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Nigerian CV Format: How to Write a Nigerian CV (2026)

Job seekers targeting Nigeria quickly learn that the Nigerian CV Format is its own craft. Getting the length, photo rule, date format, and section order right is what turns an average application into a professional one.

Length is a key signal in Nigeria: 1–2 pages; 1 page for graduates and junior roles, up to 2 for experienced professionals..

Nigerian recruiters value concise, easy-to-scan CVs.. The photo rule is Not required. Nigerian corporate CVs usually omit the photo; a clean, professional layout without a photo is the norm for tech roles...

Dates follow Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g. 15/06/2025), or written as “June 2025”. Month-year precision is enough for most roles.. These are the details recruiters notice first, so they anchor this guide.

Personal details follow a clear local standard: Name, phone (with +234 from abroad), professional email, city and state (e.g. Lagos, Lagos State), and LinkedIn URL..

Never include your BVN (Bank Verification Number) or bank details. Date of birth is optional and increasingly omitted.. Section order matters too:.

Personal details → Professional summary (2–4 lines) → Work experience (reverse-chronological) → Education → Skills → Certifications → Referees. Nigerian convention includes a referees section with names and contact details.. Each section below explains the reasoning behind the rule, not just the rule itself.

This guide covers the Nigerian CV Format end to end, with example content for software engineer at every career level. Use it to write a cv that passes the first screening.

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Nigerian CV Format at a Glance

Document type
CV: “CV” is the standard term in Nigeria. Applications are written in English, which is the official working language. The reverse-chronological format is the norm.
Typical length
1–2 pages; 1 page for graduates and junior roles, up to 2 for experienced professionals. Nigerian recruiters value concise, easy-to-scan CVs.
Photo
Not required. Nigerian corporate CVs usually omit the photo; a clean, professional layout without a photo is the norm for tech roles.
Date format
Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g. 15/06/2025), or written as “June 2025”. Month-year precision is enough for most roles.
Paper size
A4.
Personal details
Name, phone (with +234 from abroad), professional email, city and state (e.g. Lagos, Lagos State), and LinkedIn URL. Never include your BVN (Bank Verification Number) or bank details. Date of birth is optional and increasingly omitted.
Section order
Personal details → Professional summary (2–4 lines) → Work experience (reverse-chronological) → Education → Skills → Certifications → Referees. Nigerian convention includes a referees section with names and contact details.
ATS friendliness
Growing; Nigerian employers (Flutterwave, Paystack, Interswitch, Andela, MTN Nigeria, plus global banks) increasingly screen with ATS. Use standard headings, a clean layout, no tables or graphics, and PDF export. Mirror keywords from the job description exactly.

Nigerian CV Examples

Real Nigerian CVs written to these conventions across three experience levels. Switch tabs to review each, then load it straight into the builder to make it your own.

C

Chinedu Okafor

Software Engineer (Graduate)

Entry Level [email protected] Lagos, Lagos State

Professional Summary

Entry Level software engineer (graduate) with experience at Interswitch (Nigeria) and Andela (Nigeria) in Lagos, Lagos State. Skilled in Kotlin, Java and Spring Boot, with a focus on reliability and clean architecture. Following the standard Nigerian CV Format.

Work Experience

Software Engineer (Graduate)
07/2025 – Present

Interswitch (Nigeria) · Lagos, Lagos State

  • Ship customer-facing features in the payments using Kotlin, Java and Spring Boot, following team code review and CI/CD practice.
  • Reduced API response time by 22% by introducing response caching in a payments endpoint.
  • Fixed 40+ production issues across two quarters, maintaining a 99.9% service uptime record.
  • Pair with senior engineers on system design and observability, contributing to the team's on-call rota.
Software Engineering Intern
01/2025 – 06/2025

Andela (Nigeria) · Lagos, Lagos State

  • Built a reporting dashboard in React and Python that cut weekly report generation from 3 hours to 20 minutes.
  • Wrote 60+ unit and integration tests, raising feature coverage on the module to 92%.
  • Presented the project to 150+ staff at the local office; offer extended.

Education

BSc Computer Science
2021 – 2025

University of Lagos (UNILAG) · Lagos

Focused on computer science fundamentals, distributed systems, and software engineering.

Skills

TypeScript & JavaScript (Experienced) React & Node.js (Experienced) Python (Skillful) SQL (PostgreSQL) (Skillful) AWS (S3, Lambda) (Skillful) Git & CI/CD (GitHub Actions) (Experienced)

Certifications & Links

  • AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials
  • GitHub portfolio with 25+ public repositories
  • LinkedIn profile linked in the header
Use This Example

How to Write a Nigerian CV: Step-by-Step

1

Open With Personal Details and a Professional Summary

Start with your name, phone (use +234 from abroad), a professional email address, city and state (e.g.

Lagos, Lagos State), and LinkedIn URL.

Never include your BVN (Bank Verification Number) or bank details.

Date of birth is optional and increasingly omitted.

Follow with a 2–4 line professional summary mirroring job-description keywords.

