- CVs in NZ are different from US resumes and UK/Australian formats in a few key ways. NZ does not expect photos, and it’s best not to include one to prevent any discrimination.
- You don’t need to include your address, just the suburb/area.
- NZ employers expect personality to come through — it’s not just a list of jobs, some employers want to see your outside hobbies and interests.
- Generally 2 pages max for early-career; 1 page is fine if you’re light on experience, and try to do 3 max for late-career if you can.
- If you’re changing careers, focus on the most recent and relevant experience, frame less relevant experience with a focus on STAR and transferrable skills. Some employers appreciate customer service and sales roles as they show ability to talk to people.
The Basics:
- Cover letters are still expected for most roles — a CV alone often won’t cut it.
- Do try to find out the person who is hiring for the role and use their name. Often this is on the LinkedIn post, or you can check there to find the hiring manager or employees of a company there.
- NZ hiring managers often Google you before reading your CV — make sure you Google yourself first, check your social media profile photos and public albums, and make sure your LinkedIn matches your CV.
- Gaps in your CV are less stigmatised here than in some other countries — but be ready to explain them briefly.
- Tailoring your CV per application matters more than having a perfect generic one. Create and save a version for each type of role you’re applying for – eg: UX vs UI, front vs back end dev, etc etc.
- If you’re an international graduate, explicitly mention your visa/work rights status — ambiguity causes rejections
It’s a good idea to start off thinking about your elevator pitch, and once you have that sorted, you can weave the into your “About Me/Introduction” section.
What to Include:
- Contact details — name, email, phone, LinkedIn URL, portfolio/website/Github URL (no photo, no DOB, no address needed)
- A short personal statement or profile (3–5 sentences max) — who you are, what you’re good at, what you are interested/passionate about . Provide information that lets the reader learn about who you are as a person and what’s important to you.
- Career Objective – A sentence about the role/s that you are looking for, and two to four sentences about why you are interested in that role. (Be honest about why you want to do that role. )
- Education — qualification, institution, year completed. Include relevant papers/projects if you’re light on work experience. If you’re including university projects, include the role and tasks that you did.
- Work experience
- — most recent first (reverse chronological). For each role: job title, employer, dates, 3–5 bullet points of what you did and any numbers/quantifiers of the impact you made – “increased sales by 3%”, “dealt with upwards of 300 customers perr shitf” etc.
Writing Your Jobs using Bullet Points
- Lead with a verb: designed, built, managed, researched, led, collaborated
- Add context: for who, at what scale, using what tools
- Add outcomes where you can: numbers are especially useful here – “reduced load time by 30%” or “increased efficiency by 3%”, even “regularly received positive feedback from clients” or any extra responsibilities, promotions, or awards you got.
- Avoid vague phrases: “responsible for,” “assisted with,” “helped to” — be specific about what YOU did, and identify any areas where you went above and beyond – Iimproved process by getting rid of inefficiencies” or “created/updated training materials for new staff”
Skills
Keep it honest and specific, and don’t lie – “familiar wtih Figma” beats “good communication skills”.
Break them into soft and technical skills.
Don’t rate your skills – eg: 90% in Photoshop, 3/5 in Excel, etc. It sounds good but actually raises more questions than it answers (proficient in Photoshop: 70%… compared to who? Adobe themselves? 😄)
Do include languages you speak if it’s for an multinational company.
Simple 3-tier language (recommended for most)
Works for both technical and soft skills, easy to apply honestly.
- Familiar — you’ve used it, you know your way around, but you’d need to look things up or ask questions.
- Proficient — you can work independently and confidently, without looking most things up.
- Advanced — you could teach it, troubleshoot tricky issues, or dierct other to use it.
Option 2: Context-based (no rating at all)
Instead of rating, describe how you’ve used it — which is actually more useful to an employer:
Figma — used across 3 university projects for wireframing and high-fidelity prototyping
No rating needed. The context does the work.
Option 3: Group by category, not level
List skills under headers like Tools, Methods, Languages etc. — grouping implies relevance without claiming mastery. Clean, scannable, honest.
The rule of thumb for skills:
Only list it if you’d be comfortable being asked about it in an interview or doing it solo in the job.
If you want to include something that you’re learning or new at, you can mention this as “Learning photography” – or leave it off your CV and mention it in the interview.
Avoid: stars, bars, percentages, or anything visual that implies a measurable score — they look designerly, but they’re essentially meaningless and hiring managers tend to ignore or distrust them.
Volunteer work, Certifications & Achievements
- Certifications – if relevant, things like a full drivers licence, food safety, site-safe, forklift licence etc are all worth including.
- Volunteer work / extracurriculars — especially relevant if you’re early career; NZ employers notice community involvement.
- Uni involvements – Student clubs or events can be useful to include, especially things like student rep or leader of a club.
- Industry memberships/involvement – things like being in Women in Tech, DINZ or marketing organisation can be valuable to include, if relevant.
- References — “Available on request” is fine; no need to list them. If you’re using someone as a reference, DO ask/let them know you’ve put them down, before you submit your CV – a quick call, email or txt, depending on how well you know them.
Common Mistakes
- Using a template that looks like everyone else’s (especially the same free Canva templates)
- Overdesigning it so it isn’t easily skimmable (eg: black background with white text or font size too small)
- Listing duties instead of achievements
- Including a photo (not standard in NZ and can invite unconscious bias)
- Making it longer than 2 pages when you don’t have the experience to fill it
- Sending the same CV to every job without tailoring it for the role
Quick Checklist Before You Send
- Spell-checked and proofread by someone else?
- Addressed to a person, not “whom it may concern”?
- File saved as PDF, named “FirstName-LastName-CV.pdf”?
- Contact details are correct and links are working? – learn how to make a hyperlink in a PDF
- Tailored to the specific role and company, along with your cover letter?