignore generic terms) and human recruiters. If you include soft skills, demonstrate them through your achievements in the work experience section rather than simply listing them as abstract attributes. “Communication” as a bullet under skills is weak. “Presented monthly financial reports to a board of 7 directors, resulting in an investment decision of ₦1.2 billion” is communication demonstrated through achievement.

Part 9: Section 6 — Certifications and Professional Development

Professional certifications carry significant weight in the Nigerian job market — particularly in regulated industries (finance, engineering, HR, health and safety) where certifications signal both competence and commitment to professional standards. List each certification with the full name, the issuing body, and the year of award or expected completion.

In 2026, online certifications from recognised platforms (Google, Meta, Coursera, HubSpot, Udemy) are increasingly accepted by Nigerian employers, particularly for digital and tech roles. The key is how you present them. A Google Digital Marketing Certificate from Coursera (Google) is credible and should be listed. A vague “Certificate in Marketing” from an unverifiable local online platform should be omitted or mentioned only briefly.

For finance professionals: ICAN, ACCA, CFA (levels), CIMA, ACA — list the level you have attained and whether remaining exams are in progress. For engineers: COREN registration status. For HR professionals: CIPM. For HSE: NEBOSH, IOSH. These professional certifications are actively searched for by Nigerian recruiters in their ATS systems and should appear in both your skills section and your certifications section for maximum keyword hit rate.

Part 10: Power Words and Action Verbs That Work

Every bullet point in your experience section should begin with a strong action verb. Action verbs make your contributions concrete, active, and credible. They tell the recruiter you did something rather than that things happened around you. Here is a categorised reference of the most effective action verbs for Nigerian CVs in 2026:

Category	Power Verbs
Leadership and Management	Led, Managed, Directed, Supervised, Oversaw, Coordinated, Spearheaded, Championed, Established, Founded
Achievement and Growth	Achieved, Delivered, Increased, Grew, Expanded, Exceeded, Generated, Produced, Gained, Doubled
Improvement and Optimisation	Improved, Enhanced, Streamlined, Reduced, Cut, Eliminated, Accelerated, Transformed, Upgraded, Restructured
Creation and Development	Developed, Created, Designed, Built, Launched, Implemented, Introduced, Initiated, Established, Formulated
Analysis and Strategy	Analysed, Evaluated, Assessed, Researched, Identified, Diagnosed, Reviewed, Investigated, Modelled, Forecasted
Communication and Collaboration	Presented, Communicated, Negotiated, Facilitated, Collaborated, Partnered, Advised, Influenced, Trained, Mentored

Vary your verbs. Starting every bullet point with “Managed” produces a monotonous, undifferentiated list. Use the full range of verbs appropriate to what you actually did — leading with your most impressive action verb for each role’s most significant contribution.

Part 11: How to Make Your Nigerian CV ATS-Proof in 2026

ATS optimisation is not about gaming the system — it is about ensuring that your genuine qualifications are visible to the software that acts as gatekeeper between you and a human recruiter. Here are the specific steps:

1. Read the job description carefully and extract every specific keyword. Look for skills, tools, job titles, industry terms, and qualifications mentioned — particularly those mentioned more than once, as repetition signals the employer’s priority. Include acronyms alongside full terms (e.g. “MBA” alongside “Master of Business Administration”) for maximum ATS reach — without keyword stuffing.
2. Mirror the exact language of the job description. If the posting says “data analysis,” use “data analysis” in your CV — not “data analytics” or “analysing data.” Exact match beats synonym every time in ATS keyword scanning.
3. Use standard, recognisable section headings. “Work Experience” or “Professional Experience” — not “My Journey” or “Career Highlights.” ATS systems are programmed to look for standard headings and cannot reliably interpret creative alternatives.
4. Use a single-column layout for digital submissions. Multi-column layouts frequently cause ATS misreading — content from the right column gets appended to the left column, producing garbled text that the algorithm cannot parse correctly.
5. Avoid graphics, icons, and images. ATS systems cannot extract text from images. A skills section represented as icon-rating graphics (five stars for Excel, three stars for Python) means those skills do not exist from the algorithm’s perspective.
6. Submit in the format specified by the platform. A .docx file is often safest for ATS compatibility, though some systems accept PDFs. Review the job application instructions to confirm.
7. Tailor your CV for every application. A CV optimised for one role’s keywords is not optimised for a different role’s keywords. The 30-minute investment in tailoring your skills section and professional summary for each application significantly outperforms the time saved by sending the same CV to every job.

