This page gives you worked work experience entries drawn from common South African jobs, showing the full entry rather than isolated bullets. It also covers the local situations that make a work history look worse on paper than it was: labour broker placements, learnerships, retrenchment and long periods of unemployment.
The Anatomy of a Work Experience Entry
Every entry has the same five parts, and the third is the one most South African CVs leave out.
- Job title, written as it would be recognised outside the company.
- Employer name and city, with dates as month and year.
- A scope line describing the employer and the size of what you handled.
- Four to six duty bullets for recent roles, two or three for older ones.
- An achievement bullet or two where you genuinely have one.
Worked Entries
Warehouse
General Worker | [Employer], Germiston | March 2022 to present
Distribution centre handling around four hundred outbound orders daily
- Offloaded and loaded an average of twelve vehicles per shift against fixed dispatch cut-offs.
- Operated counterbalance and reach truck forklifts under valid certification in a twelve-metre racking warehouse.
- Picked and packed customer orders using RF scanning with a consistently low error rate.
- Assisted with monthly cycle counts and the annual stock take.
- Maintained full attendance across a rotating three-shift pattern.
Retail
Cashier | [Employer], Cape Town | February 2021 to January 2024
High-volume supermarket, approximately eighty transactions per hour at peak
- Processed an average of one hundred and fifty transactions daily across cash, card and mobile payments.
- Balanced the till at the end of every shift with a consistent record of accuracy.
- Handled refunds, exchanges and voids within authorisation limits.
- Verified age-restricted purchases according to legal requirements.
- Trained two new cashiers on till operation and cash-up procedure.
Administration
Admin Clerk | [Employer], Durban | June 2020 to present
Professional services firm of thirty-five staff
- Captured and maintained client records on Sage, processing around two hundred entries weekly.
- Maintained physical and electronic filing systems for a department of thirty-five.
- Processed approximately two hundred supplier invoices monthly and reconciled petty cash weekly.
- Managed the shared inbox, resolving routine enquiries and escalating the remainder same day.
- Reorganised the departmental filing structure, reducing document retrieval time.
Care Work
Home-Based Care Worker | [Agency or private], Pretoria | January 2020 to March 2024
Live-out care for an elderly client with advanced dementia
- Provided all personal care including bathing, dressing and continence support, maintaining dignity throughout.
- Prompted prescribed medication according to the dispensed schedule and recorded compliance.
- Recognised and reported early signs of a urinary infection, leading to prompt treatment.
- Maintained consistent daily routines that reduced evening agitation.
- Supported the client and family through end-of-life care at home.
Driving
Delivery Driver | [Employer], Johannesburg | August 2021 to present
Multi-drop distribution across the greater Johannesburg area
- Completed an average of thirty-five multi-drop deliveries daily in a Code 10 vehicle.
- Maintained an on-time delivery rate above 95 percent across a two-year period.
- Conducted daily pre-trip and post-trip inspections and reported defects before they caused breakdowns.
- Obtained signed proof of delivery at every drop and recorded discrepancies accurately.
- Maintained an incident-free driving record throughout employment.
Handling South African Work History Situations
Labour Broker and Temporary Placements
Many workers leave these out because each was short, which creates gaps that look worse than the placements would have. Group them under one entry instead.
General Worker (various assignments) | [Labour broker name], Boksburg | 2022 to 2024
- Completed assignments at [three] warehousing and manufacturing sites through a labour broker.
- Offloaded vehicles, moved stock and assisted production staff across placements.
- Maintained full attendance on every assignment and was requested back by two sites.
That last detail, being requested back, is strong evidence and costs nothing to include when true.
Learnerships and Internships
Write these as proper entries with the same structure as a job, and name the qualification obtained. A completed learnership demonstrates both a skill and the ability to finish something, which employers value in a market where many do not.
Retrenchment
Retrenchment is not a performance issue and employers know it. Add a short note in brackets after the end date, such as role ended due to retrenchment, and move on. It closes the question before anyone has to ask, and it distinguishes retrenchment from dismissal.
Long Periods Without Work
Account for the time honestly and briefly rather than leaving a silent gap. Job seeking, studying, caring for a family member and illness are all ordinary explanations. If you did anything during the period, including short courses, volunteering or informal work, include it, since it shows the time was used.
Working in the Informal Economy
Selling goods, running a stall, doing piece work or providing a service are real work and should be described as such, with dates and duties. Ran a small informal business selling prepared food, managing stock, pricing and daily cash reconciliation describes genuine commercial responsibility.
What Makes These Entries Work
Look back at the examples and the pattern is consistent: a scope line under every title, a number in most bullets, and named systems or certifications where they exist. None of it is invented, and none of it requires an unusual career. The difference between a weak and a strong South African work experience section is almost entirely specificity.
Related Pages
For duty wording by role, see Work Experience Duties for CV.
FAQs
Should I include labour broker placements on my CV?
Yes. Group short placements under a single entry naming the broker and the types of site. They demonstrate willingness and reliability, and omitting them creates unexplained gaps that raise more questions than the placements themselves would.
How do I explain retrenchment on a CV?
Add a brief note after the end date, such as role ended due to retrenchment. It closes the question immediately and distinguishes retrenchment, which is not a performance issue, from dismissal. No further explanation is needed on the CV itself.
Does informal work count as work experience?
Yes. Trading, piece work and providing a service all involve real responsibility for stock, pricing, customers and cash. Describe it with dates and duties as you would any job, since it demonstrates capability that employers recognise.
How do I handle a long period of unemployment?
Account for it briefly and honestly rather than leaving a silent gap. Include anything you did during the period, such as short courses, volunteering, caring responsibilities or informal work, which shows the time was used rather than lost.
What is the most common mistake in a South African work experience section?
Omitting the scope line and the numbers. Most entries describe the tasks without conveying the size of the operation or the volume handled, which leaves the reader to assume the smallest plausible scale.