How to write a CV as a student in Ghana

Start with the basics

A student CV should be one page, or two at the most. Put your full name at the top, then your phone number, email address and the town or city you are in. Use an email address that looks professional, ideally some version of your name.

You do not need your date of birth, your marital status, your religion or your home address. Recruiters do not need them, and leaving them out keeps the CV short.

Write a short summary

Under your name, write two or three sentences about who you are, what you are good at and what you want. A simple formula works well: who you are (course, year and school), what you are good at (two skills or experiences) and what you are looking for (an internship, national service, a first job).

For example: Final-year Nursing student at KNUST with ward experience at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. Careful with patient records and calm under pressure. Looking for a placement as a staff nurse.

Put your strongest section first

If you have worked, put your experience first. If you are still a student with little work history, lead with your education and projects instead. Employers hiring students expect this, and a strong final-year project says more than a vague job title.

Turn what you did into bullet points

Under each role, project or activity, write two to four bullet points. Start each one with an action word, say what you did, and add a number where you can. Numbers make your work easier to picture.

Compare these two lines. Weak: Responsible for helping customers. Stronger: Served about 50 customers a day and balanced the cash box every evening.

• Start with an action word such as Led, Built, Organised, Trained or Managed.
• Say how many, how often or how much: 40 volunteers, every week, 15% faster.
• Keep each bullet to one or two lines.
• Do not write filler such as hard-working or team player. Show it with what you did.

No work experience? You still have plenty

Many things count as experience: your final-year project, industrial attachment, national service, class projects, clubs, SRC or church roles, volunteering and part-time work. Describe each one the same way you would a job: what you did and what came out of it.

List skills you can prove

Group your skills so they are easy to scan, for example Software, Clinical or Professional. List only skills you could show in an interview. Excel pivot tables says more than computer skills.

Referees

Choose two people who know your work, such as a lecturer or a supervisor from your attachment. Ask their permission first, and tell them which roles you are applying for so they are ready if they are called.

Check it before you send it

Read your CV out loud, and ask a friend to read it too. Check names, dates, phone numbers and spelling. Save it as a PDF so the layout does not change, and name the file clearly, for example Ama_Mensah_CV.pdf.

If an employer asks you to apply through an online form, use a simple one-column layout without a photo. It is the safest choice for the software some employers use to sort applications.