How do I write a CV with no achievements?

Look for numbers in your daily work: how many customers, students, reports or tasks you handled, and anything you improved. Honest estimates are fine as long as you can explain them at an interview.

Should I write a different CV for every job?

Yes. Keep one master CV, then adjust the profile, bullet order and keywords for each advert so the most relevant experience comes first.

What should a CV profile say?

In three or four lines, say who you are professionally, your strongest skills that match the job, and what you want to do next.

How long does it take to write a good CV?

A first full CV usually takes a few hours. Tailoring it to each job afterwards takes roughly 20 to 40 minutes by hand.

How to Write a CV in Kenya: Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

Updated 4 November 20267 min readBy the KaziMatch careers team

To write a good CV, collect your details, choose a simple two-page format, write a short profile, list your experience with achievement-based bullet points, and then tailor the whole document to each job advert. The tailoring step is the one most people skip, and it is the one that gets you shortlisted.

Here is the full process, step by step.

Step 1: Gather your information first

Before you open a blank page, collect everything in one place. It is much faster to write when you are not hunting for dates.

Every job, attachment and internship: title, employer, town, start and end month
Certificates: degree, diploma, KCSE, professional exams
Short courses and online certifications
Tools and software you use well
Results you are proud of: targets met, money saved, people trained
Three possible referees and their contact details

Step 2: Pick the right format

Use a reverse-chronological format: most recent job first. Keep it to two pages. Use one simple font and no tables or photos. Our CV format for Kenya guide covers the layout in detail, and our CV template gives you a ready structure.

Step 3: Write your contact header

Your name should be the largest text on the page. Below it, add:

Phone number you actually answer
Professional email address
Town or county
LinkedIn profile (optional)

Leave out your ID number, date of birth, marital status, tribe and religion.

Step 4: Write a short professional profile

Three or four lines. Answer three questions: who are you, what are you good at, and what do you want next?

Certified accountant with five years of experience in audit and financial reporting for manufacturing firms. Skilled in IFRS reporting, tax compliance and Excel modelling. Looking to lead month-end reporting for a growing FMCG company.

Write this last if you find it hard. It is easier once the rest of the CV is done.

Step 5: Turn duties into achievements

This is where most Kenyan CVs fall short. They list duties copied from a job description. A recruiter already knows what an accountant or a teacher does. They want to know how well you did it.

Use this simple formula:

Action verb + what you did + result (with a number)

Duty (weak)	Achievement (strong)
Handled customer complaints	Resolved an average of 40 customer queries a day, keeping satisfaction above 90%
Taught mathematics	Raised the class mean in KCSE Mathematics from D+ to C+ over two years
Managed petty cash	Managed a KES 50,000 monthly petty cash float with zero audit queries
Did procurement	Ran 18 tenders in one financial year, saving an estimated KES 2.1 million against budget

Where to find your numbers

You may think you have no numbers. You almost certainly do. Ask yourself:

How many people, clients, patients, students or vehicles did I handle?
How much money did I manage, collect, save or earn?
By how much did something improve? Time, errors, sales, complaints?
How often? Daily, weekly, per month?

Only use numbers you can explain in an interview. A rough but honest estimate ("about 30 clients a week") is fine. A made-up figure is not.

Step 6: Add education and certifications

List your highest qualification first. Include the institution and year. Add your grade if it is strong. Include KCSE if you are early in your career or the advert asks for it. List professional certifications separately so they stand out.

Step 7: Write a focused skills section

Group your skills. Put technical, job-specific skills first, because those are what employers search for. Keep soft skills to two or three, and prove them in your experience bullets instead.

Step 8: Add referees

Three referees is the Kenyan standard. Pick people who supervised you and ask their permission first. See referees on a CV.

Step 9: Tailor your CV to each advert

Now the step that matters most. Open the job advert and highlight:

The job title
Required qualifications
Key skills and tools named
Repeated words and phrases

Then adjust your CV:

Change the title under your name to match the job.
Rewrite your profile so it mentions the role and two or three of the advert's key skills.
Reorder bullets so the most relevant achievements come first.
Use the advert's exact words where they truthfully describe your work. If the advert says "stakeholder engagement", do not write only "talking to partners".
Remove bullets that do not help for this job.

This matters because many employers use applicant tracking systems that rank CVs by keyword match. Our ATS-friendly CV guide explains how they work.

Tailoring takes 20 to 40 minutes per job when done by hand. KaziMatch's AI can do it in a few minutes: paste the advert and it tailors your CV and cover letter from your real experience, without inventing anything. Try a free fit check first to see how well you match the job.

Step 10: Proofread and test

Read it slowly on paper or a big screen.
Read it aloud to catch missing words.
Ask a friend to check it.
Save as PDF and open it on your phone to check the layout.

Avoid the errors in our list of common CV mistakes.

Final checklist

Profile mentions the role and key skills from the advert
Each recent job has three to six achievement bullets
At least half of your bullets contain a number
Two pages or less
No personal details like ID number, age or tribe
PDF with a clear file name

Once your CV is ready, browse jobs on KaziMatch and start applying.

Frequently asked questions

How do I write a CV with no achievements?: Look for numbers in your daily work: how many customers, students, reports or tasks you handled, and anything you improved. Honest estimates are fine as long as you can explain them at an interview.
Should I write a different CV for every job?: Yes. Keep one master CV, then adjust the profile, bullet order and keywords for each advert so the most relevant experience comes first.
What should a CV profile say?: In three or four lines, say who you are professionally, your strongest skills that match the job, and what you want to do next.
How long does it take to write a good CV?: A first full CV usually takes a few hours. Tailoring it to each job afterwards takes roughly 20 to 40 minutes by hand.