Author: Lungelo Shandu

How Long Should a CV Be in South Africa?

Two pages suit most South African job seekers. One page works when you have under five years of experience. Three pages earn their place when you carry a decade of relevant work, a professional portfolio or academic output.

Page count gets argued about because it is easy to measure. Recruiters judge something harder: whether they can scan the document in three minutes and find a reason to call you. A tight two pages beats a padded three every time, and a padded two pages beats nothing at all.

The Short Version

One page for school leavers, graduates and anyone under five years of work.
Two pages for most people between five and ten years, across trades, office roles and management.
Three pages for senior appointments, academic CVs, and medical or engineering portfolios.
Cut duties. Keep outcomes.
Test the document against three minutes of scanning, not against a page rule.

In our Q3 2026 report, a user described a tailored CV that took more than three minutes to read. “It’s a lot,” they wrote. “Most recruiters prefer a CV that’s straight to the point and easy to read.” We logged it as a defect, not a preference. Three minutes is the standard the document has to meet.

Why the Advice Conflicts

South African CV guidance contradicts itself. Official guidance says keep it short. Template sites push two pages. Some recruiters ask for one. Each answer speaks to a different reader: the parser that screens the file, the recruiter who skims it, and the hiring manager who interviews from it.

The guidance published on gov.za states that “a CV should be short and to the point”. The same page tells applicants to change the CV for each job. Those two instructions pull against each other, and that tension explains most of the confusion.

The Page Count by Career Stage

Stage	Pages	What earns the space
School leaver, no formal job yet	1	Matric results if they are strong, part-time or volunteer work, skills, references
Graduate, under two years	1	Qualification, projects, internships, vacation work
Two to five years	1 to 2	Roles with outcomes, tools you can operate, one qualification
Five to ten years	2	Recent roles in detail, older roles compressed to a line each
Ten years and up, senior	2 to 3	Budget, headcount, stakeholders, board exposure
Academic, medical, engineering	3 or more	Publications, registrations, projects, portfolios

South Africans use “CV” for every document in this table. Recruiters shortlist from all of them, so the label matters less than the reader.

What a Page Actually Means

A4 paper, 11-point body text, 2 cm margins, single line spacing. Shrink the type to 9-point and the margins to 1 cm so that three pages of content fit into two, and you have built a three-page CV that looks cramped. Density is the first thing a reader notices, before a single word lands.

The Line Test

Read each bullet and ask whether a hiring manager would repeat it in an interview. “Responsible for stock control” gives them nothing to repeat. “Cut stock losses from 8% to 3% across two stores in two quarters” gives them a question to ask.

Duties describe the job. Outcomes describe you. Swap one for the other until the page carries evidence rather than a job description.

Five Things to Cut First

The objective statement. A two-line summary naming the role and your strongest proof does more work.
Roles older than 12 years. Keep employer, title and dates on one line.
School subjects, once you hold a tertiary qualification. Matric matters; the subject list usually does not.
Soft-skill lists. “Hard-working, reliable, team player” gives a reader nothing to check. Show the behaviour in a bullet or drop it.
Full reference details. “Available on request” is standard, and South African employers usually ask at interview stage.

Four Things to Keep

Dates in one format, with no unexplained gaps.
Qualifications and professional registrations, spelt the way the awarding body spells them.
Numbers: volumes, budgets, percentages, headcounts, hours saved.
The advert’s own words, used in the form the advert uses them.

How an ATS Reads a Long CV

Applicant tracking software pulls text from the document’s content stream. Columns, tables, text boxes, headers and graphics can hide content from that stream. A tidy two-page CV built inside a table can parse worse than a plain four-page document.

Three habits protect you:

One column, top to bottom.
Standard headings: Experience, Education, Skills.
Contact details in the body of the document, not in a header or footer.

Page count is rarely the parsing risk. Layout is. A plain document also scans faster, which is the test that decides your fate.

Three Details to Leave Off a South African CV

Official guidance still lists identity number, marital status and health. Most employers have no reason to hold the first two at application stage, and POPIA treats health information as special personal information. Leave all three off unless an employer asks in writing and explains why.

A photograph is optional. Some South African employers expect one while many do not, and it changes nothing about how the file parses.

The 20-Minute Trim

Set A4, 2 cm margins, 11-point body, single spacing.
Delete the objective.
Compress everything older than 12 years to one line per role.
Rewrite the top three bullets of your latest role so each ends in a number.
Delete the soft-skill lists.
Read the advert again and check that your first five lines answer it.
Save as PDF, open it on a phone, and confirm that the first screen shows your name, the role you want and your latest result.

When Three Pages Earns Its Place

Academic CVs list publications, conferences and teaching. Medical CVs list registrations and procedures. Engineering and built-environment CVs carry project portfolios. Senior appointments carry budget, headcount and board exposure.

Recruitment consultants working on senior roles often ask for a longer document. Our list of South African recruitment agencies shows where those consultants work. Keep a two-page version for direct applications and send the long one when a consultant requests it. Tailor the document to the reader, not to a rule.

The Bottom Line

Two pages, every line earning its place, written for the advert in front of you. Length is the symptom. Relevance is the cause. If a recruiter cannot scan the document in three minutes, page three will not rescue the application.

Check Your CV Free

The CV Review tool gives you an assessment of the document you upload. The Tailor tool adapts your CV to a specific advert, and the Improve tool suggests stronger wording for weak bullets. All four tools are free and need no sign-up.

Open the CV tools: https://cv.ak035.co.za/
Draft the cover letter: https://ak035.co.za/cleg035/
Not sure which role suits you: https://ak035.co.za/ocg035/

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a three-page CV ever acceptable in South Africa? Yes, for senior appointments, academic posts, medical registrations and project-heavy engineering roles. For most other applications, two pages is the ceiling.

Should I include a photo? Optional. Some employers expect one. It neither helps nor hurts parsing.

Does a longer CV hurt my ATS score? Page count rarely matters. Layout does. Columns, tables and text boxes hide text from the parser.

Should I send a cover letter? Government guidance recommends one, three to four paragraphs long. The free cover letter tool drafts it from the advert.

References

South Africa Government, “Compiling a curriculum vitae”. https://www.gov.za/issues/compiling-curriculum-vitae
AK035, “Q3 2026 Report: The CV Tailor Tool Doubled. Now We Must Fix What It Produces.” https://ak035.co.za/2026/10/10/ak035-q3-2026-report-the-cv-tailor-tool-doubled-now-we-must-fix-what-it-produces/
AK035, “South African Recruitment Agencies: Where To Send Your CV (2026).” https://ak035.co.za/2026/06/19/south-african-recruitment-agencies-where-to-send-your-cv-2026/

25/10/2026

AK035 Q3 2026 Report: The CV Tailor Tool Doubled. Now We Must Fix What It Produces.
The Short Version

The AK035 CV Tailor tool grew fast between July and September 2026. It more than doubled.

But growth is not the whole story. One user told us something we cannot ignore. Their CV was too long for a recruiter to read. That comment matters more than any number in this report.

Here is what happened, what we learned, and what we are doing next.

What the Tools Do

Before the numbers, here is a quick reminder.

The AK035 platform offers three free tools:
- CV Tool – Build, improve, or tailor your CV for a specific job
- Career Guidance Tool – Answer questions about your career path
- Cover Letter and Email Drafting Tool – Write professional letters and emails
All three are free. No hidden costs. No expensive services. Just help.

The Big Change: Tailoring Beat Building

In Q2 2026, most people used the CV tool to review what they already had.

In Q3 2026, that flipped. People now want to tailor their CV for a specific job.

Tool Action Q2 Share Q3 Share
Tailor 18.7% 46.4%
Review 40.3% 24.7%
Improve 27.6% 27.6%
Create 1.3% 1.3%

Tailor use grew 169.7% per day. That means more people are taking a CV they already have and aiming it at one job.

The tool that builds a CV from scratch? Almost nobody uses it. Create dropped from 19 uses to 8.

What this tells us: People arrive with a CV. They do not want a new one. They want the one they have to work harder.

Standout Problem: Too Many Words

Here is where the report gets uncomfortable.

Backend work grew 24.4% per day. Frontend use grew 9.0% per day. That means each visit now produces more text than before.

Then a user wrote this:

“It’s a lot. Like the CV summary is long, the key skills, etc. Most recruiters prefer a CV that’s straight to the point and easy to read. A CV they can scan not a CV that takes more than 3min to read through.”

That user rated the tool 3 stars. They described their own reading experience, not a guess about what recruiters want.

We treat this as an open defect, not a preference.

If a recruiter cannot scan your CV in three minutes, the CV fails. It does not matter how good the words are.

Satisfaction: Mostly Good, But the Floor Fell

18 people left feedback between July and August. September recorded none.

Rating Entries
5 stars 12
4 stars 3
3 stars 1
2 stars 1
1 star 1

Mean rating: 4.33 out of 5. That is down from 4.69 in Q2.

The 2-star and 1-star ratings arrived on the same day in July. They came from two different sessions. No words explained what went wrong.

What this means: 16 sessions rated out of 291 that logged actions. The 4.33 describes people motivated enough to rate, not everyone who used the tool.

Median satisfaction stayed at 5 stars. Most raters remain happy. But we cannot fix what we cannot see.

What users wrote. Five of 18 entries carried text.

“Great tool which improved my cv” – improve, 5 stars, Bojanala Platinum

“I loved it” – improve, 5 stars, Mangaung

“I thought you where going to make me a new CV” – review, 5 stars, Mangaung

“Very good” – improve, 4 stars, City of Johannesburg

“It’s a lot. Like the CV summary is long, the key skills, etc. Most recruiters prefer a CV that’s straight to the point and easy to read. A CV they can scan not a CV that takes more than 3min to read through” – improve, 3 stars, City of Ekurhuleni

What this supports. Four of the five comments praise the tools. One names a defect. Written comment rates rose in proportion, from 4 of 35 entries in Q2 to 5 of 18, which is 27.8 per cent against 11.4 per cent.

