How to write a South African CV that gets shortlisted in 2026

A South African CV is not an American résumé. Local recruiters expect two to three pages, an ID or work-permit status line, and clear references — but they still scan the top third of page one first.

Open with a four-line professional summary that names your discipline, years of experience, province and the single result you are proudest of. Quantify it: “grew retail turnover 18% across 4 Gauteng stores” beats “responsible for sales”.

List your most recent role first, and under each role write three bullets: what you owned, what you changed, what it delivered. Skip duties that any person in that title would have.

Add a Skills block with the tools an ATS searches for — Sage, Pastel, SAP, Excel, Python, forklift licence codes, PSIRA grade, SACE or HPCSA registration numbers where applicable.

Close with education, certifications and “References available on request”. Save as PDF named Firstname-Lastname-CV.pdf, then apply directly through the Grab Employment job page so your application is tracked.