I was recently involved in shortlisting CV's for recruitment by one of the top employers of young graduates in Nigeria and I observed a worrying trend with more than 98% of CVs submitted. Most of the CV's omitted very important personal information needed to decide who proceeds to the next level.

I will like to issue a disclaimer before I proceed. I am not a HR personnel nor an expert in CV writing. I am only sharing from my personal experience.

It is advisable to have different versions of your CV for different categories of applications. For example you can have one for academc applications, international job opportunities and lastly and most importantly for Nigerian job applications.

This write up will focus mainly on the CV you need for Nigerian Job applications.

In Nigeria a lot of information is needed by employees for shortlisting candidates for an entry level position.

Top amongst them are:
1) Date of birth
2) Class of degree
3) Course of study
4) NYSC status
5) State of Origin.
6) Name, Address, Phone number and email
7) Name of university

Over 90% of the CV's we processed omitted the first four items on the list above.

If for any reason you omit any of these information on your CV, the chances of you getting called for a test and interview drops to almost zero percent. This is because these are the metrics used for shortlisting and HR personnel are too busy to start calling each applicant to confirm these details.
Secondly, the number of people applying for every advertised position is 'crazy' and that makes sorting of CV's very difficult for those involved in the process. So most of them have little or no patience and can discard a CV for the flimsiest reason.

Before preparing your CV see it as a summarized physical representation of your personality. An employer should be able to get as much information from it in so short a time.

Lastly, I will like to address the issue of the email address used for job applications in Nigeria. It is best to use email services with fewer restrictions e.g. gmail and yahoo. Some emails have extreme security features and can hinder your chances of seeing an email from a recruiter.

Putting age, religion, gender, and other discriminatory information on your resume are increasingly being frowned at. Notwithstanding, one has to put age in entering level job applications as that is one of the criteria that employers used.


Though entering level job does not mean that you have no experience. An applicant with 10+ years experience could be applying for entering level job (perhaps changing field).

Powersurge:
Putting age, religion, gender, and other discriminatory information on your resume are increasingly being frowned at. Notwithstanding, one has to put age in entering level job applications as that is one of the criteria that employers used.


Though entering level job does not mean that you have no experience. An applicant with 10+ years experience could be applying for entering level job (perhaps changing field).

You'll notice I didn't state religion or gender in the original post and I also placed emphasis on Nigerian employment.

In Nigeria the private sector recruitments are all age specific. Especially the high paying jobs.
To increase your chances of success age must be clearly stated.

Thanks for your contribution.

Nutase:

You'll notice I didn't state religion or gender in the original post and I also placed emphasis on Nigerian employment.

In Nigeria the private sector recruitment are all age specific. Especially the high paying jobs.
To increase your chances of success age must be clearly stated.

Thanks for your contribution.

Very correct.