by Jayne Cravens
via coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com (same web site)

Résumé & Curriculum Vitae (CV) Advice

for people looking to work in aid, relief and development

Please note: I have suspended my one-on-one CV consulting for people looking to work in aid, relief and development and I don't know if I am going to resume it.

I suspended it because:

My work schedule is erratic and I cannot guarantee I can be available for a quick turnaround.
A few people who have received the consultation were deeply disappointed that most of my consulting was correcting their spelling and grammar, or was asking questions they needed to answer in order to edit the CV themselves, with more of their own experiences, rather than me writing such for them (which is impossible for me to do without knowing them personally - and therefore spending a lot more time with them, which would cost a LOT more money).
So many people who wrote don't have the experience asked for in the jobs they wanted to have. And no ethical CV consultant can fix that.
A few people thought my consulting guaranteed them a job with the United Nations or another international agency and they were upset that that's not what happened. They refused to believe that they weren't always the best, perfect candidate for every job they applied for.

I don't know when or if I will resume CV consulting, but here is FREE advice:

Spell check your CV. There are no excuses for poor spelling. Every word processing program there is - Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, whatever - will underline all words that might be misspelled. Also download the free version of Grammarly (or even pay for the free version). Make absolutely sure your CV has no misspellings.
Make sure there are no grammar mistakes. This is another thing the free verson of Grammarly can help with. Common grammar mistakes I see in CVs:

Misplaced commas
A mix in using the Oxford comma (either use it throughout your CV, or don't use it - but don't sometimes use it and sometimes not)
Capital letters where they should not be, and no caps where they should be. For instance, "I worked IN pakistan" should be "I worked in Pakistan." Or "I worked as a Development Specialist" should be "I worked as a development specialist."
Mix of phrasing styles. I see one job starting with this description: "I was responsible for..." and another starting with this description: "Responsibilities included..." and still another with "Responsibilities:..." Any of those is correct, but the same phrase should be used EACH time

Do not put your birthday, your marriage status, how many children you have nor your religion on your CV. These are personal matters and are becoming less and less acceptable by many employers to share in your CV or a job application.
Do not include a photo unless you are specifically asked for such.
Do not say if you have a disability. Do not say "I'm blind" or "I am disabled" on your CV. Emphasize your abilities and expertise, not what you cannot do. You can talk about any accommodations you might need because of your physical conditions at the time of your interview, NOT in your CV.

One client told me spelling and grammar didn't really matter on a CV, and she was angry that I corrected such on her CV. I have seen the stack of résumés on HR staff desks from applicants that will not be considered for a position because of too many spelling and grammar mistakes. Hiring managers feel that, if you don't care about spelling and grammar, perhaps you won't care about other tasks - and they want someone who shows attention to detail.

Here is an example template of a CV to work in aid / relief / development:

Your full name
Your mailing address or residential address
The city, state and country of your mailing address or residential address
Your phone number
Your email address
Any web-based profile you have that showcases your expertise, such as on LinkedIn
Nationality or Passports held (NO need to share the ID number, however)

Short statement of your expertise, such as:

I am a professional civil engineer with 10 years of experience contributing to projects in countries in Africa.

I have 15 years of experience working as a nurse in high poverty, low-literacy areas of the USA.

I have 10 years of experience working in HIV/AIDS communications initiatives with teens and young adults in a religiously-conservative community in my home country of Australia.

I am a licensed midwife with many years of experience in both providing services and training others, and can work in English, French and Spanish.

I have more than 20 years of experience in banking, including experience in serving rural communities, and am seeking to apply my financial management skills to international development settings.

I have served as a public school principal for more than 15 years, including in schools serving high-poverty communities, and am seeking to apply my school administration skills to international development settings.

I am experienced journalist with more than 15 years of experience serving communities that are highly conservative and traditionally hostile to the press, and I am seeking to apply by journalism skills to a program that trains journalists in developing countries.

I have more than 10 years experience writing and copy editing in high profile corporate offices for both internal and external audiences, in a multi-cultural, mutli-lingual environment, and am seeking to apply those skills for a humanitarian or development agency.

I have recently completed my MSc in Development Management and have five years of experience working in literacy-building programs in rural areas of Canada.

