The job closes on Friday. You need a CV.
You do not have a laptop. The internet cafe wants money you would rather spend on transport to the interview. And the last CV you had was on a memory stick that somebody borrowed in 2023.
You can do this on your phone. It is free, and it takes about twenty minutes.
What a CV is actually for
It is not your life story. It has one job: to get you into the room.
The person reading it has a stack of them and about twenty seconds for each. So everything on it should help them decide quickly that you are worth meeting.
That is the whole test. Does this help them decide.
What goes on it
Your name and how to reach you. Phone number and email. Check the number. A wrong digit is a job lost and it happens more than you would think.
Where you live. Suburb and city is enough. Employers care about whether you can get to work.
A short line about what you do. Two sentences. Not "hardworking team player". Something real: what kind of work you do and how long you have been doing it.
Your work history, most recent first. Job title, where, and the dates. Then one or two lines on what you actually did there. Not the job description. What you did.
Your education and any certificates. Including short courses, licences and tickets. A forklift licence or a first aid certificate belongs on there.
Languages. In South Africa this genuinely matters and people leave it off.
References. Two is enough. Ask them first, always.
The mistakes that cost interviews
Gaps you do not explain. Everybody has them. One line is enough. Studying, caring for family, could not find work. Unexplained gaps invite guessing, and people guess badly.
One CV for every job. Change the top two lines to match what they asked for. Not the whole thing. The top.
A photo, unless it is asked for. It takes up space that facts should be in.
Too long. Two pages. If you have twenty years, the last ten matter most.
Spelling. Read it out loud once. You will hear what you cannot see.
If you already have one
You do not have to start again. An old CV, even one from years ago, can be brought in and brought up to date rather than retyped.
Downloading and sending it
Get it as a PDF. A PDF looks the same on every phone and every computer, and nothing moves around.
Some employers ask for Word. Have both if you can.
Then send it from your phone, straight to the WhatsApp number or email address on the advert. No printing, no internet cafe.
The honest summary
A CV is twenty minutes of work and it is the only thing standing between you and being in the room.
Real details, no gaps unexplained, two pages, checked out loud, sent as a PDF.
The KatisoBiz Jobs CV builder is free. Build it on your phone, download it as a PDF or Word document, and apply.