CV or resume?
In New Zealand it's usually called a CV, short for curriculum vitae. Tahatū Career Navigator, the government's careers service, notes it's sometimes called a resume, and SEEK uses "resumé" in its advice. Employers use both words for the same thing: a short document that shows why you suit one job.
How long should a New Zealand CV be?
Two pages if you can. That's Tahatū Career Navigator's advice, and its example prompt for writing a CV with AI asks for one to two pages. SEEK is more relaxed and allows up to four for a long career, but a short, focused CV is easier to read for an employer with a pile of applications and not much time.
That limit forces choices, and that's a good thing. A support worker with fifteen years of roles doesn't need every early job described in detail. Give the recent and relevant jobs the space, and keep older ones to a line or two.
What goes at the top
Your name and contact details: a phone number, a professional email address, and a link to your LinkedIn or another online job profile if you have one. The careers service's own template doesn't include a home address, and SEEK says a full address isn't needed. Your town or city is enough.
If your email address is a nickname you picked at school, now's a good time to set up a plain one with your name in it.
Photo, age and personal details
Leave them off. Tahatū Career Navigator says it's usually best not to add a photo, your age or your date of birth, and the Tertiary Education Commission's CV guide says to remove images and photos. This is the convention that surprises people most if they've written CVs in other countries.
The law is behind it. The Human Rights Act 1993 lists the grounds an employer can't discriminate on, including age, sex, marital status, family status, religious and ethical belief, race, colour, ethnic or national origins (which covers nationality and citizenship), disability, sexual orientation, political opinion and employment status. The Human Rights Commission's guidance for employers says they shouldn't try to find out your date of birth, ask about your marital status or whether you have children, or ask about your religious beliefs.
So none of those belong on your CV. An employer is allowed to ask for a photo, but the Commission says it shouldn't be used to look for characteristics like these.
Work rights and visas
Employers must check that you have the legal right to work in New Zealand before they employ you, and Immigration New Zealand says the same: they must check your visa lets you work here. The Human Rights Commission says every applicant should be asked whether they're entitled to work in New Zealand, but not about their country of origin.
No official guide says your visa status has to go on your CV, so it's your call. If you do include it, one line such as "Open work visa, valid to 2028" is enough. Either way, be ready to show your work rights when you're asked. If you'll need an employer to support a visa, read our guide to visa sponsorship jobs in New Zealand.
What goes in, and in what order
Tahatū Career Navigator suggests this order:
- Your name and contact details
- A personal statement: a few lines on who you are and what you're looking for
- Your key skills
- Your work history, most recent job first
- Your education and qualifications, most recent or most relevant first
- Interests, if you want to include them
- Referees
Personal statement
A few lines on who you are and what you're looking for, written for the job in front of you. Some examples of the kind of thing that works:
- A chef: "Chef de partie with six years in à la carte kitchens, looking for a sous chef role where I can train junior cooks."
- A software developer: "Front-end developer working in TypeScript and React, looking for a team that takes accessibility seriously."
- A retail assistant: "Retail assistant with three years on the floor and the till, ready to step up to key-holder."
Each one names the job, the experience and what the person wants next. Rewrite it for every application, because it's the first thing an employer reads.
Key skills
List the skills the job needs, in the words the job ad uses. If the ad says "fault finding" and your CV says "diagnosing electrical problems", say it the ad's way. If a nursing ad asks for an "annual practising certificate", name yours. It's the same experience, but now the reader, and any software sorting applications, can find it. The free CV keyword scanner shows which of an ad's keywords your CV already has.
Work history
Most recent job first. Your work history can include other work experience, not only paid jobs, so volunteering or a placement can earn its place.
Under each job, write a few bullet points about what you did and what came of it. "Ran the pass on a 120-cover Saturday service" says far more than "Responsible for kitchen duties". Only use numbers you can stand behind in an interview. The free bullet point writer helps turn a plain duty into a stronger line.
Education, registrations and licences
List your study most recent or most relevant first. The careers service suggests listing the dates, or just the year you finished.
If your job needs a registration, licence or certificate, make it easy to find. Our registered nurse CV example and electrician CV example show where they sit on a whole CV.
