How to write a CV for NGO jobs in Afghanistan

Where the jobs are

Most salaried NGO work is announced online. The main places are ACBAR, which lists jobs from its member organisations, Jobs.af and ReliefWeb. Our own jobs page shows the openings on ACBAR's list and links to the other boards. Read the announcement to the end before you write anything: it says what the organisation wants.

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What goes in, and in what order

CharityJob's guide to charity CVs, written for UK employers but useful anywhere, suggests this order, with the key information first, because recruiters are busy and read the top of the page first:

1. Contact details. Your name, your email and your phone number are enough.
2. A profile of one to three sentences. Your skills, what you know and what you have done.
3. Experience. For each job: the organisation, when you started (the end date is optional) and what you did. Unpaid and volunteer work can sit in the same list.
4. Education and training. Include courses that relate to the job.

Keep to two pages at most. Use a plain, clear font such as Arial or Calibri, size 10 or 12, bold only your headings and your best points, and leave space between sections.

Show results, not only duties

Do not only write "worked in the health team". Say what you did and how much of it. The guides suggest numbers: how many people you trained, how many calls you answered each day, how far you passed a target. Treat volunteer work like a job: give the dates and say what you achieved.

Write a new version for each job

The UK development network Bond advises making the CV fit the role and the organisation, and answering every responsibility in the job announcement with an example of something you have done. Cut roles that do not relate to the job. If the job does not need a degree, put your education at the end, in a line or two.

CharityJob says the same: a CV sent unchanged to every employer tells them you want any job, not theirs. Before you send it, check for mistakes and ask someone you trust to read it.

Job scams

No real employer asks you to pay to get a job. The United Nations says it "never requests any form of payment at any stage of the recruitment process", and warns: "Do not pay to secure a position with the UN."

The same holds for any NGO. Do not pay a "registration" or "training" fee, and do not send money to someone who says they will get you a place. If a job offer comes by message from an address you do not know, look for the same job on the organisation's own website before you answer. And send copies of your certificates only when a real announcement asks for them, never the originals.