What this cannot support. 16 sessions rated out of 291 sessions that logged actions, a response rate of 5.5 per cent. The 4.33 mean describes people motivated enough to rate, not the audience. The 2 star and 1 star entries carried no words, so the data cannot say what went wrong on 29 July.

Who Is Using the Platform

Where They Come From

District Q3 Actions Q2 Actions
City of Tshwane 117 71
City of Johannesburg 93 121
Unknown 90 14
City of Ekurhuleni 51 60
Outside South Africa 46 2

Tshwane took the lead from Johannesburg. It also carried the heaviest tailoring load, with 73 of its 117 actions being tailor requests.

Gauteng municipalities held 46.9% of all activity. KwaZulu-Natal held 12.5%. Western Cape held 7.4%.

One problem: 90 rows carried the label “Unknown.” That is up from 14 in Q2. We cannot say where those users came from. That limits what we can learn.

Career Guidance: Small but Rising

The Career Guidance tool ran 29 times across 22 days in Q3. That is tiny compared to 608 CV actions.

But September reached 14 requests. July had 7. That is a doubling, though from a very small base.

31 people completed a career guidance profile. Here is who they are:
- Age: Youngest 21, oldest 43, mean 28.7
- Education: 41.9% hold a degree or higher
- Location: 51.6% from Gauteng, 25.8% from KwaZulu-Natal
Location

Province Users Share
Gauteng 16 51.6%
KwaZulu-Natal 8 25.8%
Free State 2 6.5%
North West 2 6.5%
Limpopo 2 6.5%
Western Cape 1 3.2%

Education

Qualification Users
Diploma 11
Bachelor’s Degree 8
Grade 12 or Matric 5
Honours Degree 5
Certificate 2

13 of 31 users, or 41.9 per cent, hold a degree or higher, against 33.3 per cent in Q2. Nobody holds a Master’s degree this quarter, where Q2 had one.

What They Told Us

Problem Users Share
No responses from employers 18 58.1%
Career guidance 7 22.6%
Finding jobs 4 12.9%
Upskilling 2 6.5%

Roughly six in ten hold a qualification, apply, and hear nothing back. That figure held steady across two quarters.

How Long They Have Searched

Duration Users
More than 2 years 10
1 to 2 years 7
3 to 6 months 5
6 to 12 months 4
Less than 3 months 4

17 of 31 users, or 54.8%, have searched longer than a year. In Q2, that figure was 37.5%. People arriving now have been knocking on doors longer than the group before them.

What They Will Accept
- Office-based: 80.6%
- Willing to relocate: 80.6%
- Remote work: 71.0%
- Hybrid work: 67.7%
- Willing to start a business: 22.6%
Eight in ten would move province for work. Locality does not protect a job seeker here.

The Traffic Story: One Week Carried September

The daily traffic export covers 4 September to 30 September. July and August produced no daily records.

What 27 days showed:
- Page views: 1,423
- Impressions: 3,029
- Clicks: 109
Five days from 14 to 18 September carried 633 page views. That is 44.5% of the September window in five days.

The last seven days produced 269 page views. The first seven produced 321.

The spike was one event, not lasting growth.

Devices: Phones Rule, But Ads Suffer

The device export says 79.3% of page views come from high-end mobile phones. Desktop takes 20.1%.

Phone users produce 94.3% of clicks. But phone users see fewer ads than desktop users.
- Mobile ad visibility: 56.0%
- Desktop ad visibility: 71.4%
Where an ad sits on a small screen decides whether a free tool stays free.

The device export disagrees with September’s daily rows by 3.04 times. We cannot resolve that conflict, so both figures appear as given.

Ten questions the quarter answers
1. Do users want to build a CV or improve one they already have? They want an existing CV aimed at one job. Tailor led at 282 actions and grew 169.7 per cent per day. Create, the tool that builds from nothing, fell to 8 uses.
2. Is the tailor rise real, or a tracking failure? Real. Inside named districts, tailor held 37.5 to 37.9 per cent of activity between July and August while its count grew from 72 to 106. Capture failed on 90 rows, and those failures do not explain the rise.
3. Which district leads the platform now? City of Tshwane, at 117 actions against Johannesburg’s 93. Tshwane also runs the heaviest tailor mix, 73 of its 117 actions.
4. Are users satisfied? Mostly, on thin evidence. 12 of 18 ratings were 5 stars. Two low scores on one July day pulled the mean to 4.33. 16 sessions rated out of 291.
5. Is the career guidance tool being used? Barely. It ran 29 times across 22 days, against 608 CV actions. September doubled July’s monthly rate from a small base.
6. Can 31 profile completions speak for the user base? No. These people chose to fill in a long form. They hold more degrees than the national average, and they cluster in Gauteng. They describe the most motivated end of the audience.
7. What frustrates users most? Silence. 18 of 31 named no responses from employers. That figure held near six in ten for two quarters.
8. Are people finding work quickly? No, and it worsened. 17 of 31 have searched longer than a year, against 37.5 per cent in Q2. Ten passed the two-year mark.
9. Did the September traffic spike mean lasting growth? No sign of it. Five days from 14 to 18 September carried 633 page views, 44.5 per cent of the September window. The last seven days then produced 269 page views against 321 in the first seven. The spike was one event, and the window opened on it.
10. Do users want to move for work? Yes. 25 of 31 would relocate. Q2 recorded 79.2 per cent willing to relocate, and the appetite held while the search dragged on.
What We Are Doing Next

We set seven priorities for Q4 2026. Here are the ones that matter most to you.

1. Capture the District on Every Tailor Request

Target: Cut unknown-district rows from 14.8% to under 5% by 31 December 2026.

Why: We cannot improve what we cannot measure.

2. Measure the Length of Every CV

Target: A length figure recorded for every tailor and improve request by 30 November 2026.

Why: The 3-star comment and the 24.4% rise in tokens per use make this the clearest open defect. We need to know how long our CVs are before we can shorten them.

3. Test a Shorter CV Output

Target: Lift the mean rating above 4.50 with at least 30 entries in the quarter.

Why: A CV that takes more than three minutes to read fails the user. We will offer a two-page output as the default.

4. Ask Unhappy Users What Went Wrong

Target: A written reason attached to every rating of 3 or lower by 31 December 2026.

Why: Two low scores on one day with no words cannot be fixed.

5. Offer Career Guidance to Repeat Tailor Users

Target: Lift guidance runs from 29 to 75 in the quarter.

Why: Someone reshaping one CV across 12 attempts needs direction, not another rewrite.

The Bottom Line

The CV Tailor tool grew because people want their existing CV aimed at a specific job. That is clear.

But growth exposed a problem. The tool produces too many words. One user said it plainly. A recruiter cannot scan a CV that takes more than three minutes to read.

We are fixing that. We are measuring CV length. We are testing shorter outputs. We are asking unhappy users what went wrong.

Information should be free, simple, and actionable. That is the AK035 belief. A CV that nobody reads is none of those things.

Try the Tools

Build a CV for free, work through the career guidance tool, or draft a cover letter at ak035.co.za

Read the other quarterly reports at ak035.co.za/reports

References

Statistics South Africa (2026) Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Quarter 2: 2026. Statistical release P0211. Pretoria: Stats SA. Published 11 August 2026.

South African Government News Agency (2026) SA official unemployment rate rises to 33.6%. Pretoria: SAnews.gov.za.

Website List
10/10/2026

Tool Action	Q2 Share	Q3 Share
Tailor	18.7%	46.4%
Review	40.3%	24.7%
Improve	27.6%	27.6%
Create	1.3%	1.3%

Rating	Entries
5 stars	12
4 stars	3
3 stars	1
2 stars	1
1 star	1

District	Q3 Actions	Q2 Actions
City of Tshwane	117	71
City of Johannesburg	93	121
Unknown	90	14
City of Ekurhuleni	51	60
Outside South Africa	46	2

Province	Users	Share
Gauteng	16	51.6%
KwaZulu-Natal	8	25.8%
Free State	2	6.5%
North West	2	6.5%
Limpopo	2	6.5%
Western Cape	1	3.2%

Qualification	Users
Diploma	11
Bachelor’s Degree	8
Grade 12 or Matric	5
Honours Degree	5
Certificate	2

Problem	Users	Share
No responses from employers	18	58.1%
Career guidance	7	22.6%
Finding jobs	4	12.9%
Upskilling	2	6.5%

Duration	Users
More than 2 years	10
1 to 2 years	7
3 to 6 months	5
6 to 12 months	4
Less than 3 months	4

Private School Jobs: How to Use the Free ISASA Vacancies List

Job hunting in education often means scrolling Facebook groups and waiting. There is a free list that schools have used for years, and most job seekers have never opened it. The Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) publishes vacancies from its member schools online. Anyone can read it. Nobody pays to view it, and nobody pays to apply.

What ISASA is

ISASA is a club for independent schools across Southern Africa, and it is the biggest and oldest one. Independent schools are private schools. They run on school fees rather than government money. ISASA took its current shape in 1999, with roots going back to 1929. More than 900 schools in South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini and Namibia belong to it. Together they teach over 210,000 pupils.

A school must pass an inspection before it can join. ISASA checks each member school on site. Members receive more than 50 services from the association, from legal support to staff training. Well-known members include St Stithians in Johannesburg and Bishops in Cape Town. Small low-fee community schools are members too. Jobs appear across that whole range.

