A New Zealand-style CV is generally two pages long and contains information highlighting your professional and academic history.
The key elements include your contact details, skill set, qualifications, and work experience you have had in the past. It is also vital that all these aspects are updated and accurate. Recruiters want to-the-point and concise information, so keeping your CV in bullet points is always recommended to grasp more attention.
Creating the perfect Curriculum Vitae (CV) that will make you stand out from the engineering and construction applications crowd will need to be eye-catching and make an excellent first impression, as hiring professionals generally skim through numerous applications at a time.
In New Zealand, the most important thing is to provide truthful information regarding your work experience and skill set. Concise, easy-to-read CVs that contain all the important information and examples of your skill set, are a winning combination.
This guide will present what aspects to include in a New Zealand CV, tips, and how to amplify your CV application to stand out from the crowd.
Contact details and general information
The first section of your resume should include your personal and contact details, a summary of your qualifications/education, and skills.
You must include your full name, contact number, email address, and professional accounts such as LinkedIn. Ensure that your contact information is always up to date, as this is the only way hiring staff and recruiters can contact you. Also, ensure that your email address is professional without silly names or birth year.
If you are not a New Zealand citizen, it is helpful to include your eligibility to work in New Zealand.
It is optional to include a career objective after you present relevant contact information. This will highlight your overall career goals and what you can offer a company in relation to the goals. Remember that the first person should be used when writing your personal statement.
Qualifications
In the qualifications section, always include the most recent first qualifications presented with the full name (e.g. Bachelor of Civil Engineering). Ensure you provide the education facility/university name, the country it was based in, the date of admission and completion, and the academic achievement for the qualification. Listing any awards or achievements you have received underneath what qualifications you have on your CV will increase the chances of hiring staff and recruiters contacting you.
Skills
New Zealand employers prefer candidates who provide evidence of their abilities instead of listing them. For example, how you used each skill, the surroundings in which the activity was carried out, and what happened because of using these skills. Be careful not to make them long, so ensure they are brief and use bullet points.
A good tip for writing your skills summary is to remove a skill if it is expected from everyone else. By doing this, you will stand out from the engineering and construction crowd. Avoid including information about everything, as it will lengthen your CV.
Engineering and Construction employers will expect a high standard of report writing and English, so make sure you do not have spelling mistakes or poor grammar when writing your CV. Keep in mind that your CV is your passport to an interview, so make sure that your CV is a representation of your personality and character.
Work/employment history
The second page of your CV should include your work history, interests, and references.
Your employment history should always be listed in chronological order, starting from your most recent job. Choosing your relevant industry as your heading for this section (e.g. Engineering Experience or Surveying Experience) is recommended. This section can contain your part-time and full-time work, the projects you have worked on, internship experience, and community experience. Include the dates of when you were employed, the name of the company or project, the location, the description of the job, and the size and value the project or company holds.
You can also put your specific technical skills or qualifications underneath the company you have worked for. This effectively shows hiring staff and recruiters that you already have experience in a particular field. However, make sure you eliminate repetition and consider how to differentiate your technical skills from other candidates.
New Zealand employers will also look for gaps in your work history, so always explain any gaps you have.
Interests/activities
While it is not essential to provide details on your interests, you can add a sentence about how you spend your leisure time to give potential employers and recruiters a better picture of your personality.
References
Most New Zealand employers and recruiters will ask for two referees to contact regarding your work history and skill set. Remember to ensure that your referees are current and ask permission before including their names in your CV. Notify your referees that you are applying for jobs, as referee checks are always conducted over a phone call. Another suggestion to increase your chances of employment is to ensure that your referees are well-informed about you and your career aspirations.
Other tips
Honesty
Dishonesty and false statements on CVs are not tolerated in New Zealand. Employers will always verify statements and talk to referees, so it is extremely easy to find incorrect information. Candidates who are found making false statements will not be given another chance which results in instant dismissal.
Presentation
Employers expect a professional document from engineering candidates, so your CV must be well presented. Use an easy-to-read font no smaller than size 11 and good headings, sub-headings, and bullet points. The best fonts in a New Zealand CV are Arial, Times, Georgia, and Garamond.
Always write your CV in third person and do not use pronouns such as “I” when listing your work experience, qualifications, and skill set. Mistakes always make a bad impression on recruiters and hiring staff so check your spelling, punctuation, and grammar before applying.
It is recommended to get a second pair of eyes to review your CV or run your CV through Grammarly. This is an advanced tool that detects all mistakes relating to spelling, word choice, grammar, and style. It is straightforward and offers free Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox browser extensions.
The filename for your CV should include your full name, so they can tell which CV it belongs to. This is important if hiring staff or recruiters need to obtain your CV from an extensive database.
Photograph
If you decide to include a photo in your CV, you may be discriminated against by hiring staff and recruiters. It is best to leave your image out as you want them to concentrate on your work experience and skills instead.
Employers and recruiters will also re-direct their efforts to the below sections of what you have on your CV.
- Job stability (years of tenure)
- Technical duties/responsibilities to understand the level you are at
- Steady career progression or improvement of skills and ability on an upwards trajectory
- Companies and projects that you have worked with
- Any unexplained gaps or absences in employment with explanations
- Qualifications, education, and work experience
Overall, it is vital to ensure that all the information you provide is straightforward, honest, and accurate to increase your chances of success.
Click on the link below to learn more about preparing the perfect CV for New Zealand Engineers.
Preparation Advice for Immigrant Engineers
Other ways to amplify your application
It is possible to increase your chances of succeeding after you submit your CV application by building an effective professional network using LinkedIn or checking the social media platforms you are currently on.
Build your professional network
Recruiters and hiring staff are increasingly using LinkedIn to search for engineering and construction staff. Henceforth, using LinkedIn as your digital CV in the job search can be equally important. While LinkedIn includes a profile with all the critical information from your CV, it also allows you to add additional depth about the engineering projects or companies you have been involved in, skills, awards, and achievements. Therefore, this will be an opportunity for you to ‘sell’ yourself and expand your network by connecting with engineers from different levels, recruiters, and hiring managers.
Keep in mind that recruiters and hiring staff might check your social media channels, so ensure you check your privacy and what can be seen by the public eye. By following these aspects and tips in creating a New Zealand CV, you will stand out from the crowd and further progress to the next stage of employment.
