How to write a CV step by step

Collect everything before you think about the layout. With the information at hand, the CV takes far less time to write.

• Your contact details: your number with the country code (+221 in Senegal), reachable on WhatsApp if possible, a plain email address (firstname.lastname rather than a nickname) and your city.
• Your diplomas, with the school and the year: BFEM, baccalaureate, BTS, bachelor's, master's, vocational training.
• Your experience, internships and odd jobs included: the organisation, your role, the dates and what you did there.
• Your skills: software, languages, driving licence, the know-how of your trade.
• One or two people who can speak about your work, if you want to list them as references.

Already have a CV, even an old one? It holds most of this information: on LYZY, you can import it as a PDF or Word file, and its content is carried into your new CV.

A clear CV almost always follows the same order. The recruiter knows where to look, and so does the screening software.

• The header: first and last name, the job you are aiming for, phone, email and city.
• The profile: two or three sentences on what you can do and what you are looking for.
• Experience, from the most recent to the oldest: your role, the organisation, the dates, then two to four lines on what you achieved.
• Education, from the most recent diploma to the oldest.
• Skills, starting with the ones the job offer asks for.
• Languages, each with your level: native, fluent, good command, basic.
• Interests, only if they say something about you: volunteering, an association, a team sport.

Just out of school? Put education before experience, and present your internships, your dissertation and your projects as real experience.

Start each line with an action verb, and give a number when you have one: a volume, a deadline, a result.

• One page if you are starting out, two pages at most when your career is long.
• A plain, readable font, such as Arial, Calibri or Garamond, between 10 and 12 points for the body text.
• Clear section titles, no complex tables and no text inside images: screening software does not always read them.
• Send your CV as a PDF, unless the job offer asks for a Word file: its layout stays the same on every phone and computer.
• Name the file after yourself and the job, for example CV-Awa-Diop-Accountant.pdf, rather than "CV final 3".

LYZY's templates marked "ATS-friendly" already follow these rules, and the PDF comes out ready to send.

See the CV templates

Habits change from one country to the next. Here is what recruiters in Senegal usually expect to find on a CV.

• The photo: it is common, and many recruiters expect one. Choose a recent photo, facing the camera, on a plain background, in work clothes.
• Personal details: age or date of birth and nationality often appear under the name. Marital status is optional.
• Languages: list French, English and the national languages you speak, such as Wolof or Pulaar. For a customer facing job, it is a real asset.
• References: many employers call a former manager. Name one or two people, with their consent, or write "References available on request".
• Address: the city and the neighbourhood are enough. The recruiter wants to know whether you can get there easily, not your exact address.

Applying abroad or to an international company? Check the habits of that country: in many English speaking countries, the photo and personal details are left out.

• Spelling mistakes: have someone proofread your CV, or read it aloud.
• A fanciful email address, or a number that does not answer.
• The same CV sent to every job offer, without the words of the role.
• A list of duties ("in charge of the till") instead of what you achieved.
• Unexplained gaps in your career: training, a job search or a personal project are worth mentioning.
• A cluttered layout: loud colours, cramped columns, text that is too small.

Many companies sort applications with software called an ATS. It reads your CV, looks for the words of the job offer and ranks candidates before a recruiter opens them.

• Use the words of the job offer for the role and for the skills you really have.
• Keep classic section titles: Experience, Education, Skills.
• Avoid tables, multiple columns and text inside images.

On LYZY, every job offer has a "Check my match score" button. It compares your CV with the offer, lists the skills found and the ones missing, and suggests what to fix. You can try it for free.

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