Who the jobs suit

The adverts cover teaching and non-teaching work. Each advert lists the post, the requirements, the closing date and the application steps. Many support and office posts ask for matric. Teaching posts need a teaching qualification plus registration with the South African Council for Educators (SACE).

SACE keeps the official register of every teacher in South African schools. You cannot teach without it, even at a private school. First-time registration costs R200 and the yearly levy is R150. Confirm the latest fees at www.sace.org.za before you go.

New teachers should also watch SAMSTIP. That is ISASA’s maths and science teacher internship programme. It funds your studies towards a teaching degree and places you at a member school with a mentor. Search for SAMSTIP on the ISASA website.

How to open the list on your phone

You do not need a laptop. Any phone with a browser will do.

Open Chrome. It is the round app with red, yellow, green and blue rings. Samsung Internet works the same way if that is what your phone uses.
Tap the long white bar at the top of the screen. Your keyboard will appear.
Type www.isasa.org and tap Go or press Enter.
Wait for the page to load. Look for the word Vacancies at the top. If you cannot see it, tap the three small lines in the corner to open the menu.
Tap Vacancies, then tap Vacancy Categories. The adverts are grouped by type of work.
Tap any advert to open it. Read the requirements and how to apply. Write the closing date down straight away.
Send your application the way the advert asks. Most schools want your CV emailed straight to the school.

Save the page for next time. Tap the three dots at the top right of Chrome, then tap the star icon. Schools post adverts all year, so check the list once a week.

Sort these out before you apply

You need a CV, an email address and a certified copy of your ID. None of these has to cost you a cent.

What you need	Free way to get it
A CV	Build one with the free CV tools on ak035.co.za
An email address	Open a free Gmail account on your phone
Certified ID copy	Any SAPS station certifies copies free
Data	Free Wi-Fi at public libraries, some malls and taxi ranks

Most public libraries offer free internet on their computers, and many have free Wi-Fi. Ask the librarian for help if you have never used a library computer. Helping with that is part of their job.

Where money is and is not involved

Reading the list costs nothing. Applying costs nothing. The Employment Services Act makes it illegal to charge a work seeker a fee for finding work. If anyone asks you for a placement fee or registration money, walk away and report them to the Department of Employment and Labour.

Two small costs can still come up. SACE registration is R200 the first time and R150 a year, and it only applies if you want to teach. Printing a CV at an internet café costs a few rand a page if a school asks for a paper copy. Most schools accept email.

Your checklist

Work through this list, and you will have applications out this week:

Find free Wi-Fi. Try your nearest public library first.
Open www.isasa.org on your phone. Tap Vacancies, then Vacancy Categories.
Choose three adverts that match your skills. Write down each closing date.
Build a free CV at ak035.co.za.
Open a free Gmail address if you do not have one.
Get your ID certified free at a SAPS station.
Register with SACE if you want to teach.
Email your applications before each closing date.
Check the ISASA list again next week.

Send this post to one person who is hunting for school work. WhatsApp it to your family group. Sharing costs nothing and it might end someone’s job search.

AK035.co.za has free CV tools, free career guidance tools and free job searching resources for South Africans. No fees. No gimmicks. Just what you need, in plain language.

References

Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (2025) Vacancies. Available at: https://www.isasa.org/vacancies/vacancy-categories/ (Accessed: 12 June 2025).
Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (2025) About ISASA. Available at: https://www.isasa.org/ (Accessed: 12 June 2025).
Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (2025) SAMSTIP. Available at: https://www.isasa.org/samstip/ (Accessed: 12 June 2025).
South African Council for Educators (2025) Educator registration. Available at: https://www.sace.org.za/ (Accessed: 12 June 2025).
South African Government (2014) Employment Services Act 4 of 2014. Available at: https://www.gov.za/documents/employment-services-act (Accessed: 12 June 2025).
South African Government (2025) Public libraries. Available at: https://www.gov.za/services/public-libraries (Accessed: 12 June 2025).

Websites used

23/09/2026

Start a Job Application Service: SA Side Hustle Guide

Millions of South Africans cannot apply for jobs they qualify for. Not because they lack skills. The application sits behind a screen, a data bundle and a login they do not have.

The size of the problem is recorded. DataReportal counted 13.3 million South Africans offline at the end of 2025, about a fifth of the country. Stats SA household surveys show the same pattern every year: people who are online connect mostly by phone, on costly mobile data. Rural and low-income households lag far behind Gauteng and the Western Cape.

If you have Wi-Fi, a phone and patience, you are holding a service business. Here is how to build it, with AK035.co.za as your office. The tools are free.

Why your neighbourhood needs this

Job hunting has moved online. Recruitment agencies, job boards and WhatsApp job groups all live behind a login or a link. A person with no laptop, no computer literacy and expensive data cannot reach them.

You can. You already scroll, type and email. Turn that into applications done for other people, charged at prices a township or rural budget can carry.

What AK035 gives you for free

A career guidance tool that matches a client to fields before you spend a cent on anything else.
A free CV builder that produces a clean CV on a phone.
A list of more than 50 recruitment agencies to submit CVs to.
WhatsApp job groups and channels to join, monitor and forward from.

Three packages your neighbours can afford

Price low on purpose. You serve people who pay in cash and count every rand. The Full package suits clients with qualifications who want volume. Take payment before you start. Cash up front protects your time, and half up front is fair on the Full package.

Printing usually costs R2 to R5 a page at a local shop. Quote it as its own line when a client wants hard copies, so your package prices stay clean.

Package	Price	What the client gets
Starter	R30	CV built or refreshed on the AK035 builder, plus applications to 5 matched jobs
Standard	R100	Career guidance session, CV, applications to 10 jobs and follow-ups by WhatsApp
Full service	R400	Everything in Standard, plus a cover letter, CV sent to agencies on the AK035 list, a written follow-up tracker and an interview prep sheet

What you need to start

A phone with a camera to photograph documents with the client’s permission.
A free Gmail address for client applications.
WhatsApp Business, free to download, to keep client chats organised. Its quick replies and labels do the filing for you.
ak035.co.za bookmarked on your browser.
Free Wi-Fi time: public libraries, malls and campuses.
A notebook or a free notes app for records.

Keep your data costs down

Data eats the profit out of a R30 job if you work carelessly. Do the heavy work on free Wi-Fi and save the phone for WhatsApp.

Download adverts and forms as PDFs on free Wi-Fi, then work offline. Never open the same page twice on data.
Keep client files in the free 15 GB that comes with a Gmail account, so documents get uploaded once.
Use sayouth.mobi for job leads. The site costs no data on South African networks.
Set WhatsApp media downloads to happen on Wi-Fi only.

Get your first ten clients

Start where people already trust you: church, taxi rank, stokvel, sports club.
Partner with one NGO or community centre and offer their clients a discounted day.
Give every new client the first application free. Show them the CV before you quote.
Post real results on your WhatsApp status each week. Real numbers only, never invented ones.

The five-step service process

Career guidance: open ak035.co.za, tap the career guidance tool and answer the questions together with your client. Note the matched fields.
CV building: tap the CV builder, fill each section with your client, save the PDF and send a copy to their WhatsApp.
Job searching: open the AK035 job board and agency list, filter by field and town, and save five to ten fits.
Applying: apply through the client’s own email account, attach the CV and keep subject lines simple and clear: Application: Cashier, Durban, Ref 4021.
Follow-up: diary every application, follow up after seven days and report outcomes honestly.

The community service layer

Run one pay-what-you-can day every month.
Help pensioners for free, always.
Teach one person a month to apply for jobs on their own.
Partner with a library and host a free Saturday help desk.

This layer is not charity decoration. It builds the trust that sells the paid packages, and it closes the digital gap one person at a time.

Run it honestly

Never promise a job. You sell applications and effort. Recruiters make the hiring decisions.
Never keep client documents or logins beyond what the task needs. Delete when asked.
Keep records for every job: date, client, service, amount paid.
Keep invoices and receipts. When income grows, register for tax on SARS eFiling.
A sole proprietor needs no CIPC registration. A company through BizPortal costs R125, and it is optional.

Grow slowly

Add services clients ask for: interview coaching, LinkedIn profiles, printing through a local shop. Train a helper once you pass 20 clients a month. Build a name on three things: steady prices, real testimonials and clean WhatsApp branding.

South Africa does not lack job seekers with ambition. It lacks bridges between them and the internet. You can be one.

Your checklist

Bookmark ak035.co.za and test the CV builder on yourself.
Set your three prices and write down what each package includes.
Write a simple price list you can show at the taxi rank.
Do one free application and turn it into your first testimonial.
Post your service on your WhatsApp status this week.
Open a records book: date, client, service, amount.
Book your first pay-what-you-can day.
Share this guide with someone who needs income, not sympathy.

Earn where you live. Share this post with your street group, your church group and anyone with Wi-Fi and a spare hour. The free tools live at ak035.co.za.

References

AK035 (2026) Abridged Knowledge 035: free career tools for South Africans. Available at: https://ak035.co.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
CIPC (2026) BizPortal: company registration and business services. Available at: https://www.bizportal.gov.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
DataReportal (2025) Digital 2026: South Africa. Available at: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-south-africa (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
SARS (2026) eFiling: register to file your taxes. Available at: https://www.sars.gov.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Statistics South Africa (2024) General Household Survey 2023. Available at: https://www.statssa.gov.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).

Quick website list

07/09/2026

Learn Real Skills for Free, No Hidden Paywalls

Many South African young people want to learn online. Most get blocked by hidden costs. Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and edX ask for money before you receive a certificate. This guide lists free alternatives that work. You only need a phone and free Wi-Fi.

Before you start any course, upload your CV to the AK035 career guidance tool at ak035.co.za. This tells you which skills you actually need, so you do not waste time on irrelevant training.

