4. Your CV and the Europass profile

What a good CV looks like

• Short – one page as a student or graduate, two pages at most later on.
• Newest first – education and experience in reverse chronological order.
• Tailored – use the words from the job advert and put the most relevant skills at the top. One general CV sent to fifty employers rarely works.
• Concrete – instead of “responsible for social media”, write what you achieved: “grew followers from 800 to 3 000 in a year”.
• Include student jobs, volunteering, Erasmus+ exchanges and projects – for a first job they show more than an empty work history.
• Languages – describe your level using the European scale (A1–C2).
• In the language of the advert – unless the employer asks otherwise – and checked for mistakes by someone else.

Europass – free CV in 31 languages

Europass is the EU’s free career tool. You create a profile with your education, experience and skills once, and from it you build as many CVs and cover letters as you need. You can choose a template, download your CV as PDF, store documents and certificates in your Europass library and share your CV with employers or with EURES.

Photo, age, nationality? It depends on the country

In some countries (for example Germany or Austria) a photo on the CV is still common; in others (for example the UK or Ireland) employers prefer a CV without a photo, date of birth or marital status. What is usual in each country: country guides »

Sources: Europass – create your CV · EURES – services for jobseekers Checked: 3 October 2026.