When applying for a job abroad, it’s worth considering refreshing your old CV and adapting it to the potential employer. How to write a CV that sets you apart from the competition? It is possible that your document contains one of the most common mistakes that automatically remove you from the list of candidates. Have you ever sent out a few or even a dozen resumes but never received a response? Read the answers to the most common doubts when creating a CV and learn how to write a CV for a job abroad.
Every day, hundreds of CVs are sent through our europa.jobs portal, which are sent directly to employers. The competition in the labor market makes these resumes more extensive every year, both in volume and in graphics.
Below you will find answers to the most annoying questions about writing a resume. We also encourage you to check out the latest job openings that you can apply to with a refreshed resume!
How to write a CV for work abroad?
Writing a resume, especially these days, is essential. Through this document, you meet a potential employer for the first time. Therefore, these few pages should contain information that will encourage the employer to arrange a job interview or hire immediately.
What to include in your resume?
1. It should be short and to the point – provide the most important information.
2. Always write the truth – these days it’s very easy for an employer to spot a lie about work experience.
3. Highlight your most important work experiences. If you don’t have experience, describe what you know best.
4. Describe your interests, especially if they are related to the position you are applying for.
5. Add a professional photo to your resume, only if requested.
6. Contact details – add a phone number and email address.
7. Use legible fonts (Calibri, Helvetica, Arial or Georgia).
8. GDPR or privacy clause – it’s a must. Remember that agencies or companies often offer their own clauses in the job offer, which should be added to the CV.
How to write a CV for work abroad? Can you bend the truth on your resume?
Candidates seem to most often add to themselves:
- language skills
- expands the scope of duties performed in the previous position
- pretend to have a driver’s license
Some of this information is very easy to verify, but we choose it anyway! This may be due to the secret hope that you will receive an invitation to an interview, and then “maybe the employer will turn a blind eye.”
Well, no!
If you meet all the requirements for a particular position, there is no need to improve your image in the eyes of the employer. Sooner or later, the indicated skills may be needed, and then you will put yourself and the employer in an uncomfortable situation – it is possible that he will lose confidence in you.
If a certain skill is mentioned in the ad in the requirements field, it means that the job is impossible without it. So there’s no point in adding it to your resume, because it will definitely be checked during the interview. Then it will turn out that you have only wasted the recruiter’s time, as well as your own.
When a skill is described as welcome, lying about it can also be very problematic. The employer will probably choose your application because of this, so when it is checked and your lie is exposed, they will be very disappointed and you will lose a lot in their eyes.
Should you add “black” jobs on your resume?
Every experience gained is important! When you enter information about informal employment in your application, the only danger that awaits you is the lack of confirmation from your former employer. However, if you describe your duties well and demonstrate practical knowledge of the job in a particular position, references may prove unnecessary.
Having experience in jobs that are part of everyday life can land you a job. Therefore, it is worth including in your CV information about activities such as:
- babysitting friends’ children
- caring for an elderly family member (eg mother or grandmother)
- growing plants and tending the garden
- working on a farm (operating farm machinery, caring for farm animals)
- help at the family car workshop
- …and any other job that gives you experience and skills that can be useful in the job you’re applying for!
How to present information in a resume?
We often have the opportunity to look at the resumes that users post on our site. Many of them forget about the so-called. in reverse chronology. How to write a CV with the correct data? You must remember that these most recent work experiences should be at the top of the document. They are the most important for the future employer!
How to write a CV to be invited to an interview? Try to tailor your CV to the specific position you are applying for. If you have experience working in more than one industry – great! However, a construction company recruiter will certainly not be interested in the fact that you graduated from a catering technical school and did an apprenticeship as a waiter a dozen years ago. By deciding to include more information than necessary, you waste valuable space on the document that could be used to your advantage – for example, to describe your skills and duties.
We hear from employers that candidates rarely describe the scope of duties they performed in previous positions. It is important to specify, as much as possible, the activities you were responsible for in your previous position. You will then save the time you would have spent explaining to the employer what “warehouse work” means and you will have something to gain in his eyes if it turns out that you have performed exactly the tasks for which you are now recruited.