Why You Must Check Your CV First

Many people take a marketing course when they actually need basic administration or finance skills. The AK035 career guidance tool analyses your skills, education, and interests. It gives you a personalised report with job suggestions and skill gaps.

The tool is free. There is no account required.
You get three free CV reviews per day.
Your data is discarded after each session; nothing is stored permanently.

Visit AK035.co.za first. Then choose your course from the list below.

Choose the course after you know the direction

A random course wastes data and months. Start with the AK035 career guidance tool at ak035.co.za. Upload your CV, answer the questions and read the report. It shows which fields fit you and which skills your CV lacks. Pick a course that fills that gap.

In and around KwaZulu-Natal, work clusters around the Durban port, manufacturing, finance, retail and tourism. Bookkeeping, office admin, stock control and digital marketing appear again and again in the SETA scarce skills lists that cover those industries. Courses in those four areas give you the best return on your time.

The platforms worth your data

Here is the full list. Free comes first in every row, and any cost is written out in plain numbers.

Platform	Teaches	Certificate
Alison (alison.com)	Soft skills such as Bookkeeping, business admin, marketing basics, IT skills	Study free. A digital certificate costs about 21 to 26 euros (around R400 to R500). Optional.
Microsoft Learn (learn.microsoft.com)	Excel, Word, Outlook, Windows, data basics	Free training. Free badges on many modules.
Microsoft and LinkedIn Career Essentials (opportunity.linkedin.com)	Digital marketing, data analysis, entrepreneurship, AI basics	Free professional certificate after a free assessment.
Google Digital Skills for Africa (grow.google)	Digital marketing fundamentals, taking a business online	Free courses and free badges through Google Skillshop.
HP LIFE (life-global.org)	Business admin, finance basics, marketing, IT	Free certificate on every course.
OpenLearn (open.edu/openlearn)	Business, finance, study skills	Free statement of participation on many courses.
Khan Academy (khanacademy.org)	Maths, finance and business basics	Free. No certificate.
YALI Network (yali.state.gov)	Leadership, business, community work	Free certificates for young Africans.
SA Youth (sayouth.mobi)	Links you to free training and job openings	Free to join. The site is zero-rated, so it uses no data.

How to start on a phone with little data

Register on sayouth.mobi first. It costs no data and lists training offers near you.
Find free Wi-Fi at your public library, a mall or a campus. Download what the platform allows you to save offline.
Pick one platform from the table, not five. Finish one short course before you open the next.
Study in short sessions. Fifteen minutes a day beats three hours once a month.
When a course is done, add it to your CV the same week with the free AK035 CV builder.

Certificates: free against paid

Microsoft and LinkedIn Career Essentials, HP LIFE, Google, YALI and OpenLearn give proof of learning at no cost. Alison lets you study for free and only charges for the paper. Pay about R400 to R500 for an Alison certificate when an employer or a registration requires one. The learning itself stays free, whatever you decide.

Employers in South Africa rarely ask which website taught you. They ask what you can do and whether you can show it. A finished course, a live CV and a clear career direction beat an expensive subscription you cannot afford.

Write each course on your CV the same way every time: course name, provider, year. Digital marketing fundamentals, Google Digital Skills for Africa, 2026. Then copy the words from the job advert into your course and CV descriptions. A machine that screens CVs looks for those exact words.

Three traps to skip

Anyone selling a course with a job guarantee. No course can promise you a job, and the money is gone the moment you pay.
Platforms that give away the first lessons, then lock the tests behind a payment. The table above states every cost before you start.
Paid training that claims accreditation you cannot check. Search the qualification on saqa.co.za. If the SAQA database does not list it, keep your money.

Your checklist

Upload your CV to the AK035 career guidance tool and note two skill gaps.
Register on sayouth.mobi while you still have data, then use it zero rated.
Choose one platform and one course that fills a gap on your CV.
Book free Wi-Fi time at your nearest public library.
Finish the course and add it to your CV the same week.
Share this list with one person who is job hunting.

Skills stack up quietly, then they surprise you. Share this post with your family group and your old classmates. The free career tools live at ak035.co.za.

References

AK035 (2026) Abridged Knowledge 035: free career tools for South Africans. Available at: https://ak035.co.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Alison (2026) Official Alison certificate pricing. Available at: https://alison.com/about/pricing (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Google (2026) Grow with Google, Sub-Saharan Africa: courses and tools. Available at: https://grow.google/intl/ssa-en/ (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
HP LIFE (2026) Free business and IT courses. Available at: https://www.life-global.org (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Khan Academy (2026) Free online courses, lessons and practice. Available at: https://www.khanacademy.org (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Microsoft (2022) Microsoft and LinkedIn launch a program to help 10 million people learn digital skills. Available at: https://news.microsoft.com/en-cee/2022/11/29/microsoft-and-linkedin-launch-a-program-to-help-10-million-people (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Microsoft (2025) Microsoft Essentials Professional Certificate process overview. Available at: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/microsoft-essentials-professional-certificate-process-overview (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
The Open University (2026) OpenLearn: free learning from The Open University. Available at: https://www.open.edu/openlearn (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
South African Qualifications Authority (2026) Search registered qualifications. Available at: https://www.saqa.co.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
YALI Network (2026) Free online courses for young African leaders. Available at: https://yali.state.gov (Accessed: 2 September 2026).

07/09/2026

How South African Businesses and Freelancers Use Reports and Tenders to Grow

Starting or growing a business in South Africa is difficult. You do not need expensive consultants. You need the right information. Government reports, sector plans, and public tenders are all available for free. This guide shows you where to find them and how to use them.

Institutions that help for free

Institution	What you get	Website
SEDA	Free business advice, mentoring and business plan support	seda.org.za
sefa	Small business finance information and applications	sefa.org.za
NEF	Funding support for black-owned businesses	nefcorp.co.za
the DTIC	Incentive programmes for manufacturers and exporters	thedtic.gov.za
Provincial agencies	Development finance close to home, like Ithala in KwaZulu-Natal	ithala.co.za

Book a SEDA session before you pay anyone for a business plan. Their advisors work with township and rural businesses every day, and the service does not cost you a cent.

Why Official Reports Matter

Many entrepreneurs rely on guesswork. Real growth comes from verified data. South African institutions publish regular reports that show which sectors are growing, where shortages exist, and what funding or contracts are available.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) publishes the General Household Survey and business statistics.
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) releases sector strategies.
Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) publish annual sector skills plans.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) releases ICT sector reports.

These are not hidden. They are public. You only need to know where to click.

Business Development Institutions You Should Know

South Africa has a network of institutions designed to support business growth. You do not need to pay for private coaching if these free resources meet your needs first.

Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA): Offers business plans, training, and registration support. Visit www.seda.org.za.
National Youth Development Agency (NYDA): Provides grants and business support for young entrepreneurs. Visit www.nyda.gov.za.
Local Economic Development (LED) offices at municipal level: Many offer free workshops and links to local tenders.
Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs): Registered providers that assist with business plans and funding applications.

Always start with the free option. If you want private consulting, it costs R500 to R3,000 per session. That is optional.

Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) Explained

Every municipality in South Africa must publish an Integrated Development Plan (IDP). This plan shows the local government’s priorities for the next five years. It lists infrastructure projects, economic development targets, and community service needs.

Find your municipality’s IDP at www.gov.za/documents/integrated-development-plans or on your local council website.
Look for sections on local economic development and procurement.
Match your business skills to the gaps listed. For example, if the IDP mentions a need for digital literacy training, you can offer that service.

IDPs are updated yearly. Check them each January.

How to Use White Papers and Sector Reports

A white paper is a detailed report from a company or government body on a specific issue. Large South African companies like banks, telecommunications firms, and mining groups publish these. They describe market trends, technology changes, and investment directions.

Banking: Standard Bank and Absa publish economic reports. Visit their websites under ‘Research’.
Telecommunications: MTN and Vodacom publish digital inclusion and data usage reports.
Mining and manufacturing: The Minerals Council and Manufacturing Circle release annual sector reports.

These reports help you decide which services to offer and which clients to target. You do not need to read every page. Read the summary and look at the charts.

CSD Tenders and RFQs

Government buys through open processes, and the entry points cost nothing.

Register free on the Central Supplier Database at secure.csd.gov.za. You receive a MAAA registration number that government buyers use to find you.
Register on eTenders at etenders.gov.za for free alerts when tenders open in your field.
Watch for RFQs. A request for quotation is a small job priced by three or more suppliers. It is the small-business door into public work, and it moves faster than a full tender.

Prepare four things before you register: a business bank account, a SARS tax reference with a Tax Compliance Status pin from SARS eFiling, a sworn B-BBEE affidavit, and company documents if you have them. The affidavit is free at any police station for businesses with turnover under R10 million.

The scoring rewards that affidavit. Government tenders up to R1 million are scored 80% on price and 20% on B-BBEE level under the preference point system in the procurement rules. A strong B-BBEE level can lift a bid over a cheaper rival, and the affidavit that earns those points costs you nothing.

A company registration through BizPortal costs R125 without a name or R175 with a name. A sole proprietor needs no CIPC registration at all. Free comes first here too: start as a sole proprietor and register the company when growth asks for it.

Sector Trends to Watch in KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal has specific growth sectors that align with critical skills and government priorities.

Agriculture and agro-processing: The KZN Department of Agriculture publishes strategic plans each year.
Tourism and hospitality: Post-pandemic recovery continues. Check the KZN Department of Economic Development reports.
Digital services: More businesses need basic IT support, website building, and social media management.
Green economy: The South African Renewable Energy sector is growing. Look for small-scale installation and maintenance contracts.

Align your skills with these trends. Use the AK035 career guidance tool to check which roles match your abilities before you invest time in a course.

