The CV is the central document of your application. It shows personnel managers at a glance what training and requirements you have for a job. Absolventa shows you step by step how to write the perfect CV and offers you suitable samples for filling.
Curriculum vitae templates for download
You need inspiration for your resume and want to spend as little time as possible? Then we have something for you: our free resume samples. They are suitable for every industry, depending on whether you are applying for a traditional company, a hip start-up or a forward-looking technology group.
Create your CV: the most important information
The Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) provides a clear overview of your career to date with all relevant stations and achievements of applicants. It is therefore the most important document of your application for personnel managers. Many use it to get a first impression and often even depend on it if they still read the cover letter at all.
Here are the most frequently asked questions about the criteria that a good CV should meet:
What types of CVs are there?
There are three types of resume that can be relevant to your application. The structure of the content is approximately the same, regardless of which variant you choose.
Curriculum vitae in tabular form
Detailed curriculum vitae
Handwritten Curriculum Vitae
What do I have to take into account with the content?
It is complete, meaningful, error-free, structured and clear.
Where does the curriculum vitae appear in the application file?
It comes in the order directly after the cover letter and before the certificates.
How many pages should a CV have?
It should no longer be 1 to 2 A4 pages long. A general rule of thumb: as short as possible, as long as necessary.
Which design should you use?
There are three types of layouts for the tabular curriculum vitae:
The classic curriculum vitae
Creative Curriculum Vitae
The modern curriculum vitae
Which design you choose depends on the respective industry of the employer. In corporations or in banking, for example, classic applications are welcome, in start-ups or the tech industry, but also creative and modern.
The design of an application is essential. That’s why you’ll find more specific tips and CV samples for your industry in the following list.
Contact details
Personal data
School/education/study (anti-chronological)
Practical/professional experience (anti-chronological)
Knowledge/additional qualifications
Interests/Hobbies
Contact data & personal data
Position the contact details so that HR staff can see them immediately, either in the header, next to the application photo or on the cover page if you have one.
You should refrain from giving information about your religion or your parents. However, your personal information should include the following:
Birthday (dd.mm.yyyy)
Place of birth
Citizenship
School, education & study
Now you can really start with your curriculum vitae in tabular form: The following are the details of your previous education. These relate to your last school-leaving certificate, your vocational training and/or your studies.
It is important that you start with your last educational qualification. In contrast to the chronological curriculum vitae, the order should be anti-chronological, i.e. the most recent station is at the top.
The following table gives you some examples. On the left is the period of training, for example 10/2014 – 02/2018, and on the right the description and all other details.
Additional knowledge & interests
Knowledge, additional qualifications and interests are important points in your CV. These include, for example:
Language skills
Computer and computer skills
International experience
When indicating your software and language skills in your application, you should also make an assessment of your respective skills, for example “English business fluent, basic knowledge of French”. A language test such as the TOEFL (“Test of English as a Foreign Language”) can also be used as proof of language skills.
You only need to provide information on your driving licence if you are likely to drive many cars in your future job, for example as a sales representative.
Interests & hobbies
Interests and hobbies do not have to be listed in the CV, but they do give recruiters the opportunity to get a more complete picture of your personality. Make sure you don’t list too many leisure activities. Interests and hobbies are right at the end of your CV.