Example

Software Engineer with 3 years of experience building payments platforms in Lagos, Lagos State. Skilled in Java, Kotlin, and AWS, with a focus on reliability and clean architecture.

Entry Level

Keep the summary to 2-3 lines: your degree, internships, and core languages.

Mid Level

Lead with years of experience, your stack, and the products or teams you have shipped for.

Senior Level

Summarise scope: systems owned, team size led, architecture decisions, and business impact.

2

List Work Experience Reverse-Chronological With Quantified Achievements

List roles most recent first with job title, company, city, and dates in DD/MM/YYYY or month-year format.

Write 3–5 achievement-led bullets per role;

“cut API response time by 40% by introducing caching” beats “responsible for backend development”.

Nigerian recruiters want results, not responsibilities, so quantify impact in every bullet.

Example

Software Engineer. Flutterwave (Nigeria), Lagos, Lagos State, 06/2022 - Present. Migrated a payments service to Kubernetes, cutting deployment time from 40 to 8 minutes and improving on-call resolution by 30%.

Entry Level

Detail internships, attachments, and capstone projects with measurable outcomes.

Mid Level

Quantify features shipped, systems owned, uptime or latency improvements, and team collaboration.

Senior Level

Highlight architecture decisions, team leadership, mentoring, and business impact in revenue or efficiency.

3

Place Education Prominently

Nigerian employers recognise UNILAG, University of Ibadan, Covenant, and Obafemi Awolowo University.

List your degree, institution, dates, and GPA where strong.

Recent graduates place education before work experience;

experienced engineers keep it after.

Mention NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) completion;

Nigerian employers routinely ask for the NYSC discharge certificate.

Example

University of Ibadan, 2019-2023. GPA 3.6/4.0. Internship at Flutterwave (Nigeria). Capstone: fault-tolerant payments ledger.

Entry Level

Lead with your degree, GPA, and internships; include coursework relevant to the role.

Mid Level

Add professional certifications and continued education alongside the degree.

Senior Level

Keep education brief; lead with certifications and leadership training.

4

Show Key Skills and a Certifications Section

Use a skills section with 8–12 competencies mirroring the job description:

languages (Java, Kotlin, Go, Python, JavaScript), frameworks (React, Spring Boot), and platforms (AWS, GCP, Kubernetes).

A separate certifications section (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, HNG internship) is standard on Nigerian CVs and strengthens the ATS keyword match.

Example

Java, Kotlin, Go, Python, React, Spring Boot, AWS (S3, Lambda, ECS), Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD (GitHub Actions), SQL (PostgreSQL), System Design.

Entry Level

List languages and frameworks from coursework and internships; include GitHub links.

Mid Level

Add depth: cloud certifications, distributed systems, observability, and testing practice.

Senior Level

Focus on architecture, scaling, security, and leadership skills (system design, incident command, mentoring).

5

Close With Referees and a Right-To-Work Line

Nigerian convention includes a referees section:

two referees with name, role, company, phone, and email.

Ask permission before listing anyone.

For non-Nigerians, add a right-to-work line:

“Work Visa holder” or “Permanent Residence”.

Employers routinely ask about work authorization;

being explicit saves everyone time.

Example

References available on request. Right to work: Non-Nigerians.

Entry Level

Use your university career center and an internship supervisor or lecturer as referees.

Mid Level

Prefer two professional referees: a current engineering manager and a senior colleague.

Senior Level

List a director of engineering and a peer tech lead who can verify leadership outcomes.

6

Use English, A4 Size, and an ATS-Clean Layout

English is the working language of Nigerian companies.

Use a clean 10–11pt font, standard headings (Professional Summary, Work Experience, Education, Skills, References), and a single column.

Avoid tables, graphics, and headers or footers that confuse parsers.

Save as a PDF named FirstName_LastName_CV.pdf.

Mirror the exact wording of the job description for the best ATS match.

Proofread carefully.

Example

Save as Chinedu_Okafor_CV.pdf and mention relevant keywords from the job description.

Entry Level

Have your university career center review the document before applying.

Mid Level

Check every date and certification is exact; gaps read as hiding something.

Senior Level

Verify all certifications have current dates; keep it to two pages.

What Makes the Nigerian Cv Different

The Nigerian CV Format stands apart from its neighbours in a few concrete ways.

The length rule (1–2 pages;

1 page for graduates and junior roles, up to 2 for experienced professionals.

Nigerian recruiters value concise, easy-to-scan CVs.), the photo stance (Not required.

Nigerian corporate CVs usually omit the photo;

a clean, professional layout without a photo is the norm for tech roles.), and the date convention (Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g.

15/06/2025), or written as “June 2025”.

Month-year precision is enough for most roles.) all signal local awareness.

Write every experience bullet with numbers.

Nigerian recruiters compare candidates on measurable outcomes:

latency reduced, revenue grown, costs cut.

Each bullet should start with a strong action verb and end with a quantified result.

Finally, tailor the document to the specific job ad.

Identify the top three requirements and mirror them in your summary, skills, and experience bullets.

Generic CVs are screened out quickly in this market.