A Simple Action Plan

1. Register on the Central Supplier Database (free).

2. Download your municipality’s latest IDP.

3. Read one sector report from Stats SA or DTIC.

4. Check the e-Tender portal once a week for RFQs in your field.

5. Visit AK035.co.za and use the career guidance tool to confirm your skills match these opportunities.

Turn reading into revenue

Check your SETA’s scarce skills list when you plan staff training, and ask SEDA about funding support for it.

Circle every project in the IDP within 20 km of you, then match each one to what you sell.

Set a monthly alert on eTenders for your product category and check it on the same day each month.

Read the latest CPI release before you set your yearly prices.

Pick two bank reports a year. Write down one gap in each that your business can fill.

Your checklist

Download your municipality’s latest IDP and mark the projects near you.
Register for free on secure.csd.gov.za and save your MAAA number.
Register on etenders.gov.za for tender alerts in your field.
Get your Tax Compliance Status PIN on SARS eFiling.
Sign a sworn B-BBEE affidavit at your nearest police station.
Book a free session with SEDA.
Follow one Stats SA release and one bank economic report.
Share this guide with a business owner who complains about slow months.

Public information rewards the businesses that read it. Share this post with your business group and anyone who sells a service. Free career and business tools live at ak035.co.za.

References

AK035 (2026) Abridged Knowledge 035: free career and business tools for South Africans. Available at: https://ak035.co.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Central Supplier Database (2026) Register as a government supplier. Available at: https://secure.csd.gov.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
CIPC (2026) BizPortal: company registration and business services. Available at: https://www.bizportal.gov.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (2026) Incentive programmes. Available at: https://www.thedtic.gov.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
eTenders (2026) Published tender notices and awards. Available at: https://www.etenders.gov.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Ithala Development Finance Corporation (2026) Business finance in KwaZulu-Natal. Available at: https://www.ithala.co.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
National Empowerment Fund (2026) Funding for black-owned businesses. Available at: https://www.nefcorp.co.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Republic of South Africa (2000) Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000. Available at: https://www.gov.za/documents/local-government-municipal-systems-act (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Republic of South Africa (2000) Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act 5 of 2000. Available at: https://www.gov.za/documents/preferential-procurement-policy-framework-act (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
SARS (2026) eFiling and Tax Compliance Status. Available at: https://www.sars.gov.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Small Enterprise Development Agency (2026) Free business advice and mentoring. Available at: https://www.seda.org.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Small Enterprise Finance Agency (2026) Small business finance. Available at: https://www.sefa.org.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).
Statistics South Africa (2026) Consumer Price Index, GDP and labour market releases. Available at: https://www.statssa.gov.za (Accessed: 2 September 2026).

Quick website list

https://ak035.co.za

https://secure.csd.gov.za

https://www.etenders.gov.za

https://www.seda.org.za

https://www.sefa.org.za

https://www.nefcorp.co.za

https://www.thedtic.gov.za

https://www.ithala.co.za

https://www.sars.gov.za

https://www.bizportal.gov.za

https://www.statssa.gov.za

07/09/2026

From School to Professional: A South African Student Guide to Industry Knowledge

A qualification tells employers you can study. It does not tell them you understand how your industry actually works.

Every year, thousands of South African graduates walk off campus with a certificate in hand and no idea who the major players in their sector are. They cannot name the SETA that governs their field. They have never heard of the National Career Advice Portal. They do not know which professional body they should belong to.

This guide fixes that. It covers the free tools and organisations that connect your qualification to the real world. You do not need money for most of it. You need data and a phone.

Understand SETAs and What They Reveal About Skill Shortages

Sector Education and Training Authorities, or SETAs, are the government bodies that connect training to what industries actually need. South Africa has 21 of them. Each one covers a different part of the economy.

SETAs track skills shortages in their sectors through Workplace Skills Plans, which employers submit every year. These plans list the skills that businesses cannot find in the job market. If you know which SETA covers your industry, you can look up what skills that sector is desperate for.

The Department of Higher Education and Training maintains the official SETA directory with contact details and websites. The table below lists all 21 SETAs, their full names, and the sectors they cover.

Acronym	Full Name	Sector
AgriSETA	Agricultural Sector Education and Training Authority	Agriculture, forestry, fisheries
BANKSETA	Banking Sector Education and Training Authority	Banking and financial services
CATHSSETA	Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport SETA	Tourism, hospitality, sport, conservation, gaming, arts, culture
CETA	Construction Education and Training Authority	Construction, built environment
CHIETA	Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority	Chemical industries, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, plastics
ETDP SETA	Education, Training and Development Practices SETA	Education, training and development
EWSETA	Energy and Water SETA	Energy, water, gas, nuclear, renewable energy
FASSET	Finance and Accounting Services SETA	Finance, accounting, auditing, business services
FoodBev SETA	Food and Beverage Manufacturing SETA	Food and beverage manufacturing
FP&M SETA	Fibre Processing and Manufacturing SETA	Forestry, paper, pulp, printing, clothing, textiles, leather
HWSETA	Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority	Health, social development, veterinary
INSETA	Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority	Insurance and related services
LGSETA	Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority	Local government
MICT SETA	Media, Information and Communication Technologies SETA	Media, information technology, communication
MQA	Mining Qualifications Authority	Mining and minerals
merSETA	Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA	Manufacturing, engineering, motor, metals
PSETA	Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority	Public service
SASSETA	Safety and Security SETA	Safety, security, legal, justice
Services SETA	Services Sector Education and Training Authority	Personal services, business services
TETA	Transport Education and Training Authority	Transport, logistics, freight
W&RSETA	Wholesale and Retail SETA	Wholesale and retail

Visit the official DHET SETA directory for contact details and websites.

Join a Professional Body

Professional bodies are organisations that represent a specific career field. They set standards, offer training, and connect members to jobs and mentors. The South African Qualifications Authority, or SAQA, recognises over 100 professional bodies. These range from statutory bodies you must register with by law to voluntary associations you join to build your network.

Here are examples of SAQA-recognised professional bodies:

Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA): Statutory body for health practitioners. You must register to practise.
Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA): Statutory body for engineers. Registration is required to work as a professional engineer.
South African Council for Educators (SACE): Statutory body for teachers. All public school teachers must register.
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA): Voluntary body for chartered accountants. Student registration costs around R360, with annual subscriptions around R1 777.
South African Board for People Practices (SABPP): Voluntary body for HR practitioners. Student membership at some universities costs R200 once-off.
Actuarial Society of South Africa: You must register as a student member before writing exams.
Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA): Voluntary body for IT professionals.

Visit the SAQA professional bodies register to search for your field.

Some bodies are free for students. Others charge small fees. Statutory bodies cost more but are not optional if you want to work in that field.

Use Your Lecturers, Professors, and Demonstrators

Your lecturers and professors are not just there to mark your tests. They have industry connections. They know which companies hire graduates. They sit on panels with professionals in your field.

Demonstrators, the postgraduate students who run tutorials and lab sessions, are often closer to industry than you think. Many of them consult part-time. Some have worked in industry before returning to study.

Here is how to use these relationships:

Ask your lecturer which professional body they belong to. They will know the costs and the benefits.
Ask a demonstrator where they worked before coming back to university. They might connect you to their former employer.
Attend departmental seminars and guest lectures. These are free. Industry professionals often speak at them.
Ask about research projects that involve industry partners. Joining one gives you direct exposure.

You do not need to be the top student to ask these questions. You need to show interest. Lecturers remember students who ask about the industry, not just about the exam.

Use LinkedIn to Reach Industry

LinkedIn is a professional networking platform. Over 50% of South African professionals use it to network with peers and potential clients.

Start by searching for alumni from your university who work in your target industry. Search for “[Your University] + [Industry]” and filter by location if you are focusing on specific cities. Groups like “Young Professionals South Africa” or industry-specific communities create opportunities to participate in discussions.

When you send a connection request, write a short personalised message. Do not just click “Connect.” Say who you are, what you study, and why you want to connect. Keep it under 300 characters.

Example: “Hi [Name], I am a final-year [your degree] student at [university]. I saw you also studied here and now work in [industry]. I would appreciate any advice you can share about entering the field. Thank you.”

Most people will not reply. Some will. One reply can change your career.

CareerHelp and the National Career Advice Portal

The Department of Higher Education and Training runs Career Development Services. This includes a website at careerhelp.org.za and a portal called the National Career Advice Portal at ncap.careerhelp.org.za.

NCAP is free. It offers assessments that help you understand your interests, abilities, and values. It shows you learning pathways for different occupations and where you can study.

You can also contact the national career helpline. The number is 086 999 0123. You can SMS 072 204 5056. Email careerhelp@dhet.gov.za. The service runs Monday to Friday.

Where to Find Free Wi-Fi

Data costs money. Here are places where you can use free Wi-Fi:

Public libraries. Most municipal libraries offer free Wi-Fi during opening hours.
Government offices. DHET walk-in centres and some Home Affairs offices have free Wi-Fi.
University campuses. Many campus libraries remain accessible to alumni for a period. Ask at the front desk.
Some malls and fast-food outlets. Check whether the Wi-Fi is truly free before connecting.

Your Checklist

Find your SETA in the table above. Visit its website. Look for the Sector Skills Plan.
Search SAQA for your professional body. Check student membership costs.
Talk to one lecturer or demonstrator this week about industry connections.
Create a LinkedIn profile. Search for alumni in your field. Send one personalised connection request.
Register on NCAP at ncap.careerhelp.org.za.
Take the AK035 career guide assessment at https://ak035.co.za/ocg035/.
Share this guide with someone who is still studying.

Share This With Someone Who Needs It

Send this to a matriculant, a varsity student, or a graduate who is still figuring out how their qualification connects to the job market. The information is free. The only cost is the data to read it.

