hello opportunity
For employersSign inCreate account
  1. Guides
  2. A resume for Jamaican employers
Guide · checked 28 September 2026

A resume for Jamaican employers

Of the 96 roles in our first week's index, 46 name a resume, 18 a covering letter, and 49 name no documents at all.1 So the resume is the thing that gets sent. Make it easy to read.

Upload your resume and tidy it in three steps
Of the roles in our first week’s index96
  • Name a resume46
  • A cover letter18
  • Name no documents49

Notices can name more than one, so these add up to more than 96.

In this guide 8In this guide
  1. 1Someone will skim it first
  2. 2What goes at the top
  3. 3The order
  4. 4Say what you did
  5. 5Education
  6. 6What to leave out
  7. 7Length and file
  8. 8No experience yet?

01Someone will skim it first

An eye-tracking study found recruiters spent about 7.4 seconds on a first look.2 It was American recruiters, and it was 2018. But the lesson holds: put what matters where a skim finds it.

02What goes at the top

Your name, your phone number, and your email address. An address like firstname.lastname works better than a nickname.

Under that, two lines on who you are and what you want. Say the kind of work, not "a challenging position".

03The order

Most recent first. Give each job its title, the employer, and the month and year you started and finished. Write "present" for a job you still have.

  1. Contact details.
  2. A short summary.
  3. Work experience.
  4. Education and training.
  5. Skills.
  6. Referees, only if the notice asks for them.

Leave out "References available on request". It fills a line and tells the reader nothing.

04Say what you did

Start each line with a verb: taught, served, balanced, repaired. Add a number if you have one: how many students, customers or staff. "Responsible for" says what the job was. A number says what you did.

From the example resumeAn example

Accounts Clerk, Sample Distributors LimitedMarch 2021 - Present

Responsible for reconciling 40 supplier accounts each monthReconciled 40 supplier accounts each month

Processing payroll for 35 staff

Duties included preparing weekly cash reports for the Financial ControllerPrepared weekly cash reports for the Financial Controller

Starts with a duty phrase. Start with what you did.

Upload your resume and tidy it in three steps

05Education

List each qualification, the school or institution, and the year. If you sat CSEC or CAPE, list each subject with its grade. Do not make a reader ask for your Mathematics and English.

06What to leave out

Leave out your photo, your TRN, your NIS number, your date of birth and your marital status. An employer asks for the numbers after an offer. If the advert turns out to be false, you have given them away.

Left out before readingAn example
YOUR NAME Accounts Clerk Portmore, St. Catherine | 876-555-0100 | you@example.com Date of Birth: 4 May 1995 Marital Status: Single
  • A date of birth or age.
  • Marital status, children or next of kin.

A resume does not need it. An employer asks for it after an offer, and it can be misused.

07Length and file

Two pages is plenty. One is fine for a first job. Save it as a PDF called Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf. Employers' forms take a PDF or a Word file: the Jamaica Information Service's takes .doc, .docx and .pdf.3

08No experience yet?

Use school, church and community roles, volunteering, sports, and any HEART/NSTA Trust training. Name what you did there. It counts.

Checked28 September 2026

Sources

  1. Hello Opportunity, the 96 roles in our first week's index (week of 21 September 2026)/about
  2. HR Dive, "Eye tracking study shows recruiters look at resumes for 7 seconds"www.hrdive.com/news/eye-tracking-study-shows-recruiters-look-at-resumes-for-7-seconds/541582
  3. Jamaica Information Service, "Career Opportunities"jis.gov.jm/corporate/careers

Every fact above was checked against its source on 28 September 2026. Rules and fees change: if one is wrong, tell us.

Ready? Next step.

Upload your resume and tidy it in three steps