Part 12: Special Section — CV Tips for Nigerian Fresh Graduates

Fresh graduates face a specific challenge: the requirement to demonstrate value in a document that, by definition, contains limited professional experience. The solution is not to apologise for limited experience but to present what you do have with maximum strategic intelligence.

Lead with education. Your degree is your primary credential — put it at the top immediately after your professional summary. Include your class of degree, relevant final-year project or dissertation topic (particularly for technical roles where the subject is relevant), and any academic awards or distinctions.

Make the most of your NYSC year. The National Youth Service Corps year is a legitimate work experience period. Describe your NYSC placement with the same rigour as any other job — job title, organisation, location, dates, and achievement-focused bullet points about what you contributed during your service year.

Include internships, industrial training, and volunteer work. Any organised work experience — paid or unpaid, formal or informal — belongs on a fresh graduate CV if it demonstrates relevant skills or professional behaviours. A well-described 3-month internship at a bank during SIWES is more valuable than a blank work experience section.

Highlight projects and academic achievements. Final-year projects, research papers, departmental competitions, hackathons, debate team captaincy, faculty leadership positions — these demonstrate initiative, capability, and the kind of structured problem-solving that employers value. Give them space on the CV with specific outcome descriptions.

Get certifications now, before you need them. Google, HubSpot, Meta, Coursera, and LinkedIn Learning all offer free or affordable professional certifications that significantly differentiate a fresh graduate CV. Completing two or three relevant certifications in the months before your first job search is one of the highest-return investments a Nigerian graduate can make.

Part 13: Special Section — CV Tips for Experienced Nigerian Professionals

Lead with your strongest recent achievement. The professional summary for experienced professionals should open with your most impressive quantified achievement — not with your job title or years of experience. “Revenue-growth-focused sales director who increased territory revenue from ₦400M to ₦1.2B over 3 years” is stronger than “Experienced sales director with 12 years of experience.”

Trim old, irrelevant roles aggressively. Jobs from more than 10–15 years ago typically need only a one-line entry (company name, title, dates) unless the role contains directly relevant achievements. The space saved is better used expanding on recent, relevant experience that the recruiter actually cares about.

Quantify at scale. Experienced professionals should have access to substantial quantified evidence of their impact — team sizes managed, budget controlled, revenue influenced, costs saved, projects delivered. These numbers are the distinguishing currency of a senior CV and should appear prominently throughout the work experience section.

Update your LinkedIn to match your CV exactly. Nigerian recruiters actively compare CVs to LinkedIn profiles as a verification step. Inconsistencies between the two — different dates, different companies, different job titles — raise credibility concerns. Ensure both documents tell exactly the same story with the same facts.

Part 14: Writing a Cover Letter That Complements Your CV

A cover letter is required for most professional position applications in Nigeria — and is frequently the document that separates the shortlisted from the overlooked when two candidates have similar CVs. The cover letter serves a fundamentally different purpose from the CV: where the CV provides evidence of your qualifications, the cover letter provides context, motivation, and personality.

An effective Nigerian cover letter follows this structure:

Paragraph 1 — Opening: State the specific role you are applying for and where you saw the advertisement. Immediately signal your most relevant qualification or experience. Do not begin with “I am writing to apply for…” — this is the weakest possible opening and signals a generic letter. Begin with your strongest sentence instead: “As a digital marketer who grew Techpoint Africa’s social audience by 120,000 followers in 14 months, I am excited to apply for the Senior Social Media Manager role at Flutterwave.”