AK035 has free CV tools, career guidance tools, and job-searching resources for South Africans. Visit ak035.co.za to access everything in one place.

Reference List

Department of Higher Education and Training. (no date) SETA Links. Available at: https://www.dhet.gov.za/SitePages/SETALinks.aspx

Department of Higher Education and Training. (2018) Statistics on Post-School Education and Training in South Africa 2018. Available at: https://www.dhet.gov.za

Navyblue. (2026) All 21 SETAs in South Africa. Available at: https://www.navyblue.co.za/seta

SAQA. (2026) Professional Bodies. Available at: https://www.saqa.org.za/professional-bodies

SAQA. (2026) SAQA Professional Body Review. Available at: https://saqa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/761_SAQA-PB-Review.pdf

Youthscope. (2026) 21 SETAs in South Africa: Find the One Linked to Your Career. Available at: https://www.youthscope.co.za/21-setas-south-africa-2026-2027/

07/09/2026

AK035 Q2 2026 Report: How South Africans Used Free Career Tools in the 2nd Quarter 2026
The Pulse: Who and What

Users choose active CV building over passive review by a ratio of 1.4 to one. People did not want to sit back and receive feedback. They wanted to act. They wanted to change something and move forward.

Platform Usage Snapshot
- Total page views: 5,867
- Total impressions: 12,836
- Total clicks: 310
- Users hit “improve” and “tailor” more than “review” when it comes to CV tools
- Peak traffic month: June with 2,347 page views
- Device breakdown: High-end mobile devices drove 4,754 page views and 294 clicks. Desktop followed with 1,090 page views. Tablets recorded 23 page views.
Platform Traffic Overview

Derived from AdSense data for Q2 2026:

Month Page Views Impressions Clicks
April 1,651 1,976 91
May 1,869 4,517 104
June 2,347 6,343 115
Total 5,867 12,836 310

Monthly trend: Traffic increased each month. June recorded the highest page views (2,347) and impressions (6,343). April was the quietest month, which is expected as the quarter began.

Peak traffic days: The data does not include specific peak traffic dates.

Active View Viewable rate: The platform achieved a 0.606 Active View Viewable rate for South African traffic. This means about 60% of displayed ads were actually viewable to users.

User Input Aggregate for career guidance
- 24 profile completions were tracked on the career guidance tool between May 27 and June 22.
- Gauteng led with 12 users. Western Cape followed with 3 users. North West and KwaZulu-Natal contributed 2 users each.
- Top qualifications cited: Certificate (6), Diploma (5), Bachelor’s Degree (5).
- Bottom qualifications: Honours Degree (1), Master’s Degree (1), Grade 11 (1).
- Gauteng users hold more certificates and diplomas. Degree-level qualifications appear less frequently on the platform.
Education levels among users:

Qualification Number of Users
Certificate 6
Diploma 5
Bachelor’s Degree 5
Grade 12 / Matric 2
Honours Degree 1
Master’s Degree 1
Grade 11 1

The job search reality: 8 users had been looking for work for 3 to 6 months. 5 users had been searching for more than two years. That is a long time to face rejection or silence.

Work preferences:
- Office-Based: 14 users
- Willing to Relocate: 14 users
- Remote Work: 13 users
- Hybrid Work: 12 users
- Willing to start a business: 6 users
Field Note: Thirteen users reported getting no responses from employers. Half of these users hold diplomas or certificates. One might assume their qualifications are the problem, but the data do not show skill gaps. The real issue lies in how they present their existing skills. This frustration drives demand for active CV revamps.

The Breakdown: Where, When and Why

Regional Engagement Map for CV Tools
- City of Johannesburg: 80 tool interactions, leading all districts.
- City of Ekurhuleni: 44 interactions, showing strong Gauteng presence.
- City of Tshwane: 41 interactions.
- Gauteng municipalities accounted for 165 tracked interactions. KwaZulu-Natal municipalities followed with 51 interactions.
- School names remain unavailable. Towns and districts serve as location markers. Province data comes from user profiles only.
Traffic and Behaviour Log
- May 5 recorded 50 backend requests, making it the highest single day for backend activity.
- June recorded the highest frontend traffic with 2,347 page views.
- May followed with 1,869 page views.
- April was the quietest month for page views, with 1,651.
- Time-of-day breakdown is unavailable.
CV Tool Usage Breakdown
- “Improve” (CV revamp): 118 requests
- “Review” (CV feedback): 154 requests
- “Tailor” (CV customisation): 87 requests
- “Create” (new CV): 16 requests
- CV tools combined (improve, tailor, create): 221 requests
- “Review” standalone: 154 requests
- Ratio of active CV tools to review: 1.4 to one, meaning people did not want to sit back and receive feedback. They wanted to act. They wanted to change something and move forward.
- Backend requests confirm the CV tool handled 391 requests. The cover letter and email tool handled 32 requests. The career guidance tool processed 3 requests.
- “Review” may function as a CV review rather than pure career guidance.
Top districts by CV tool interactions:

District Tool Interactions
City of Johannesburg 80
City of Ekurhuleni 44
City of Tshwane 41
City of eThekwini 26
West Rand 11
King Cetshwayo 10
City of Cape Town 9
Unknown 9
Ugu 6

What stands out: Gauteng dominates platform usage. The province accounted for the highest number of both user registrations and tool interactions. This matches the province’s large population and high job-seeking activity.

Note: School and town names were not available in the data. Tracking used districts and municipalities instead.

What CV Tools Users Told Us

Feedback entries received: 38

Ratings breakdown:

Rating Number of Entries
5 stars 31
4 stars 4
3 stars 2
2 stars 0
No rating 1

Average rating: 4.86 out of 5

User Satisfaction
- 31 five-star ratings, 4 four-star ratings, 2 three-star ratings.
- 4 reviews included written feedback.
- Lower ratings lack comments. The data cannot explain the reasons behind them.
Feedback by tool type:

Tool Type Feedback Entries
Improve 13
Review 12
Create 4
Tailor 2

Written reviews (4 entries):

“Very easy to use, fast and reliable results. I’m happy” – Ehlanzeni

“Midrand, Halfway-Gardens” – City of Johannesburg

“Nothing like this.” – City of eThekwini

“The service is good” – Zululand

District feedback breakdown: The City of Johannesburg led with 14 entries. City of Ekurhuleni and City of eThekwini each had 3 entries. 10 entries had a blank district field.

Sessions with lower ratings: 6 sessions received ratings of 4 stars or lower. These were spread across 4-star (3 sessions) and 3-star (3 sessions) ratings. No 2-star or 1-star ratings were recorded.

What this tells us is that users are generally satisfied. The high 5-star rating suggests the tools are meeting expectations. However, the written feedback is limited in detail. We cannot fully explain the lower ratings without more written comments.

Who Filled Out Career Guidance Profiles

Twenty-four people completed the career guidance profile between 27 May and 22 June 2026. That is roughly one new profile per day. The tracking started late, so this number only captures the final four weeks of the quarter.

User Input Aggregate:
- 24 profile completions tracked this quarter
- Gauteng led with 12 users (50.0%)
- Western Cape followed with 3 users (12.5%)
- North West and KwaZulu-Natal each contributed 2 users (8.3% each)
- Free State and Limpopo each contributed 1 user
- Top qualifications cited: Certificate (6 users), Diploma (5 users), Bachelor’s Degree (5 users)
- Bottom qualifications: Grade 11 (1 user), Master’s Degree (1 user), Honours Degree (1 user)
- 2 users cited grade 12 or Matric
- Gauteng users hold more certificates and diplomas. Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal users show more degree-level qualifications.
API vs Frontend Gap
- Backend requests tracked: 428 total across the quarter.
- Frontend tool interactions tracked: 461 total across Q2.
- API log for the career guidance tool covers May 27 to June 22 only.
- Usage logs cover the full Q2 period.
- These systems track different actions. Do not add them together.
The AK035 CV Tool accounts for 96.5% of all backend spend and requests. Cover letter drafting is the secondary use case, with the Career Guidance Tool making minimal impact on backend activity.

Research Output

Do users prefer to build new CVs or improve existing ones?
Users choose “Improve” (118 requests) over “Create” (16 requests) by a ratio of more than 7 to 1. People already have CVs. They want to fix what they have, not start from scratch.

Which province drives platform activity?
Gauteng users account for the highest number of career guide users (12 out of 24) and the most CV tools interactions (City of Johannesburg alone had 80). The province is our primary audience.

Are users satisfied with the tools?
Average rating of 4.86 out of 5 across 38 feedback entries suggests strong satisfaction. Written reviews describe the tools as “easy to use” and “good.”

Is the Career Guidance Tool being used?
Minimal use. This tool has not gained traction compared to the CV tools.

What is the gap between frontend and backend activity?
Frontend usage logs show 463 entries, while backend API logs show 428 requests. These are different systems measuring different activities. The numbers cannot be compared directly.

Do users prefer to build new CVs or improve existing ones?
Data shows “improve” and “tailor” together outnumber “create” by 12.8 to one. Assuming users want to start from scratch ignores that most job seekers already have a document they are trying to fix.

Can we trust the 24 career guidance profiles to represent all users?
No. These 24 users self-selected into a specific tool. Their education levels and job search durations do not necessarily reflect the broader audience of 5,867 page views.

What is the biggest frustration for job seekers?
Thirteen users report getting no responses from employers.

Are people finding jobs quickly?
Eight users searched for 3 to 6 months. Five users searched for over 2 years.

How do users access the platform?
High-end mobile devices generate 81% of page views. Assuming all users have low-end devices is wrong. They use capable phones but still need free, simple tools.

Do users want to move for work?
Fourteen users will relocate. Fourteen users prefer office-based work. Thirteen users want remote work.

