CV and cover letter templates
Use these downloadable templates to create your own CV (also known as resume) or cover letter. You can also look at examples of completed CVs and cover letters to help you personalise your own documents.
What's on this page?
Each resume template is in rich text format, so you can save it to your computer and update it later in Microsoft Word, WordPad or TextEdit.
Please note you cannot save these resume templates to your Careers New Zealand account. You must download them to your computer and work on them there.
If you want to create your CV online, use our online CV generator – CV Builder.
Which CV style to choose
The CV style you use depends on the job you are applying for and your circumstances. You can choose to emphasise either your work history (work-focused CV) or your skills (skills-focused CV).
This website considers these two CV styles, although you can use a combination of the two or other approaches.
Skills-focused CV
The skills-focused CV emphasises your skills by having a well-developed section on skills at the front of your CV. The work history information in your CV can be kept to a minimum.
If you have no work experience, you can leave the work history section out altogether, but make sure you give evidence of how your skills were developed.
Use a skills-focused CV if:
- you want to place emphasis on your skills over your work history
- you are applying for your first job or only have limited employment history
- you are re-entering the job market after a long absence.
Work-focused CV
A work-focused CV puts emphasis on your work history by having a well-developed section on it at the front of your CV. If you choose a work-focused CV, you may decide to keep the information you include in the skills section to a minimum.
Use a work-focused CV if:
- you want to emphasise your work history over your skills
- you want to emphasise your career progression.
Don't use one if:
- you are entering the job market for the first time
- you are entering the job market after a long absence.
Cover letter
You would generally include a cover letter as part of a job application.
A cover letter should be job specific, so tailor your cover letter for each job you apply for.
The cover letter example and template provided here are in a basic format that will meet the requirements of most jobs. However, some professional or specialist roles may require more detail.
Updated 7 Jun 2017