Paragraph 2 — Why you for this role: Connect your most relevant experience directly to the role’s specific requirements. Reference the job description explicitly. Show the employer that you have read and understood what they need — and that your background addresses exactly that.

Paragraph 3 — Why this company: Why this employer specifically — not just any employer in the industry. Demonstrate genuine knowledge of the company: a recent product launch, a strategic direction, a value that resonates with you. Generic “I admire your company’s commitment to excellence” sentences are dismissed immediately. Specific company knowledge is compelling.

Paragraph 4 — Closing: Express enthusiasm for the opportunity to discuss further. State your availability for an interview. Provide your contact details even though they are on your CV — make it easy for the recruiter to reach you without searching another document.

Keep your cover letter to one page. Use the same font and visual style as your CV. Address it to a specific named person where possible — “Dear Adaeze Okeke, Talent Acquisition Lead” is significantly stronger than “Dear Hiring Manager.” Research the recruiter’s name on LinkedIn if it is not listed on the job posting.

Part 15: 15 CV Mistakes That Get Nigerian Applications Rejected

#	Mistake	Why It Kills Applications
1	Using a generic, untailored CV for every application	Fails ATS keyword matching; signals low effort to human recruiters
2	Listing duties instead of achievements	Gives the recruiter no reason to prefer you over every other person who had the same job
3	Unprofessional email address (naijaguy2000@yahoo.com)	Immediate credibility damage; signals poor professional judgment
4	Including date of birth, religion, or tribe unsolicited	Can introduce discrimination; is not required; signals unfamiliarity with professional norms
5	Spelling errors and grammatical mistakes	Signals poor attention to detail — a critical flaw in almost every professional role
6	CV longer than 2 pages (for under 10 years experience)	Recruiter stops reading before reaching your best content
7	Inconsistent formatting (multiple fonts, random spacing)	Signals disorganisation; difficult to read; fails ATS parsing
8	No professional summary or a generic one	Wastes the most important 6 seconds of recruiter attention
9	Photographs that are unprofessional, casual, or low-quality	Creates negative first impression; should be omitted entirely unless specifically requested
10	Listing “References available on request”	Wastes space; is assumed; add the actual reference details when needed
11	Using tables, text boxes, or multi-column layouts for ATS submissions	ATS cannot parse content in these elements — your skills and experience become invisible
12	Exaggerating qualifications or employment history	Background checks will discover it; disqualification and reputational damage follows
13	Unexplained employment gaps	Raises doubt without context — add a brief explanation (NYSC, further study, caregiving) for gaps over 3 months
14	One-size-fits-all professional summary	Generic summaries are recognised immediately and dismissed — tailor for each application
15	Not proofreading before sending	A single typo in a cover letter or CV heading creates an impression of carelessness that is difficult to recover from

Part 16: Sample CV Template Structure — Fresh Graduate and Experienced

Fresh Graduate CV Template Structure:

Part 17: The Final CV Checklist Before You Send

Check	Confirmed?
CV is tailored to this specific job — keywords from the job description are included	☐
Professional summary is specific, compelling, and relevant to this role	☐
Experience bullets lead with strong action verbs and contain specific numbers	☐
Email address is professional (firstname.lastname@gmail.com format)	☐
Phone number is active and will be answered or has professional voicemail	☐
CV is maximum 2 pages (3 if 10+ years experience)	☐
Consistent formatting — same font, same spacing, same bullet style throughout	☐
No date of birth, religion, tribe, or marital status (unless specifically requested)	☐
No spelling errors or grammatical mistakes — proofread by a second person	☐
Section headings are standard (Work Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications)	☐
Single-column layout (for ATS submissions)	☐
Saved as PDF (for human submissions) or .docx (for ATS-heavy platforms)	☐
File named professionally: “AdaoraOkonkwo_CV_Zaron.pdf” — not “mynewcv_FINAL2.docx”	☐
LinkedIn profile matches CV exactly — same dates, titles, companies	☐
Cover letter written and attached (if required or recommended)	☐

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