I have recently completed my MSc in International Relations and have five years of experience working in women's empowerment initiatives for a nonprofit helping immigrant women and Planned Parenthood.

I wish to apply my 12 years of experience in the US Army, where I lead numerous rural development projects, including those focused on building simple sanitation systems and employing local people in Afghanistan, to international development initiatives.

See how all of those statements are about expertise? It doesn't matter if that experience comes as a paid employee or an unpaid volunteer - the experience is what matters.

Do not say vague statements that imply you have no expertise or skills, such as these:

I am an enthusiastic person that wants to help others.

I have many years of project management experience.

I am a self-starter who feels a passion to work with children.

I just graduated from university and want to work overseas.

I have worked for many years in the corporate sector and would like to make the jump into the humanitarian sector.

I feel called to help others.

Those statements don't tell an employer anything about your expertise.

Then list your professional experience, from most recent to oldest. You can also mix in your volunteering experience, if you feel it is relevant - what's important is what you did and what responsibilities you had and what you accomplished, not whether or not you were paid or not:

Title or role at the organization

Name of the organization, city, state, country

Dates of employment/engagement

Description of duties, with an emphasis on responsibilities and accomplishments. Note any research, data analysis, diverse work environments, or projects you directed, managed, coordinated or contributed to. Note experiences involving customer or client relations, negotiations, outreach/communications, reporting, recruiting or supervising others. Note if you worked in a low-infrastructure environment or a post-conflict environment, if you worked with people from diverse backgrounds, if you worked with low-literacy clients, particularly-vulnerable populations (people with disabilities, elderly people, teens, immigrants, ethnic or religious minorities, etc.)

Look at the descriptions of jobs you want to apply for. Look at the wording they use. Do you use similar wording in your CV? For instance, if they job says that the ideal candidate will have extensive experience maintaining budget forecasts, do you have a statement about how you maintained budget forecasts in at least one of the jobs you have listed on your CV? If the job description says the person should have experience managing events, do you have a statement about how you managed an event in at least one of the jobs you have listed on your CV? If the job description says tasks will include training people on how to use something or do something, do you have a statement about how you trained people to use or do something in at least one of the jobs you have listed on your CV?

When you see a job you want to apply for, go through the job, line by line, in terms of what it's asking for, and make sure your CV or your cover letter has an example of where you did each of these items somewhere else. If the job is especially detailed, then do your best to identify the tasks you think the employer values most and make sure you have represented in your CV where you did thos.

If you do this, then when people or a software program initially scans your application, it makes it more likely that you will score higher among applicants (yup - most résumé screeners literally score applications).

After your work experience, list your education (although you can put your education before your work experience, if you wish):

Title of degree

Name of education institution, city, state, country

Dates as a student, or, date of graduation

List any classes you took or projects or research you completed that you believe might be of interest to a hiring organization

If you cannot list all of your work experience because you have to limit your CV or résumé to only two or three pages, then summarize your experience as best you can on just two or three pages, or put only the most recent experience, or put "experience highlights" and list only the experience that relates to the job you want to apply for, and then list all of your experience entirely in a profile on LinkedIn, and at the end of your résumé or CV, write:

For details about these and other work experiences or or details about work experiences prior to 2003, please see my LinkedIn profile: xxwebaddressherexx

Please also see Exactly what it looks like when I offer CV advice to an aspiring humanitarian aid worker. This is an example of how I apply all of the above when I have edited someone's CV that wants to work in international humanitarian aid and development.

Also see: CV mistakes: how to lose a job in development before you press send

Also also look at this page of free advice for working abroad. A lot of what is on this page is what I have first advised people in previous consultancies.

My detailed advice for those that want to work professionally or as a volunteer abroad in humanitarian aid.

Résumé & Curriculum Vitae (CV) Advice: for people looking to work in aid, relief and development.

Webinar: Careers in International Development (I did this in August 2024).

Is it really *impossible* to break into humanitarian work?

Want to work internationally? Get involved locally.

Yes, you CAN get experience for entry level UN positions in your own community.

Abilities you need to work in humanitarian development successfully.

Jayne, how did you get to work for the UN?!.

Read more about Jayne Cravens.

DISCLAIMER: With this advice comes no guarantee for a job whatsoever. There are no magic words for a CV or cover letter that will assure you the position you desire, and I don't promise such.

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