By Cyril KimbiA student CV has a specific problem to solve: you are being assessed on potential rather than on track record, by someone who will spend well under a minute on the page. Everything below follows from those two facts.
What goes on the page, in order
- Name and contact — phone, a professional email address, city. No photograph unless the country expects one, and no date of birth.
- A two-line summary — what you are, what you are looking for. Optional, but it frames everything under it.
- Education — institution, qualification, dates, and the grade if it helps you.
- Experience — paid work, internships, volunteering, significant projects. All of it counts.
- Skills — specific and verifiable. Languages with levels, software you can actually use.
- Additional — leadership positions, competitions, publications, certifications.
Referees do not need to be listed. “References available on request” is also unnecessary — it uses a line to say nothing.
The rule that changes everything
Most student CVs describe duties. Strong ones describe outcomes.
Duty: “Responsible for social media for the student association.”
This tells a recruiter what you were given, not what you did with it.
Outcome: “Ran the student association’s social media; grew the page from 200 to 1,400 followers in one academic year by posting exam timetables and past-paper links students were already searching for.”
Same role. The second version shows a decision, a method and a result. That is what is being assessed.
Where you have no number, describe the change qualitatively — what stopped happening, what was adopted, what someone else then did differently. Never invent a figure; it collapses at interview.
If you have no work experience
Almost every student believes this applies to them, and almost none of them are right. Legitimate experience includes coursework projects with a real output, tutoring, running a study group, church or association responsibilities, sport and its organisation, family business work, a side project or small trade, competitions, and anything you organised for other people.
Family business work in particular is routinely omitted by Cameroonian students, and it should not be. Handling stock, cash, suppliers and customers is commercial experience. Describe it in those terms.
Preparing seriously for a competitive entrance exam is also usable material when framed properly — a candidate who diagnosed a weak paper, restructured revision around timed past papers and tracked the improvement is describing self-management with evidence.
Formatting that survives the software
Many applications pass through automated screening before a person reads them. A CV that looks striking and parses badly is worse than a plain one.
- One column. Two-column templates frequently parse out of order.
- No text inside images or text boxes. It is invisible to the parser.
- Standard section headings — “Education”, “Experience”. Clever labels confuse both software and skim-readers.
- PDF unless another format is requested, so your layout survives.
- Name the file properly — Surname-Firstname-CV.pdf, not cv final final2.pdf.
- Consistent dates in one format throughout.
Tailoring without rewriting
Sending one CV to thirty employers is efficient and ineffective. Rewriting it thirty times is effective and unsustainable. The workable middle is to keep one master document and adjust three things per application:
- The order of the bullets — most relevant first.
- The wording of the top three bullets — echo the language of the advertisement where it is honest to do so.
- The summary line — name the role you are applying for.
That takes about ten minutes and produces most of the benefit of a full rewrite.
CV, resume and the francophone CV
Conventions differ, and using the wrong one signals a recycled application.
| Region | Name | Convention |
|---|---|---|
| United States, Canada | Resume | One page, no photo, no age, no marital status |
| United Kingdom | CV | One to two pages, no photo |
| France, francophone Africa | CV | One page, photo often expected, sometimes date of birth |
| Academic (anywhere) | Academic CV | No length limit; publications and teaching listed in full |
Where a country’s convention includes personal details that another country’s law discourages, follow the convention of the country you are applying to.
What to cut
- Secondary school detail, once you are in higher education — one line is enough.
- “Hardworking, dynamic, team player” and every other unverifiable adjective.
- Skill rating bars. Nobody knows what four stars out of five means.
- Every short course you have ever attended. Keep the ones that matter.
- An unprofessional email address. It is the cheapest fix on this list.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a student CV be?
One page. Two only once you have substantial relevant experience, and never for a first job.
Should I include my photo?
Follow the destination country. Expected in much of francophone Africa and continental Europe; avoided in the United Kingdom and North America.
Should I put my GCE or Baccalaureat results?
Yes while you are a student or recent graduate, especially if they are strong. Summarise rather than listing every subject.
What if there is a gap in my dates?
Account for it briefly and factually. An unexplained gap invites worse assumptions than the truth usually warrants.
Do I need a cover letter as well?
Send one whenever it is permitted. The CV lists what you did; the letter explains why it matters for this role.
Where to go next
A CV gets the interview; the interview is a separate skill. Pair this with the behavioural-interview method employers use to assess the same evidence out loud.