Areas for Next Quarter
1. Encourage more written feedback.
  Owner: Lungelo Shandu. Target: Increase written review count from 4 to at least 15 entries by end of Q3 2026. Add a prompt after tool use asking users: “What worked well? What could be better?”
2. Promote the Career Guidance Tool.
  Owner: Lungelo Shandu. Target: Increase tool usage from 3 to 15 requests by end of Q3 2026. Create a short explainer video showing how the tool helps with career decisions. Test a simple landing page that explains what the tool offers.
3. Strengthen Gauteng engagement.
  Owner: Lungelo Shandu. Target: Partner with 3 community organisations in Gauteng to introduce the tools to job seekers who may not find the platform organically. Measure referral traffic and tool usage from these partnerships.
4. Capture feedback reasons for lower ratings.
  Owner: Lungelo Shandu. Target: Add an optional text field for all ratings under 5 stars by August 31.
5. Close the data gap between frontend usage logs and backend API tracking.
  Owner: Lungelo Shandu. Target: Align both systems to capture 100% of tool interactions from day one of Q3.
Data Notes
- Report period: Q2 2026 (April, May, June)
- Data sources: phpMyAdmin, AdSense and OpenRouter
- API usage logs and usage_logs are separate systems. API tracks backend request counts by date. Usage logs track frontend tool interactions by session and district. These numbers cannot be combined.
- School names and town names were not available. District and municipality data were used instead.
- Excluded from this report: AI model names, provider details, and revenue figures.
- Backend figures and other stats will mismatch due to the difference in input tracking from tools, and reports are based on final figures and outputs.
Visit our main page for our CV tools, online career guidance and job-seeking resources: ak035.co.za

View our reports: ak035.co.za/reports
03/07/2026
South African Recruitment Agencies: Where To Send Your CV (2026)
Looking for a job in South Africa is tough. The unemployment rate was 31.9% in the third quarter of 2025. For young people aged 15 to 24, it is even higher at 58.5%.

That means many people are competing for every opening. You need every advantage you can get.

One of the smartest things you can do is send your CV directly to recruitment agencies. These are companies that help employers find workers. They do the searching so you do not have to.

The best part? It costs you nothing to send your CV to them.

A big shoutout to HR Admin Esther M. This list is based on a LinkedIn post she shared to help job seekers. You can view her original post and connect with her here: Esther M. on LinkedIn. She put this list together so people like you could find opportunities without paying for expensive services.

How To Use This List

This list has 36 recruitment agencies in South Africa. They cover construction, engineering, mining, hospitality, admin, general work and technical jobs.

Here is what you do:
1. Pick the agencies that match the kind of work you want.
2. Write a short email. Put “Application For Possible Employment” or the job title you want in the subject line.
3. Attach your CV. If you do not have one, AK035 has a free CV builder tool to help you.
4. Send your email to the addresses below.
A quick warning: Some of these agencies might ask you to apply through their website instead. If the email bounces back, check their website for other contact options. Some agencies have different email addresses for different types of jobs.

Construction & Engineering Agencies

Built Recruitment
Email: john@built.co.za
Website: built.co.za

Construct Executive Search
Email: admin@constructexec.co.za
Website: constructexec.co.za

Construct Recruit
Email: contact@constructrecruit.co.za
Website: constructrecruit.co.za

Construction Recruitment
Email: info@constructionrecruitment.co.za
Website: constructionrecruitment.co.za

MC Technology Staffing
Email: recruitment@mcstaffing.co.za
Website: mcstaffing.co.za

Worxs4u Recruitment
Email: info@worxs4u.co.za
Website: worxs4u.co.za

Surge Staffing
Email: info@surgestaff.co.za
Website: surgestaff.co.za

Execz Recruitment
Email: info@execz.co.za
Website: execz.co.za

Phakisa
Email: info@phakisa.co.za
Website: phakisaholdings.co.za

Aurex Constructors
Email: info@aurex.co.za
Website: aurex.com

Mass Staffing Projects
Email: info@massstaffing.co.za
Website: staffingprojects.co.za

RPO Recruitment
Email: info@rpo-recruit.za.com
Website: rporecruitment.co.za

Tumaini Consulting
Email: info@tumaini.co.za
Website: tumaini.co.za

Hire Resolve
Email: info@hireresolve.us
Website: hireresolve.co.za

Goldman Tech
Email: info@goldmantech.co.za
Website: goldmantech.co.za

MSP Staffing
Email: info@mspstaffing.co.za
Website: mspstaffingza.co

TRS Staffing Solutions
Email: africa@trsstaffing.com
Website: trsstaffing.com

SFG Engineering
Email: info@sfgengineering.co.za
Website: sfgengineering.co.za

E&D Recruiters
Email: admin@edrecruiters.com
Website: edrecruiters.co.za

General & Specialist Agencies

Emporium Human Capital
Email: jobs@emporium.co.za (or hospitality@emporium.co.za for hospitality jobs)
Website: emporium.co.za

The Vine Partners
Email: ruan@thevinepartners.co.za
Website: thevinepartners.co.za

Network Recruitment
Email: info@networkrecruitment.co.za
Website: networkrecruitment.co.za

Fempower
Email: info@fempower.co.za
Website: fempowerpersonnel.com

Talent Evolution
Email: info@talentevolution.co.za
Website: talentevo.co.za

Placement Point
Email: info@placementpoint.co.za
Website: placementpoint.co.za

O’Brien Recruitment
Email: info@obr.co.za
Website: obr.co.za

CA Support
Email: info@casupport.co.za
Website: casupport.co.za

RedCat Recruitment
Email: admin@redcatrecruitment.co.za
Website: redcatrecruitment.co.za

Top Talent
Email: info@toptalent.co.za
Website: toptalentps.co.za

Key Recruitment
Email: info@keyrecruitment.co.za
Website: keyrecruitment.co.za

Latitude Resource
Email: info@latituderesource.co.za
Website: latitude-resource.co.za

West Coast Personnel
Email: jobs@wcpersonnel.co.za
Website: westcoastpersonnel.co.za

Express Employment
Email: jobs@expresspros.co.za
Website: expresspros.co.za

Time Personnel
Email: info@timepersonnel.co.za
Website: timepersonnel.co.za

People Dimension
Email: info@peopledimension.co.za
Website: peopledimension.co.za

Communicate Recruitment
Email: info@communicate.co.za
Website: communicate.co.za

Before You Send Your CV

Check your CV. Make sure your contact details are correct. If your CV needs work, use the free CV tools on AK035.co.za. We have a CV builder, career guidance tools and job searching resources, all completely free.

Use free Wi-Fi. If you do not have data, visit a public library. Many libraries in South Africa offer free Wi-Fi. In Johannesburg, 36 public libraries have free Wi-Fi through Wits University. You can also check your local library to see if they offer free internet.

Keep it simple. You do not need a fancy email. Just be polite and clear. Tell them what kind of work you are looking for and attach your CV.

Checklist
- Choose 5 to 10 agencies from the list that match your skills
- Update your CV with your current contact details
- Write a short email with a clear subject line
- Attach your CV (PDF works best)
- Send your email
- Wait for a response. If you do not hear back in two weeks, follow up or send to more agencies
Share this with someone who needs a job. Finding work is hard enough. Help a friend or family member by sending them this list. The more people know about these agencies, the better their chances.

Need help with your CV? Visit AK035.co.za for free CV tools, career guidance and job searching resources. Everything is free. Everything is built for South Africans.

References

M., E. 2026. Recruitment Agencies South Africa List. LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7473816626073759744/ [Accessed 19 June 2026].

Statistics South Africa. (2025). Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) – Q3:2025. Available at: https://www.statssa.gov.za [Accessed 19 June 2026].

Statistics South Africa. (2025). Beyond the Unemployment Rate: A Broader Look at Labour Underutilisation. Available at: https://www.statssa.gov.za [Accessed 19 June 2026].

Wits University. (2025). Wits enables free Wi-Fi at public libraries in Jozi. Available at: https://www.wits.ac.za [Accessed 19 June 2026].
19/06/2026
Make Money Online in South Africa: 12 Platforms That Actually Pay
These platforms are not get-rich-quick schemes. They take time and consistency. But they are real, and South Africans use them every day.

Most of these platforms are free to join. Where a cost applies, it is clearly noted below.

The platforms are split into two groups. Passive platforms earn money in the background with little ongoing effort. Active platforms pay you for tasks you complete.

All links in this post are referral links from Lungelo Shandu. When you sign up through a referral link, you and Lungelo may both receive a small bonus. If a link does not work, you need help, or you want to report one of the links, email lungelo@ak035.co.za.

Passive Income Platforms

Set these up once and let them run. They work best with a stable Wi-Fi connection.

Share Your Internet Connection and Get Paid

Three platforms below pay you to share your unused internet bandwidth. Companies pay to access this shared data for checking website prices, testing apps, and gathering online information. You earn while doing nothing extra.

Important: Run a maximum of two of these apps on the same network at any one time. Good pairings are EarnApp + Honeygain or EarnApp + Pawns.app. Running all three on one connection at the same time reduces your earnings and may slow your internet.

EarnApp

Who is it for? Anyone with a phone, laptop, or tablet and a stable internet connection. It works in South Africa.

What does it do? It runs quietly in the background and shares your unused internet connection with paying clients. You earn in US dollars for every gigabyte shared.

Where do you sign up? Here: earnapp

Why use it? It is transparent about how your data is used and is one of the most widely trusted bandwidth-sharing platforms available.

Honeygain

Who is it for? South Africans with home Wi-Fi or a data-rich mobile plan.

What does it do? It pays you for sharing your internet connection in the background. You receive a $2 starter gift when you join through the referral link.

Where do you sign up? Here: honeygain

Why use it? The $2 bonus puts money in your account from day one. You can install it on more than one device to increase your earnings.

