How to Write a CV for NGO Jobs (Honest Advice, Not a Template)

I've seen a lot of CVs. And I mean a lot. And the honest truth is that most of them make the same mistakes — not because people aren't qualified, but because nobody actually told them what humanitarian recruiters are looking for.

So let me just tell you directly.

Nobody reads your CV. They scan it.

A hiring manager reviewing applications for a field coordinator role in Aleppo is probably also managing a team, writing reports, and dealing with twelve other things. They're not sitting down with a coffee to carefully read your five-page document.

You have maybe 10 seconds on the first pass. That's it.

So forget about making a "perfect" CV. Focus on making sure you're not eliminated in those first 10 seconds. That's a completely different goal and it changes how you write everything.

The summary at the top — most people waste it

You know what I see constantly?

"Motivated humanitarian professional with a passion for making a difference, seeking to contribute my skills to a results-driven organization."

I'm not joking. This is real. And it says absolutely nothing about who you are.

Here's the thing — recruiters read that sentence and their eyes just slide down to the next section. You've used your most valuable real estate (the top of page one) to say nothing.

Write your summary last, after you've finished everything else. Three sentences. Who you are, what you specialize in, what you're looking for. Specific. Like you're explaining it to a colleague at a workshop, not writing a cover for a university application.

"Protection officer with six years in northern Syria, mostly focused on GBV case management and community outreach. I've worked with both local organizations and UN agencies. Looking to move into a coordination role."

That's it. That's good.

Your job descriptions are probably just copied from your contract

This is the big one.

Most people write their experience like this:

"Responsible for coordinating with local and international partners, providing regular reports to management, and supporting field operations."

That's your job description. That's what you were supposed to do. It tells me nothing about what you actually did, how well you did it, or what changed because you were there.

Think about it differently. What would your supervisor say about you if someone called them for a reference? What's the thing you're actually proud of from that job?

That's what goes in your CV.

• "Managed a team of 8 field monitors across 4 locations" is better than "responsible for team supervision"
• "Delivered Sphere training to 60 staff from 12 partner organizations" is better than "conducted capacity building activities"
• "Coordinated emergency cash response reaching 1,200 families in three weeks" tells an actual story

You don't need to invent numbers if you don't have them. Context works too. But try to say something real.

Certifications — don't bury them

HEAT training. Sphere. PHAST. MHPSS. Project management certifications. These things matter a lot in the NGO sector and I see people hiding them at the bottom of page three.

Put them somewhere visible. A small section near the top, or right under your summary. A recruiter scanning for a specific qualification will find it immediately instead of giving up.

Language skills — don't say "fluent" if you mean "conversational"

Everyone says fluent. It becomes meaningless.

Be specific about what you can actually do. Can you write reports in English? Say that. Can you facilitate workshops in Arabic? Say that. Is your French conversational but you wouldn't want to negotiate a contract in it? Say conversational.

Overstating your language skills and then getting caught out in an interview is awkward. Recruiters appreciate honesty. It also just makes you seem more credible overall.

Two pages. I mean it.

I know you've done a lot. But so has everyone else applying.

If I'm being blunt — a five-page CV usually tells me someone hasn't done the work of figuring out what's actually relevant. Two pages forces you to prioritize, and prioritizing is a skill that matters in humanitarian work.

Cut anything from more than 10 years ago unless it's directly relevant to this specific job. Cut the soft skills section — "teamwork, adaptability, communication" appears on literally every CV and adds nothing. Cut the photo unless they specifically asked for one.

If you have 15+ years of experience, three pages is fine. But most people don't need three pages.

Tailor it. Even just a little.

I know this sounds exhausting but it doesn't have to take long. Twenty minutes per application.

Read the job description. Find the 3–4 things they're clearly prioritizing. Make sure those things are obvious on your CV — in your summary, at the top of your most relevant job, wherever makes sense. Use the same language they used where you naturally can.

A CV written for this job feels completely different from a generic one. Recruiters notice.

One more thing

If you're going to do all this work on your CV — the tailoring, the results-focused language, the clean formatting — use a format that doesn't mess everything up when you export it.

You can build and export your CV directly on NGO Jobs Syria, for free. It's structured for humanitarian roles and exports as a clean PDF. Worth trying before you spend another hour fighting with Word.

Build your CV →