It’s worth using first-person expressions that describe specific tasks, for example:
- I controlled the condition of the warehouse and was responsible for the inventory
- I placed the appropriate orders and received them
- I have checked the expiration dates of the products
- I kept daily reports, ledgers, lists and reports using [tool name]
Should someone look at my resume before I send it?
Of course! If possible, use the help of someone experienced in using a word processing program so that the document looks as clear as possible and does not contain formatting errors, that is, the appearance of the text. It was assumed that the document should be divided into several basic sections that employers are used to and expect:
- contact details
- the experience
- education
- foreign languages
- courses and training
- interests
Creating your resume with the help of another person also reduces the likelihood of glaring spelling errors. Lack of accuracy and meticulousness when creating your business card can make you a less professional candidate in the eyes of the employer.
Cover letter for working abroad. Is it needed?
Quite often, employers, in addition to the CV document, additionally request the sending of a cover letter. It’s always an additional way to get to know the candidate’s skills. First of all, the cover letter can be called in a way an extended version of the CV, where the applicant is able to describe and emphasize his own skills in complete sentences.
In addition, the letter usually contains the answer to the most important question of the employer – Why are you applying for this position / What is your motivation? At this point, it’s worth emphasizing how much you care about the job and perhaps what makes you stand out from other candidates.
A cover letter, like a CV, should be prepared with the specific job you are applying for in mind. Depending on the required skills or even the employer, the cover letter will vary. Therefore, we additionally recommend that you include in the list:
- to whom we are writing (company name, person)
- about the company’s or person’s successes (always show the degree of involvement of a potential candidate)
- how the offer was found (shows that we are writing to a specific employer)
German CV – How to write a professional CV for a job in Germany?
Economic emigration to Germany is still very popular. However, working for a longer period in Germany requires knowledge of the language and a CV prepared in German.
Below we have prepared the most frequently used expressions and expressions in German when writing a CV.
| English phrase | German phrase |
| First Name Last Name | Vorname Nachname |
| Date of birth | Geburtsdatum |
| Place of birth | Geburtsort |
| Primary school | Grundschule |
| High School /Vocational/ Technical School | Oberstufenschule |
| University | Universitate |
| Citizenship | Staatsangehörigkeit |
| Marital status | familystand |
| The experience | Arbeitserfahrung bei… |
| Good knowledge in speaking and writing | Gute …-Kenntnisse in Wort und Schrift |
| Highly developed communication/ negotiation/ presentation skills | Hervorragende(s) kommunikative Fähigkeiten / Verhandlungsgeschick / Präsentationsfähigkeiten |
| Driving license cat. | Führerschein Klasse… |
CV in Scandinavian languages – how to write a CV to work in Sweden, Denmark or Norway?
Work in Scandinavian countries attracts the attention of many immigrants. Unfortunately, unlike in Germany, when applying for job offers in Sweden, Denmark or Norway, we need to get the corresponding CV. Here is a list of words that will surely make it easier to write a CV for the Scandinavian countries:
| English phrase | Swedish phrase | Norwegian phrase | Danish phrase |
| First Name Last Name | förnamn efternamn | fornavn etternavn | fornavn efternavn |
| Date of birth | födelsedatom | fødselsdato | fødselsdato |
| Place of birth | födelseort | fødested | fødested |
| Primary school | grundskola | grunnskole | grundskole |
| High School/ Vocational/ Technical School | gymnasium | videregående skole | ungdomsuddanelse |
| University | universitet | universitet | universitet |
| Citizenship | nationalitet/ medborgarskap | nasjonalitet / statsborgerskap | nationalitet/ statsborgerskab |
| Marital status | civilstånd | sivilstand | civilstand |
| The experience | yrkeserfarenhet | arbeidserfaring | erhvervserfaring |
| Good knowledge in speaking and writing | goda kunskaper i tal och skrift | godt muntlig og skriftlig | gode kundskaber i skrift og tale |
| Highly developed communication/ negotiation/ presentation skills | god komunikationsförmåga/ förhandlingsförmåga/ presentationsförmåga | gode kommunikasjonsevner/ forhandlingevner/ presentasjonsevner | gode kommunikationsevner/ forhandlingsevner/ præstationsevner |
| Driving license cat. | körkort i kategori | førerkort klasse | kørekort kategori |