Pawns.app

Who is it for? Anyone with a smartphone and a valid email address.

What does it do? It shares your unused bandwidth and pays you for completing surveys. Signing up with the referral link adds $1 instantly to your balance. You also get a $1 boost on your first and second withdrawals.

Where do you sign up? Download from Google Play or the App Store. Referral link: Pawns.app

Why use it? You earn from two sources at once: bandwidth sharing and surveys. The sign-up bonus gives you a running start.

Sweatcoin

Who is it for? Anyone who walks. No gym, no equipment, no special fitness level required.

What does it do? It uses your phone to count your steps and converts them into Sweatcoins, a digital currency. You redeem these for products, vouchers, or cash. If you have an online following, you can apply to become a Sweatcoin Influencer and earn more.

Where do you sign up? Here: Sweatcoin

Why use it? Your daily walk already earns you nothing. Sweatcoin changes that without any extra effort.

EasyEquities

Who is it for? South Africans who want to invest but do not have much money to start. You can begin with as little as R5.

What does it do? It lets you buy shares in South African and international companies. Over 2 million investors have already joined.

Lungelo personally uses Money Markets (also called unit trusts) and ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). A Money Market is a type of investment fund that keeps your starting amount safe while earning a small return. It can also pay a monthly income if you select the right one. An ETF is a basket of different company shares bought as one investment, which spreads your risk automatically.

Where do you sign up? Here: EasyEquities. You receive R50 on registration. (Terms and conditions apply.)

Why use it? It is regulated by the FSCA (Financial Sector Conduct Authority), South Africa’s financial regulator. EasyEquities makes investing accessible to ordinary South Africans without high broker fees.

Important: Speak to an accredited financial adviser before you invest. Investments carry risk. Never put in money you cannot afford to lose.

Active Income Platforms

These platforms pay you for completing tasks. The more you do, the more you earn.

PaidWork

Who is it for? Anyone with a phone who wants extra income. Lungelo highly recommends this platform for people who are unemployed.

What does it do? It offers six types of earning tasks, including watching adverts, completing surveys, testing apps, and more. You pick what suits your time and device.

Where do you sign up? Here: PaidWork

Why use it? Six different task types mean six different ways to earn. You are never limited to one method.

Clickworker

Who is it for? Anyone with a phone or computer who wants flexible extra income with no fixed hours.

What does it do? It pays you to complete small online tasks, including taking photos, recording your voice, testing apps, and completing surveys. You choose when and for how long you work.

Where do you sign up? Here: Clickworker

Why use it? Thousands already use Clickworker as a regular side income. You set your own schedule.

TaskPulse

Who is it for? Anyone who uses social media and wants to earn from simple online tasks.

What does it do? It connects advertisers with real people who complete tasks like visiting websites, following social media pages, or testing online content. You earn for every valid task completed.

Where do you sign up? Here: TaskPulse

Why use it? Every task is done by a real person, not a bot. Real effort earns real rewards.

Snap n Save

Who is it for? Anyone who shops at South African supermarkets or retail stores.

What does it do? You photograph your till slip (receipt) and upload it to the app. You earn cashback or rewards on qualifying purchases. Free to download.

Where do you sign up? Here: Snapnsave

Why use it? You are already shopping. A quick photo of your receipt earns you something back at no extra cost.

RouteNote (For Musicians)

Who is it for? South African musicians, producers, and artists who want to earn from their music.

What does it do? It distributes your music for free to Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms worldwide. It protects your music using Content ID, so others cannot use it without you being paid. RouteNote also offers Publishing Admin, which means they help you collect every royalty you are owed from every platform.

Where do you sign up? Here: Routenote

Why use it? Free global distribution with royalty protection. No upfront costs.

You should also register with SAMRO (Southern African Music Rights Organisation) and CAPASSO (Composers, Authors and Publishers Association of South Africa). These are PROs (Performing Rights Organisations) that collect money on your behalf when your music plays on the radio, TV, in shops, or in any public space.
- Register with SAMRO at: Samro
- Register with CAPASSO at: Caapasso
Note: Do not upload AI-generated music. Platforms will remove it.

Tools to Build Long-Term Income

Webway.host

Who is it for? Students, small business owners, bloggers, photographers, or anyone who wants an online presence.

What does it do? It lets you register a website name (called a domain) and get affordable hosting. You can build a personal portfolio, an online shop, or a blog without any programming background. You learn as you go.

Where do you sign up? Here: Webway.host

Why use it? A website is a long-term asset. It can earn money through adverts, product sales, or services for years after you build it. You can even build them for others.

Note: Domain registration and hosting are paid services. Visit the site for current pricing options.

Alison

Who is it for? Anyone who wants to learn a new skill, strengthen their CV, or move into a new career.

What does it do? It gives you access to thousands of free online courses covering IT, business, health, languages, and more. The Alison app lets you download course content on Wi-Fi and study later without using data. Finishing a course gives you a free Learner Record as proof of completion. Certificates and Diplomas are paid. The learning itself is always free.

Where do you sign up? Here: Alison

Why use it? Skills open doors to better income. Alison removes the cost barrier so anyone can learn.

Your Quick-Start Checklist
- Download EarnApp and set it up on your phone or laptop
- Add one more bandwidth app: Honeygain OR Pawns.app (not both on the same connection)
- Download Sweatcoin and start earning from your daily walks
- Sign up on PaidWork and explore the six earning types
- Download Snap n Save before your next shopping trip
- If you make music, join RouteNote and register with SAMRO and CAPASSO
- If you want to invest, visit EasyEquities and speak to a financial adviser first
- Start a free course on Alison today
- Free Wi‑Fi spots like libraries, community centres, and some McDonald’s outlets can save your data while you download apps or complete tasks.
- Visit AK035.co.za for free CV tools, career guidance, and job searching resources built for South Africans
Share this with someone who needs it. Drop it in your WhatsApp group, post it on your timeline, or tag a friend who is looking for extra income.

All referral links are from Lungelo Shandu on behalf of AK035. For help or broken links, email lungelo@ak035.co.za.

Share this with a friend who is looking for side income. Tap your WhatsApp icon and send it now. The more South Africans who know these things, the stronger we become.

References

EarnApp (2026) EarnApp – Make Money Sharing Your Internet. Available at: https://earnapp.com/i/2cjGcBDK (Accessed: 17 June 2026).

EasyEquities (2026) EasyEquities – Invest in Shares and ETFs. Available at: http://bit.ly/2SKi8ym (Accessed: 17 June 2026).

Honeygain (2026) Honeygain – Get Paid for Unused Internet. Available at: https://join.honeygain.com/LUNGZBDB (Accessed: 17 June 2026).

Pawns.app (2026) Pawns.app – Share Internet, Earn Money. Available at: https://pawns.app/?r=523240 (Accessed: 17 June 2026).

Paidwork (2026) Paidwork – Multiple Ways to Earn Online. Available at: https://www.paidwork.com/?r=lungza7 (Accessed: 17 June 2026).

RouteNote (2026) Free Music Distribution. Available at: https://www.routenote.com/rn/referral/2f867887 (Accessed: 17 June 2026).

SnapnSave (2026) Snap Your Till Slip, Get Cash Back. Available at: https://www.snapnsave.co.za/ (Accessed: 17 June 2026).

Sweatcoin (2026) Sweatcoin – Turn Steps Into Rewards. Available at: https://swcapp.com/i/lungelo219899 (Accessed: 17 June 2026).

WebWay Host (2026) Domain and Hosting Services. Available at: https://portal.webway.host/aff.php?aff=1003 (Accessed: 17 June 2026).
17/06/2026

Month	Page Views	Impressions	Clicks
April	1,651	1,976	91
May	1,869	4,517	104
June	2,347	6,343	115
Total	5,867	12,836	310

Author: Lungelo Shandu

The Short Version

Why the Advice Conflicts

The Page Count by Career Stage

What a Page Actually Means

The Line Test

Five Things to Cut First

Four Things to Keep

How an ATS Reads a Long CV

Three Details to Leave Off a South African CV

The 20-Minute Trim

When Three Pages Earns Its Place

The Bottom Line

Check Your CV Free

Frequently Asked Questions

References

The Short Version

What the Tools Do

The Big Change: Tailoring Beat Building

Standout Problem: Too Many Words

Satisfaction: Mostly Good, But the Floor Fell

Who Is Using the Platform

Where They Come From

Career Guidance: Small but Rising

Location

Education

What They Told Us

How Long They Have Searched

What They Will Accept

The Traffic Story: One Week Carried September

Devices: Phones Rule, But Ads Suffer

Ten questions the quarter answers

What We Are Doing Next

1. Capture the District on Every Tailor Request

2. Measure the Length of Every CV

3. Test a Shorter CV Output

4. Ask Unhappy Users What Went Wrong

5. Offer Career Guidance to Repeat Tailor Users

The Bottom Line

Try the Tools

References

Website List

What ISASA is

Who the jobs suit

How to open the list on your phone

Sort these out before you apply

Where money is and is not involved

Your checklist

Share this

References

Websites used

Why your neighbourhood needs this

What AK035 gives you for free

Three packages your neighbours can afford

What you need to start

Keep your data costs down

Get your first ten clients

The five-step service process

The community service layer

Run it honestly

Grow slowly

Your checklist

References

Quick website list

Why You Must Check Your CV First

Choose the course after you know the direction

The platforms worth your data

How to start on a phone with little data

Certificates: free against paid

Three traps to skip

Your checklist

References

Institutions that help for free

Why Official Reports Matter

Business Development Institutions You Should Know

Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) Explained

How to Use White Papers and Sector Reports

CSD Tenders and RFQs

Sector Trends to Watch in KwaZulu-Natal

A Simple Action Plan