Before a recruiter reads a single line about your experience, they read your header. Name, contact details, location, LinkedIn — in about two seconds, they have already formed an impression of whether this application is from someone who understands the professional context they're applying into. Most people treat this section as an afterthought, typing in their phone number and email and moving on. But small details in your header can quietly disqualify you before your qualifications even come into view.
The most common problems are easy to fix once you know to look for them. An unprofessional email address — anything that isn't a clean variation of your name — signals carelessness, and international recruiters notice it immediately. Including your full physical address, including the plot number and estate name, is not just unnecessary — it wastes space and looks like a format from twenty years ago. Listing your phone number without the international dialling code (+254 for Kenya) means a recruiter in another country cannot call you even if they want to. And leaving out your LinkedIn profile, or including one that is empty and inconsistent with your CV, raises questions you don't want to raise at the first impression stage.
Then there is the location question, which matters particularly for Kenyan professionals. Many remote job postings say "location flexible" or "worldwide" but actually filter heavily by time zone or region. Your location line should read as professional and remote-ready, not as something a recruiter needs to decode. The format that works best is simply your city and country followed by a clear signal of your availability: "Nairobi, Kenya — Open to Remote" or "Mombasa, Kenya — Available GMT+3." This tells the recruiter exactly where you are and makes clear you understand that remote work means working across borders, not hiding where you're from. Legitimate remote employers have no problem hiring from Kenya — there is no need to obscure your location, and doing so would be a red flag if discovered.
What your header should contain is straightforward: your full name in a slightly larger font than the rest of the document, a professional title that matches the role you're applying for, a professional email address, your phone number with country code, your LinkedIn profile URL, and your location with a remote-ready framing. That is five or six lines of clean, accurate information. No photo, no date of birth, no marital status, no nationality. Everything a recruiter needs to contact you and nothing that invites irrelevant judgment before they've read your work history.
Three Things to Do Right Now
1. Check your email address. If it's not a straightforward variation of your name, create a new Gmail account — something like firstname.lastname@gmail.com — and update your CV and LinkedIn to match.
2. Update your phone number to include the +254 Kenya country code. If you're applying internationally, a recruiter needs to be able to call you without guessing your dialling code.
3. Rewrite your location line to read as remote-ready: "Nairobi, Kenya — Open to Remote" or your city equivalent. Clear, professional, no ambiguity.
The header is just the start — your CV has to keep delivering that same clear, professional impression all the way through. My CV Coach will show you exactly how your full CV reads to international employers, from the first line to the last.
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