CV format in Ethiopia

How long should a CV be in Ethiopia?

Aim for one to two pages. The Investment Commission’s two-page maximum is the only page limit from a public body we found, and GeezJobs says one to two pages, particularly with under ten years of experience. The University of Gondar Career Service Center tells students to keep a resume to one page. See how long a resume should be for more.

Employers, government offices and recruiters all call the document a CV. No Ethiopian source says which paper size to use, and none says whether CV dates should follow the Ethiopian calendar (E.C.) or the Gregorian one (G.C.). Both appear in hiring. The Ministry of Justice dates its vacancy notices in E.C., while Dashen Bank labels graduation years G.C.

What personal details go on an Ethiopian CV?

Put your name, phone number, email address and city at the top. GeezJobs says city and country is enough for the location. Employers collect the rest on their own forms. The CBE vacancy portal asks for birth date, marital status and gender, and the African Union CV template asks for date of birth, gender and nationality.

Date of birth is the hardest call. Many local vacancies set age limits, such as 18 to 35 for an Ethiopian Airlines graphic designer post and no more than 25 for a Dashen Bank graduate role, and employers check age against a birth certificate or the grade 8 ministry card. GeezJobs advises leaving date of birth and marital status off unless the advert asks. When an advert does set an age limit, showing your date of birth lets a screener check it at a glance.

Leave religion and ethnicity off. Proclamation No. 1321/2024 lists religious beliefs and racial or ethnic origins as sensitive personal data and prohibits processing them except in listed cases, such as written consent. The Labour Proclamation No. 1156/2019 and the Federal Civil Servants Proclamation No. 1353/2025 also ban discrimination in recruitment on religion and other grounds. None of these laws mentions CVs, so this advice is an inference from them.

• No source asks for a national ID or passport number on the CV. Ethiopian Airlines asks for a copy of the Kebele ID card as a supporting document.
• A driving licence belongs on the CV for driving jobs. Dashen Bank’s driver vacancies name the class they need, such as Level 3 or 4, or Public 1 or 2.

Should you put a photo on a CV in Ethiopia?

Leave the photo off unless the advert asks for one. We found no Ethiopian employer, government office or university page that asks for a photo on a CV, and none of the application instructions quoted on this page lists one. GeezJobs says to omit a photo from international applications unless asked, because it can cause unconscious bias.

The UN’s P11 personal history form asks applicants to attach a photo, so UN jobs that request a P11 are the exception. If an advert does ask for one, the photo templates have room for it.

What documents do Ethiopian employers ask for with a CV?

Large local employers want copies of your certificates and experience letters with the CV. Ethiopian Airlines asks for the grade 8 ministry card, grade 10 and 12 certificates, a birth certificate, the diploma or degree certificate, written work experience and a copy of the Kebele ID. A Dashen Bank graduate vacancy makes the degree certificate with the exit exam result mandatory, and CBE’s portal asks for the grade 8 certificate with the CV.

Under Labour Proclamation No. 1156/2019 Art. 12(8), an employer must give a worker a free certificate stating the type of work, the length of service and the wage, whenever the worker asks or the contract ends. Ask for one each time you leave a job. Foreign degrees need an equivalence check from the Education and Training Authority, which also authenticates documents issued in Ethiopia.

Should you list referees on an Ethiopian CV?

Sources disagree. The African Union’s CV template says “Indicate three persons as your referees”, with one professional and one personal or character referee. GeezJobs says “available on request” is still acceptable and advises having two or three professional contacts ready. No Ethiopian government or university source covers referees.

If you list them, ask each person first and give their job title, organisation, email and phone number. The example CV names two former supervisors.

How do you apply for a job in Ethiopia?

Ethiopian employers use several channels. Under Proclamation No. 1353/2025, every vacant post in a government office must be advertised “through accessible public media”, and the Ministry of Justice used the Addis Zemen newspaper. PSSSA and Ethiopian Airlines take applications in person with copies of documents, the Investment Commission takes email, CBE uses an online portal, and Ethiopian Electric Power has used Google Forms.

Ethiojobs, the job board, says its employers take applications through its site, by email, in person, or through their own website or a Google Form.

Follow each advert exactly. The Investment Commission makes the position title in the email subject line mandatory, and PSSSA wants the place of work you are applying for named in the application letter, so write a fresh application letter each time. Ethiojobs warns that “Using the same CV for all roles makes you look generic”, and Ethiopian Airlines says false information leads to termination from the process or from the job.

Writing your Ethiopian CV in OneCV

The CV maker is free for one CV and one cover letter, with unlimited PDF downloads, no watermark, all 105 templates and no card needed. Pro costs $10 a month or $48 a year for unlimited documents. Templates use A4 by default, and page breaks show in the live preview, so you can see when a CV runs past two pages.

Date of Birth, Marital status and Nationality appear only if you add them with “Add details”, and a photo only if you add one. Languages take a level, any heading can be renamed (References can read Referees), and a Declaration with a signature suits forms like the African Union’s that end with a signed certification. Before you upload to a portal, the ATS resume checker shows the text a parser reads from your PDF.