How to develop your CV for a job in Europe!

Developing an application for a job in Europe

There are many points of view on what makes a good CV and this difference does vary between countries from page length through to educational summary and employment information. We have outlined the standard that international businesses expect across most of Europe…

Writing your CV

Your CV should be between 1- 3 pages long 

Write your CV in English (both British and American English is accepted) if the job ad is written in English or the company’s business language is English.

Always include:

• Name
• Address
• Mobile telephone number (include country code)
• Citizenship/Visa Status (if you’re not from the country where you are applying)
• Date of Birth

Your employment history should be in reverse chronological order and include:

• company
• name and location
• a one line summary of what the company does if not well known
• month and year of start and finish
• job title (or an understandable form of this)
• overview of responsibilities
• list of what you achieved in the role (and why your next employer will want you)

Education

• List the highest qualifications you have attained including
  • University or School attended (and location)
  • Qualification gained Year of graduation
• Information on your primary or lower high school is not required however is included on CVs in Germany.

If you have studied other short courses, this can be listed separately if relevant.

Language skills – include your mother tongue (even if it is English) as well as other languages where you can at least have a conversation.

Hobbies and interests are optional, however can help as an icebreaker in an initial meeting in finding some common ground with your future employer.

A4 portrait format is the standard and it is also easier to read on a computer screen.

Photo requirements vary from country to country. Mostly they are not required, however are common in DACH region.

Sending your application

• Send your CV via email as an attachment in Word, PDF or RTF.
• Your covering letter should be in the body of your email and also in English.
• Do not include references or certificates of qualifications (unless for a German based position). Elsewhere, you can bring these to the interview.
• If you do not hear back after a number of days, it is worthwhile calling to check that your email was received (or whether it ended up as spam).