A CV that works at home can hurt you in Europe. Here is how to adapt yours for European scholarships and jobs.
What is different about a European CV?
- Short: 1–2 pages for jobs and most master’s applications. Longer only for research and PhD positions.
- Reverse chronological: most recent education and jobs first.
- Results, not duties: “Increased sales by 20%” beats “Responsible for sales”.
- Language levels on the CEFR scale (A1–C2), which European readers understand instantly.
Should I use Europass?
Europass is the European Union’s free online tool for creating a CV in a standard format. Use it when a scholarship or university asks for a Europass CV (many Erasmus Mundus programmes do). For jobs, a clean, simple CV of your own design is usually better because it lets you put your strongest points first.
Section by section
1. Contact details. Name, city and country, phone with country code (+211, +254, +234…), a professional email address, and a LinkedIn link if you have one.
2. Profile (optional, 2–3 lines). Who you are and what you are aiming for. “Civil engineer with 3 years’ experience in water infrastructure, seeking a master’s in water resources management.”
3. Education. Degree, university, years, and your grade explained for a foreign reader (“Second Class Upper, 3.6/4.0, top 10% of class”). Add your thesis title if it’s relevant.
4. Work experience. Job title, organisation, city, dates, then 2–4 bullet points that start with action verbs and include numbers.
5. Projects, research or volunteering. Especially important if you have little paid work experience.
6. Skills. Technical skills and software (e.g. Excel, Python, AutoCAD, GIS) and languages with CEFR levels.
7. Awards and certificates. Scholarships, competitions, online courses that matter for the role.
What to leave out
- Religion, tribe or ethnicity, marital status, number of children
- Your full date of birth and ID or passport numbers (unless specifically requested)
- Primary school and, in most cases, secondary school details
- Long lists of hobbies and generic phrases like “hardworking team player”
- “References available on request” (it is assumed)
Photo? In the UK and Ireland, leave it out. In Germany and some other countries, a professional photo is still common. Follow the instructions in the application.
Strong action verbs to start your bullet points
Led, built, designed, managed, trained, analysed, reduced, increased, launched, coordinated, negotiated, wrote, researched, improved, delivered.
Final checklist
- ☐ 1–2 pages, simple font, no colourful templates
- ☐ Every job has at least one result with a number
- ☐ Grades explained for a foreign reader
- ☐ Languages shown with CEFR levels
- ☐ Tailored to this programme or job
- ☐ Saved as PDF: Firstname-Lastname-CV.pdf
Next step: write your motivation letter, then browse jobs in Europe.