Nigerian software engineer salaries in 2026 run roughly ₦1.8M–4.8M for juniors, ₦4.2M–10.8M for mid-level, and ₦8.4M–24M+ for senior roles (Levels.fyi, 2026), and Lagos hosts Flutterwave, Paystack, Interswitch, and Andela engineering teams.

Key Skills Valued in Nigeria

Technical Skills

Programming languages relevant to the roleCloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)Container orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker)CI/CD and IaC (GitHub Actions, Terraform)Databases and data pipelines (PostgreSQL, Kafka)Observability (Prometheus, Grafana)

Soft Skills

Clear written and verbal communicationTeam collaboration and code reviewProblem-solving under pressureTime management and delivery focusStakeholder communicationContinuous learning

Keywords and Terminology for Nigerian Cvs

Using the right keywords is the only way to pass an ATS screen and reach a human recruiter.

Extract them from the job description and mirror the exact wording:

job title, required skills, and tools.

Job-ad keywords (mirror the wording exactly)Languages and frameworks the team usesPlatforms and tools (cloud, CI/CD, databases)Practice terms (agile, testing, observability)Local qualification and certification terms

How Experience Is Presented in a Nigerian Cv

Experience is the core of the document, written reverse-chronologically with the most recent role first.

Each role shows the job title, company, city, and dates, followed by achievement-led bullets with numbers.

Entry Level

Focus on internships, projects, and transferable skills; show reliability and a fast learning curve.

Mid Level

Show ownership: features shipped, systems run, and improvements measured in numbers.

Senior Level

Show scale: teams led, architectures owned, budgets or revenue impact, and mentoring outcomes.

Tailoring Your Cv to Nigerian Employers

Tailoring means adjusting the lens, not rewriting your history.

Identify the top three priorities in the job ad and make sure they appear in your summary and your first skills.

Match the ad's language exactly.

Common Nigerian Cv Mistakes to Avoid

Avoid these errors that regularly get applications rejected in Nigeria:

1. Getting the length wrong: 1–2 pages; 1 page for graduates and junior roles, up to 2 for experienced professionals. Nigerian recruiters value concise, easy-to-scan CVs. is the local standard.

2. Ignoring the photo rule: Not required. Nigerian corporate CVs usually omit the photo; a clean, professional layout without a photo is the norm for tech roles.

3. Using the wrong date format: use Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g. 15/06/2025), or written as “June 2025”. Month-year precision is enough for most roles. consistently.

4. Including personal details that local practice excludes: Name, phone (with +234 from abroad), professional email, city and state (e.g. Lagos, Lagos State), and LinkedIn URL. Never include your BVN (Bank Verification Number) or bank details. Date of birth is optional and increasingly omitted.

5. Listing duties instead of achievements; quantified results win every time.

Nigeria Job Market and Salary Outlook

The Nigeria job market in 2026 remains active for software engineers, with demand concentrated in the major cities.

Understanding the typical salary brackets for your level helps you calibrate your examples and negotiate with confidence.

LevelTypical annual salary (NGN)Typical CV length
Entry Level₦1,800,000–4,800,0001 page
Mid Level₦4,200,000–10,800,0001–2 pages
Senior Level₦8,400,000–24,000,000+2 pages

Source: Levels.fyi Nigeria + Glassdoor Lagos software engineer salary data, 2026 (approximate gross ranges, see sources)

Key Tips for Writing a Nigerian CV

  • Tip 1: Save as a clean, selectable PDF named FirstName_LastName_Role_Cv.pdf.
  • Tip 2: Use a professional email address; never a personal-sounding handle.
  • Tip 3: Include the correct international dialling code on your phone number.
  • Tip 4: Keep the length to the local standard: 1–2 pages; 1 page for graduates and junior roles, up to 2 for experienced professionals. Nigerian recruiters value concise, easy-to-scan CVs..
  • Tip 5: Mirror the job ad's keywords verbatim for ATS screens.
  • Tip 6: Have a careers service or a trusted colleague proofread before sending.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a photo on my Nigerian CV?

No, a photo is not required. Nigerian corporate CVs usually omit the photo, and a clean, professional layout without a photo is the norm for tech roles.

Should I include my BVN on a Nigerian CV?

No. Never include your BVN (Bank Verification Number) or bank details on a CV. Date of birth is optional and increasingly omitted.

How long should a Nigerian CV be?

One to two pages: one page for graduates and junior roles, up to two for experienced professionals. Nigerian recruiters value concise, easy-to-scan CVs, so every line must earn its place.

What date format do Nigerian CVs use?

Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g. 15/06/2025), or written as “June 2025”. Month-year precision is enough for most roles.

What does a software engineer CV look like in Nigeria?

A 1–2 page, ATS-clean single column: personal details (no BVN), a professional summary, work experience reverse-chronological with quantified achievements, education (UNILAG, Ibadan, Covenant), skills and certifications, and a referees section.

Nigerian tech salaries run roughly ₦1.8M–4.8M at entry, ₦4.2M–10.8M mid, and ₦8.4M–24M+ for senior roles, so tailor your examples to the level you are applying for.

Conventions verified for 2026 and based on well-established Nigerian recruitment practice.

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the following authoritative sources.

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