South African CV vs UK CV — What You Need to Change

South African and UK CVs follow different rules. What works well in Johannesburg or Cape Town can actively work against you in London or Manchester. If you are applying to UK employers with an unmodified South African CV, you are likely being screened out before your experience even gets read.

Here is a direct comparison of what changes — and why each one matters.

Length: three pages versus two

South African CVs often run to three, four, or even five pages. UK recruiters expect two pages. No exceptions for most roles. No matter how much experience you have, the expectation is that you can summarise it in two pages. A three-page CV signals to a UK recruiter that you cannot edit yourself — not a good first impression.

What to cut: roles older than 10 years (unless directly relevant), generic skills, references, personal details. What to keep: your most recent and most relevant experience, specific achievements with numbers, and a tailored professional summary.

No photo

South African CVs frequently include a professional headshot. UK CVs never include photos. Including one is considered unprofessional and can inadvertently create legal discomfort for employers who are required to make hiring decisions without reference to appearance. Remove the photo entirely.

No personal details beyond contact information

South African CVs often include date of birth, ID number, nationality, marital status, and even gender. None of this should appear on a UK CV. The only personal information you include is:

• Full name
• Location (city and country — not your full address)
• Email address
• Phone number (with international dialling code if applying from South Africa)
• LinkedIn profile URL

Professional summary: mandatory and targeted

UK CVs open with a professional summary — two to three sentences that directly answer the question: why should this employer shortlist me for this specific role? It should be rewritten for every application.

A weak South African CV might open with an objective statement like "Seeking a challenging position that allows me to grow." A strong UK professional summary reads: "Chartered accountant with 8 years of post-qualification experience in financial reporting and regulatory compliance, specialising in the financial services sector. Looking to bring IFRS expertise and a track record of leading year-end close processes to a senior finance role in London."

Specific, targeted, immediately relevant.

British spelling throughout

This sounds minor. To UK recruiters and ATS systems, it is not. Use British spelling consistently:

• Organise not organize
• Optimise not optimize
• Behaviour not behavior
• Honour not honor
• Programme not program (for general use)
• Colour not color

Running your CV through a British English spell-checker before sending catches most of these.

Skills section: explicit and keyword-matched

UK ATS systems score your CV against the job description's keywords. South African CVs often bury skills inside paragraph descriptions of roles. UK CVs include a dedicated skills section with a clean list of relevant skills, using the exact terminology from job descriptions.

If the job posting says "stakeholder management," your skills section should say "stakeholder management" — not "managing relationships across the business."

References: never listed on the CV

South African CVs commonly list two or three referees with contact details. UK CVs simply state "References available on request" — or omit the references section entirely. Never include referee contact details on your CV. You provide references when asked, which is typically after an offer.

Action verbs and quantified achievements

UK employers want evidence, not descriptions. Every bullet point under your work experience should start with a strong action verb and include a measurable outcome wherever possible.

• ❌ "Responsible for managing the accounts team"
• ✅ "Led a team of 6 accounts staff, reducing month-end close time from 12 days to 7 days"

• ❌ "Helped with the company's digital transformation"
• ✅ "Delivered a cloud migration project on time and 8% under budget, reducing infrastructure costs by £180,000 annually"

Numbers create credibility. Vague descriptions do not.

The format: single column, no graphics

South African candidates sometimes use designed CV templates with columns, graphics, coloured backgrounds, and icons. UK employers and ATS systems prefer single-column, text-based CVs with clean formatting. Use Arial, Calibri, or a similar professional font at 10–11pt. Use simple bold headers. No tables, no text boxes, no images.

How Jobsesame handles this automatically

Adapting your CV to UK standards for every application is time-consuming. Jobsesame's AI reads your existing CV, analyses the UK job description you are applying to, and rewrites your CV to match UK conventions — British spelling, correct format, targeted summary, keyword-matched skills, quantified bullets. The process takes 30 seconds.

Start applying to UK jobs with the right CV

Do not let a format mismatch cost you opportunities you are qualified for. Jobsesame's UK platform makes it straightforward to apply to UK jobs with a CV that meets British standards. Upload your CV once, browse live UK jobs, and let the AI handle the rewrite for every application at jobsesame.co.za/uk.