How to prepare a good CV if you apply for a position abroad?

A well-written CV is the key to getting your dream position, especially if you are applying for one abroad.  You need to take into account that the accepted CV format in the country you want to go to can be different than in your country of origin. Generally, in Europe, the most commonly used CV format is the Europass. It contains all the necessary information and does not allow the applicant to write too much (as opposed to the British CV format, for instance), which is a real nightmare for recruiters all over the world (who cares about your high school grades???).

First of all, your CV should contain your basic personal information  - name and surname, address, e-mail, phone number with the country code (crucial if you are applying for a position abroad; also, make sure you delete all the 0´s between the country code and the actual number), date of birth and nationality (again, crucial if you are applying for a position abroad). You  do not need to include details such as marital status or the number of children. A professional photo (e.g. a passport photo—no holiday pics, please!) will definitely help you, too.

Second of all, you should list your past work experiences and education, always with dates (mm/yyyy – mm/ yyyy), and make sure that it is all visually correct (e.g. dates on the left, field of study on the right). Please, avoid plain text. A typical recruiter spends no more than 30 seconds looking at your CV before they decide to contact you, so all the information needs to be easily accessible to the eye. Use bullet points, leave key words in bold (not too many, though, to avoid chaos). Plain text does not allow to find the information easily, and your application will probably be discarded at the very beginning if the recruiter does not find the information they are looking for quickly. A good layout also helps the recruiter during the interview. Lengthy descriptions (even if you have used bullet points) are also not welcome. Your CV usually should not be more than 2 pages long. If you already have many work experiences, try to list only the most important ones or those most relevant to the position you are applying for.

And probably the most important part of the CV if you want to work / be trained abroad – language skills section. Even if you can only speak your native language—include it in the CV! And write a ¨C2¨ level next to it (the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages lists 6 levels: A1 – beginner, A2 – elementary, B1 – intermediate, B2 – upper-intermediate, C1 – advanced, C2 –proficient). DO NOT LIE about your language levels, they will be checked during interviews and no employer likes to hire liars, not to mention that many times you´ll be wasting the recruiter´s time, and your own, too (imagine you  only speak English and you applied for a position that lists ¨high level of Spanish¨ as a requirement—of course they will check it!).

You can add a few more things like the list of key skills (especially IT skills, driving license etc.), interests or hobbies.  But do not describe your whole life in detail. Your ability to choose the most important information about yourself will give recruiters grounds to ask you questions about specific matters of their interest. So choose well and good luck!