New Zealand CV Format 2026
New Zealand and Australian CV conventions are close enough that most advice written for one applies to the other. Close enough is not identical, and the differences are concentrated in a few places that matter.
If you have not read it, the Australian resume format guide covers the shared base: two to three pages, no photograph, no date of birth, achievement-led bullets, understated tone. Everything below is what changes.
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The Market Is Small, and That Changes Things
New Zealand's professional job market is a fraction of Australia's. Two practical consequences follow.
Networks are short. Your referees may well be known to the hiring manager personally, particularly in Wellington, in the public sector, and in specialist industries. Referee quality matters more here than in a larger market, and your referees should be briefed properly.
Fit is assessed openly. New Zealand employers talk about cultural fit more directly than employers in larger markets, and many will ask about it explicitly. This is not a licence to write about your personality on the CV — it means the interview will probe it, and your CV should give them concrete examples of collaborative work to ask about.
Work Visa Status Is the First Filter
State it in your header, plainly. New Zealand citizen, resident, holder of a specific work visa with expiry, or requiring sponsorship.
New Zealand operates a Green List of occupations in shortage, with different residence and work pathways attached, and the list is revised. If your occupation is on it, that is worth knowing and worth stating. Check the current list with Immigration New Zealand rather than relying on a secondary source.
Overseas applicants without work rights face a genuine filter here. Being upfront saves everyone time and, in shortage occupations, actively helps.
Referees
Expected, and expected earlier than in many markets. Two referees with name, job title, organisation and contact details is standard. A former direct manager is strongly preferred over a colleague or a character reference.
Ask permission, and tell your referees what role you have applied for. In a market this size, a surprised referee is a real risk.
Length and Structure
Two to three pages, as in Australia. The structure is conventional:
- Name, contact details, city, work visa status
- Professional summary, three or four lines
- Key skills
- Employment history, reverse chronological, achievement-led
- Education and qualifications
- Professional memberships, licences, registrations
- Referees
New Zealand does not generally use Australian-style formal key selection criteria in the private sector, though some public sector and health board roles do publish something similar. Read the posting and follow it.
Language and Local Context
Use New Zealand spelling — the British convention, as in Australia. Use NZD for any currency figures, and state the currency where you quote overseas numbers.
Where relevant to the role, familiarity with te reo Māori and tikanga Māori, and experience working with Māori and Pacific communities, is genuinely valued — strongly so in the public sector, health, education and social services. Claim it only where it is real and specific. Listing a handful of te reo words as a skill reads poorly; describing actual work delivered in partnership with iwi does not.
Contextualise Overseas Experience
As in Australia, New Zealand recruiters will not recognise most overseas employers. Add a brief descriptor to each: sector, size, and market. Do the same for qualifications — if your degree has an NZQA assessment, state the equivalency.
Regulated Professions
Engineering, teaching, nursing, medicine, law, and several trades require registration with a New Zealand body. State your registration status and the body, or the stage you have reached in the process. Do not imply registration you do not hold.
The ATS Layer
Common among larger employers, government agencies and recruitment consultancies, though slightly less pervasive than in Australia given the number of small and mid-size employers. Assume it is present: single column, standard headings, no tables, PDF unless the posting specifies otherwise.
Common Mistakes
- Visa status omitted
- Referees left off, or listed without permission
- An Australian CV submitted with no localisation at all
- Overseas employers with no context
- Overstated te reo or cultural competency claims
- US spelling and USD figures
Templates That Parse Cleanly
Every layout below is single-column and free to use. Preview and edit any of them in the CVEdge resume builder, or browse all 32 in the template library.
Classic ATS Resume Template — Standard headings, no graphics, parses cleanly through Greenhouse, Workday, Lever and iCIMS. The default if you are unsure.
Harvard ATS Resume Template — Single-column, academic-standard layout. The most-viewed template on CVEdge and the safest choice when you do not know which ATS you are up against.
Minimal ATS Resume Template — Maximum content in minimum space — useful when you need to hold a two-page limit without cutting substance.
Related Guides
Next Step
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