Referees
Include referees if the job ad asks for them. You'll need contact details for at least two people, and the careers service's CV builder suggests two or three who know your work. If the ad doesn't ask, write "Referees available on request".
Employers can only collect information about you from someone who isn't one of your nominated referees with your consent, according to Employment New Zealand. It makes sense to let your referees know they may be called.
Gaps in your work history
A break doesn't need hiding. Tahatū Career Navigator suggests a skills-focused CV to show what you learned during the break, and explaining a big gap in your cover letter. Time spent caring for family, studying or travelling is part of your story, not something to cover up. If it comes up at interview, our guide to common job interview questions has an example answer.
Format, file type and ATS
Send your CV as a PDF unless the employer asks for a Word document, and give the file a clear name, like "sam-henderson-CV.pdf". The careers service recommends a plain black font such as Calibri at 11 point, larger bold headings and plenty of white space.
Keep the layout simple. Your CV may go through an applicant tracking system (ATS), software that searches CVs and cover letters and ranks them, and the careers service says simple, consistent formatting makes sure it can read yours. The Tertiary Education Commission's guide adds: remove text boxes, because an ATS won't read infographics or diagrams. Our post on what an ATS does with your CV explains the rest.
Spelling
Use New Zealand English: "organisation", not "organization". The careers service's example prompt for writing a CV with AI asks for "clear, plain New Zealand English" and suggests fixing American spelling.
A free New Zealand CV template
Download the New Zealand CV template (Word). It follows every convention on this page: Calibri at 11 point, plain headings an ATS can read, no photo or date of birth, and the sections in Tahatū Career Navigator's order, with a note in each one on what to write. Fill it in, delete the notes, and save it as a PDF.
Prefer to start from text? Here's the same layout:
[Your name]
[Phone] · [Email] · [Town or city] · [LinkedIn, if you have one]Personal statement
[Two or three lines: your job or field, your experience, and what you're looking for next.]Key skills
[Five to eight skills from the job ad, in its words, that you can back up.]Work history
[Job title], [Employer], [Town or city] · [Month year] to [Month year, or Present]
· [What you did, and what came of it, with a number if you can]
· [Another achievement or responsibility that matches the ad]Education and qualifications
[Qualification], [Institution] · [Year finished]Licences, registrations and work rights
[Driver's licence class, practising certificate or visa, if relevant]Referees
[Two referees with their job title, phone and email, or "Referees available on request"]
New Zealand CV examples
It's easier to write a CV when you can see one. Our CV examples each show a whole CV for a New Zealand job, with the keywords its ads use, strong bullet points and the mistakes to avoid:
- Health and care: registered nurse, healthcare assistant, support worker and caregiver
- Trades and construction: electrician, plumber, builder and construction labourer
- Hospitality and retail: chef, barista, retail assistant and store manager
- Office and finance: office administrator, receptionist, accountant and customer service representative
- Tech and education: software developer, data analyst, primary teacher and early childhood teacher
Starting out or changing direction? The graduate CV guide and the guide to changing careers show how to build a CV with less directly relevant experience.
Cover letters
Expect to send one. Tahatū Career Navigator says a cover letter goes with your CV when you apply for a job, and to keep it to one page. If the employer uses an application form, follow every instruction: they may reject applications that don't. Our guide to writing a cover letter for New Zealand jobs covers the layout, the greeting, each paragraph and a template, and there are cover letter examples for the same 50 jobs.
Police vetting and other checks
Some jobs involve checks before an offer. The Human Rights Commission notes that jobs caring for children, older people or other vulnerable people may need a Police vet, and Employment New Zealand says an employer may check your driving record if you'll drive for work. Only give this kind of information when the employer asks for it.
How SmartCVs fits a New Zealand CV
SmartCVs was built in New Zealand, and its CVs follow these conventions by design. Your profile has no place for a photo, date of birth or marital status, so no CV it makes includes them. Every CV downloads as PDF or Word, and you can record your work rights and driver's licence under Other details if you want them on it.
For each job ad, SmartCVs shows which requirements your CV answers, then tailors it around them without adding anything you haven't done. Find a job on the New Zealand job board, or start with the free CV check and see how an ATS reads yours.