Making a CV in Writer

A concise, well-structured CV is crucial for South African jobseekers. The good news is that you can create a professional CV using the free, open-source word processor LibreOffice Writer, with no need to buy Microsoft Word.

What needs to go in a South African CV

Generally, a South African CV should be concise, focusing on the core information that matters to recruiters.

The personal details block is the foundation of your CV. Always start with your surname and first names at the top. You should then list:

• Date and country of birth
• South African ID number
• Gender and marital status
• Physical address and contact details

Education and qualifications

The next section includes your education from secondary school up, and any professional qualifications. Include your school names, years of attendance, and qualifications gained. If you left before qualifying, show how long you attended. List professional courses or training in the same format, with issuing institution, year and certificate gained.

Career history

The core of the CV is your relevant work experience. Recruiters want to see the actual jobs you’ve done and the responsibilities you’ve handled, so include these in this section with the most recent first.

For each relevant role, include:

• Job title
• Company name
• Dates of employment
• Key duties and achievements

This proves the experience needed for the targeted role, so stress what makes you a strong match. Aim for recent years to show your current skills.

Competences

Some jobseekers prefer this section, which lets you show both the formal skills from your education, and the soft skills you’ve gained on the job.

• Languages
• Software knowledge
• Specialist skills
• Transferable skills (leadership, communication, problem-solving)

Use this block to round out the picture of the applicant.

Positions and prizes

Use this section to show the full candidate: leadership in extracurriculars, items of personal interest that reinforce your social fit, and what awards you’ve received that prove your excellence.

References

Finally, conclude with a clear statement of the references you are offering.

Keeping the layout in LibreOffice Writer

Those are the contents, but layout is important, too. Recruiters scan CVs, and a confusing layout can cost you the opportunity.

Work with styles

LibreOffice Writer lets you select paragraph styles from the toolbar for easy lining. Set your personal details, qualifications, positions and references in styles to keep the information grouped. Make sure you set heading styles out from general text, so each major section stands out. For example, click in a section title and choose Heading 1 in the Paragraph Style box on the Formatting toolbar.

In LibreOffice Writer, while you may have the option of laying the CV out in tables, best practice in many CVs is a clean, simple text layout, with information clearly divided.

Keep margins and text size large

Sensible layout adds to recruiter readability. And choose a readable font size - at least size 10, in a clean, clear font.

Once the content is in place, double-check the finished document. Look through as if you were a recruiter, and run through the correctness of every item. Make sure you’ve used consistent text styles, spell-checked everything, and exported the final CV as a PDF with File > Export As > Export as PDF.