The Global-Ready CV Template
Why Your Current CV is Costing You International Interviews
Most South African CVs are formatted for local HR departments and they are actively working against you when you apply to international companies. Global applicant tracking systems (ATS) are designed differently from what most SA candidates are used to, and a single formatting mistake can mean your application is automatically rejected before a human ever reads it.
What to Remove Immediately
The following elements are standard on South African CVs but are either irrelevant, potentially discriminatory (and therefore red flags), or simply confusing to international hiring managers:
- Your South African ID number never include this on any CV you send internationally
- Date of birth and age age discrimination protections in the UK, US, and EU mean employers actively avoid this information
- Marital status and number of dependants
- A photograph standard in South Africa but unusual in the UK, US, and most of Europe
- Your full home address a city and country is sufficient
- References listed on the CV ‘References available on request’ is the correct approach
What to Add for an International Audience
- Your timezone: explicitly state ‘Based in South Africa (GMT+2)’ international hiring managers need to know this upfront
- Remote work experience: if you have worked remotely before, say so explicitly. ‘Fully remote since 2021’ or ‘Remote-first team’ in your job description carries significant weight
- Tools and platforms: mention tools like Slack, Zoom, Notion, Asana, Jira, and Trello by name ATS systems are often searching for these keywords
- Quantified achievements over job descriptions international CVs are results-driven. Replace ‘Responsible for managing social media accounts’ with ‘Grew Instagram following by 340% in six months, increasing inbound leads by 22%’
ATS Formatting Rules
ATS (Applicant Tracking System) software scans your CV before a human reads it. Follow these rules without exception:
- Use a clean, single-column layout. Two-column CVs confuse most ATS parsers.
- Use standard section headings: Work Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications.
- Save as a .pdf or .docx never .pages, .odt, or an image file.
- Avoid tables, text boxes, headers, footers, and graphics, ATS systems often cannot read these.
- Use the exact job title from the listing in your CV where relevant.
- Include keywords from the job description naturally in your CV text.
Pro Tip: Paste the job description and your CV into a free ATS checker like Jobscan.co to see how well your CV matches before you apply. A score above 75% significantly improves your chances.