You have sixteen files. You do not need to open all of them today. Here is the order that gets you from a blank page to a submitted application fastest.
First, save the files somewhere permanent. Your computer, Google Drive, or email them to yourself. Do this now, before anything else, so you are never dependent on a download link.
Today - about an hour
Getting your first CV out.
Step 1
Open file 01, Start Here
Four minutes. It is the map of everything else, and it will save you far more time than it costs.
Step 2
Choose your design
File 12 shows both CV designs as real pages, side by side. If you are in a hurry and the role is not explicitly creative, use Clean Minimal - it is impossible for that design to count against you.
Step 3
Fill in your details
Open your chosen CV in Microsoft Word, or upload it to Google Docs. Replace every [bracketed] placeholder. Nothing about the layout needs to change.
Stuck on wording? File 16, the Sector Content Library, has a professional summary and skills list for twelve South African sectors. Then use file 09 to turn your duties into evidence with real numbers.
Step 4
Save a master copy
Before you tailor anything to a specific job, save this as FirstName_Surname_CV_Master.docx. This is the file you duplicate for every application from now on. You will never build a CV from scratch again.
Step 5
Tailor it, then check it
Duplicate your master, read the advert closely, and adjust your Professional Summary and Key Skills to genuinely reflect what that advert asks for. This is the highest-value five minutes in the whole process.
Then run file 11, the Application Checklist. Tier 1 takes thirty seconds and catches the errors that do the most damage, a leftover placeholder, last application's company name, a wrong digit in your phone number.
Step 6
Apply, then log it
Submit exactly as the advert instructs. Then open file 10, the tracker, and add one row: company, role, where you found it, date applied, and a follow-up date. Thirty seconds. This is the single easiest habit that stops a forgotten follow-up costing you an interview.
This week
The files that matter later.
- File 08, the ATS Guide. You do not need it before your first application. Read it before your fifth. It is the difference between using these templates and understanding why they are built this way, and it teaches you a two-minute plain-text test you can run on any CV, forever.
- File 15, Follow-Up Templates. Most applications go quiet, and that is normal. Eight short messages for every stage after you apply. Follow up once, then move on.
- File 14, Interview Preparation. Open it the day you get an interview invitation, not the night before. It covers the South African process stage by stage, the STAR method, and the salary question.
If something is not working
The three most common problems.
A file will not open, or looks wrong
Open it in Microsoft Word or Google Docs rather than your phone's built-in document viewer, which often cannot render the formatting. This is by far the most common issue and it is almost never a faulty file.
You only have a phone
It is harder, but it works. Use the Files app on iPhone, or a free extractor from the Play Store on Android, to unzip. Then open the .docx files in the free Microsoft Word or Google Docs app. File 13 walks through it in detail.
You do not have Microsoft Word
You do not need it. Upload the .docx to Google Drive, right-click, and choose Open with Google Docs - free. LibreOffice works too. Check the layout before exporting, since spacing can shift very slightly on conversion.
Still stuck
Ask a person.
File 13 answers most questions. If yours is not there, get in touch with your order number, the exact filename, what you were trying to do, and what happened instead. A screenshot solves most problems on the first reply.
One last thing. Do not send the same CV to two different jobs, and do not submit any example text from the guides unchanged - recruiters see these patterns and will recognise copied wording immediately. Use them to get moving, then make the words yours.