New Zealand CV format: how to write a CV for NZ employers

Where New Zealand’s official CV advice lives now

Older guides send you to careers.govt.nz. On 13 October 2026 that address redirected, with the tag ‘decommission’, to Tahatū Career Navigator (tahatu.govt.nz), the careers site run by the Tertiary Education Commission. Its page ‘How to write a CV’ was marked as updated on 29 September 2026, and it is the source for the format rules below.

Immigration New Zealand has done the same with its old Live and Work site: the former ‘Develop a New Zealand-style CV’ address now lands on immigration.govt.nz, and INZ’s page on finding a job says to look at Tahatū for tips on applying. So for format there is one government voice, and for visas there is another.

Covered by other guides

Checking that an overseas offer is genuine, getting a degree compared, and stating a language level each have their own guide on this site, linked at the end.

First step: pick a work-focused or a skills-focused CV

Tahatū offers two CV types, each with a downloadable Word example and template. The choice decides the order of everything else, so make it before you write a line.

1. Choose work-focused if you have work experience, are changing jobs or moving up. Choose skills-focused if you are leaving school, have no work history or have gaps.
2. Copy the job ad and list the skills, tools and job title it repeats; Tahatū says to reuse those keywords because many recruiters run CVs through an applicant tracking system.
3. For each skill, write down where and how you used it at work, in study, volunteering or sport.
4. List employers, titles, places and start and end dates, newest first.
5. Pick two referees and check their contact details with them.
6. Write the CV, keep it to two pages if you can, and save it as a PDF named like sam-henderson-CV.pdf.

How a New Zealand CV is put together

Look: plain, short, no pictures

Tahatū’s list is specific: simple wording, a plain black font such as Calibri 11, bullet points, short sentences and paragraphs, larger bold headings with lots of white space, no images, and two pages if you can manage it. ‘No images’ also rules out a photo, and the government’s own example CV has none.

Personal statement

A short summary at the top: who you are, your skills and experience, your career goal and why you want this job. Tahatū suggests rewording it for each application.

Skill statements, not skill lists

The part that differs most from a Turkish or German CV. Tahatū asks for statements that say where and how you used a skill and what came of it, written with action verbs, starting from a skill named in the job ad. A bare list such as ‘communication, teamwork’ does not meet that standard.

Work history

Most recent job first, each with the employer, your title, where the job was, and start and end dates, then the tasks and achievements. Workplace training and volunteer work count. Tahatū says you do not need to list your whole history. Gaps are explained in the cover letter rather than on the CV, or covered by choosing the skills-focused type.

Education, interests and referees

Education goes most recent or most relevant first, with the course name, provider and dates or graduation year. Interests are optional and should show a skill; Tahatū names watching TV as one to leave out. Referees appear by name only if the ad asks for them; otherwise ‘Referees available on request’ is enough, with at least two people ready, one of them a current or former manager if you have worked.

Overseas employers on your CV

Neither Tahatū nor INZ gives a rule here. Our suggestion: add the city and country after each employer outside New Zealand and a few words on what the firm does, because a reader in Hamilton will not know a contractor in Kayseri.

Sample: a work-focused CV for an applicant from Türkiye

The section order follows Tahatū’s work-focused example, a job changer called Sam Henderson. The person below is invented: Burak Aydın, a site engineer with eight years on residential and road projects in Türkiye, applying to a construction company in Christchurch.

Lines a Turkish CV often has that this one leaves out

• A photo: Tahatū says not to use images.
• Date of birth, marital status and military service status: none appears in Tahatū’s example or template.
• TC kimlik number and full home address: the example gives a postal address, but for an applicant abroad the city and country are enough until an employer asks.
• Every short job since school: Tahatū says it is fine to keep the history short and relevant.

When the job needs a work visa

The work visa tied to a job offer is the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). INZ says the offer must be full-time, at least 30 hours a week, from an employer accredited for the AEWV with an approved job check for your role. Accredited employers are on a public list, so check the company before you tailor anything.

A CV is not evidence for INZ

This is the line people miss. The AEWV page says you need two years of relevant experience or a qualification at level 4 or higher on the New Zealand framework, and that experience must be proved by someone other than you: certificates of employment, payslips, tax certificates, or reference letters backed by those. It then says, in an alert box: ‘Providing a CV or resume is not sufficient.’ An employment certificate must show at least the positions, the periods and the employer’s address and contact details.

So write the work history so it can be laid next to those papers: the same job titles, the same months, the same employer names as on your SGK service record and employer letters.

Skilled Migrant Category points, as published on 13 October 2026

You need 6 points, an accredited employer, English, and to be 55 or younger. INZ also lists a Skilled Work Experience pathway (5 years’ relevant experience, 2 of them in New Zealand) and a Trades and Technician pathway. Thresholds move; read the INZ page again before you count on a number.

What each source says, read on 13 October 2026

INZ describes New Zealand workplaces as relaxed but professional, with flat structures and managers called by their first name. That fits the plain, first-name, no-titles tone of Tahatū’s sample CV.

Limits of this guide

• Registered occupations such as nursing, teaching or plumbing: INZ says you may need registration with the professional body before you can get the job or the visa; its online tool tells you which body.
• Seasonal horticulture and working holiday jobs: INZ says AEWV offers cannot be for planting, harvesting or packing crops, and working holiday work follows its own rules.
• Personal details law: Employment New Zealand’s page on discrimination when hiring returned ‘page not found’ on 13 October 2026, so this guide does not state what an employer may or may not ask.
• Academic CVs for university posts, which run longer and list publications.

Next steps

• Download Tahatū’s work-focused or skills-focused example and template and compare your draft section by section.
• Write the cover letter next; Tahatū has a separate page for it, and gaps belong there.
• If the job needs a visa, gather employment certificates and payslips now, because INZ will want them and your CV will be read against them.
• CitedCV can draft the English CV from facts you confirm. It has no New Zealand profile; choose the UK convention, which leaves out the photo, and check the result against Tahatū’s example.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Tahatū Career Navigator (Tertiary Education Commission), How to write a CV (updated 29 September 2026)tahatu.govt.nz/work/applying-for-a-job/how-to-write-a-cv
2. Tahatū Career Navigator, Work-focused CV example (Word)tahatu.govt.nz/api/documents/serve/34/Work-focused-CV-example_VIo8FVJ.docx
3. Immigration New Zealand, How to find a job in New Zealandwww.immigration.govt.nz/work/finding-work-in-new-zealand/how-to-find-a-job-in-new-zealand/
4. Immigration New Zealand, What working in New Zealand is likewww.immigration.govt.nz/work/finding-work-in-new-zealand/what-working-in-new-zealand-is-like/
5. Immigration New Zealand, Accredited Employer Work Visawww.immigration.govt.nz/visas/accredited-employer-work-visa/
6. Immigration New Zealand, Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visawww.immigration.govt.nz/visas/skilled-migrant-category-resident-visa/