How to Write a CV: Full guide

This article provides you with essential tips and best practices to write a winning CV: one that lands you interviews.

While in the first part of this guide, we present 6 golden rules you should follow when writing your CV, the second section provides you with a step-by-step guide to writing your CV, section by section.

After you finish writing or improving your CV, we encourage you to book a free Job Hunt Advice session with us.

Once you're ready, dive into Make it in the North's full guide to writing a CV tailored to the Dutch job market.

The first golden rule: tailor your CV to each job application! Sending identical CVs to various employers will help you save time yes, but may not have the best success rate. Even if jobs or companies seem similar, they may require distinct skill sets and professional styles. 

Therefore, we recommend you match your CV with the job descriptions you're applying for and customise it for each position. Take time to examine the job advertisement and incorporate your relevant professional experience, academic achievements, and skills.

To maximise your chances of being noticed by recruiters, limit your CV to one page if you have less than five years of experience. It's essential to keep in mind that recruiters spend an average of 7 seconds reviewing a CV. Yup, 7 seconds!

Therefore, be concise and straightforward (especially if you’re applying in the Netherlands!). Only include pertinent skills and accomplishments to make your CV as brief as possible. Additionally, it's best to write your CV in reverse chronological order to showcase your most recent and relevant experiences first.

Don't make your CV longer than it needs to be. Including too much information on your CV can make it harder for a recruiter to spot your most relevant skills.

As previously explained, recruiters typically spend only a few seconds scanning your CV. Therefore, if you work in a profession that doesn't emphasise creativity, like graphic design, a straightforward and formal-looking CV may be the best choice. For the creative roles, showing off some of your skills in the CV could pay off.

Indeed, using flashy colours, an unorthodox layout or unusual phrasing could backfire and cause your CV to be rejected by the Applicant Tracking System (for those of you who are not familiar with ATS: this is a robot that scans your CV when you apply via online portals).

To make it past this first selection round, our advice is to:

Sometimes, the simplest way to attract attention is by keeping things simple.

Then again, find out more about the company you’re applying to, get familiar with their tone, their style and adapt your CV to it. Originality may work in your favour too. It’s about finding the right balance and playing it safe when in doubt!

Bullet points can be incredibly helpful for your CV as they enhance clarity, concision, and ease of scanning by both recruiters and ATS. By using bullet points, you avoid using lengthy paragraphs to describe your employment history and gain valuable space.

For optimal results, aim for 3-4 bullet points depending on your level of experience. To make them more impactful, begin each bullet point with a power verb (e.g.: “Led”, “Optimised”, “Designed”, “Streamlined”, “Completed”). This technique enables you to communicate your skills and accomplishments in a more dynamic and memorable way.

Crafting an effective CV involves more than just outlining previous work experience and education. To stand out, it's crucial to showcase noteworthy accomplishments, projects, and concrete results that you've contributed to.

When detailing your relevant work experience, be sure to provide concrete examples, such as numbers, client names, and project outcomes. These details provide context for your achievements and demonstrate your ability to make a tangible impact in your previous roles.

However beautifully crafted and content-rich your CV is, spelling or grammatical errors will impact your credibility. 

It is therefore essential to ensure your CV is free of these. We highly recommend using spellcheck tools such as Grammarly, especially if you are not a native Dutch or English speaker. By using Grammarly, you can focus on the content of your CV without worrying about spelling mistakes.

Welcome to the second part of this guide! Keep the above tips in mind and get to typing! Below, we describe how you should write each CV section, from top to bottom.

Your CV header is the first (and easiest) CV section to write. This is where you should include information such as:

Even though presented right below your header, we recommend you write your profile summary last. This section summarises your expertise, professional experience/academic background and skills in 2 to 3 impactful sentences. 

Writing it after having completed your professional experience/academic background and skills sections will make your life easier as you’ll essentially be summarising what’s on your CV.

In a nutshell, it should contain your: 

Make sure you put a lot of effort into this section: this may be the first paragraph the recruiters will read, let’s keep them captivated! This means making sure the intro is not generic — otherwise it just becomes white noise that could have been skipped.

Also worth considering is adding a few personal details about why you're in the North of the Netherlands and what you're most passionate about in your line of work. Here we're talking about specific skills, topics or type of projects that are the reasons why you absolutely love your job.

TIP💡Make sure the intro shows a bit about the person behind the CV. Let the rest of the sections speak to hard and soft skills, but make sure the summary/intro is showing some personality. It's practically the first thing people read, so make it count!

The first important rule about this section: it should be tailored to the job description. This means you should only include professional experience that is relevant to the position you are applying for. 

For instance, if you are applying for a marketing position, including your dog-walking experience in your CV is unlikely to be of help. 

As mentioned at the beginning of this guide, we strongly recommend you use bullet points when presenting your professional experience. Start each bullet point with a power verb in the past tense.

Here is what you should include for each experience:

If you're just entering the workforce or find yourself lacking work experience to list here, you can highlight volunteering experience, being on the board of a study or student association, or having a leadership role at a sports club.

TIP💡Sometimes it can help if you link to a portfolio showing your work. Perhaps you're applying for a graphic design or marketing position. A portfolio is a great place to show future employers what you're capable of. Make sure to link to your best work; it's not about listing all your work.

The same principle applies to your academic background. It's important to only include relevant information, along with concrete examples and achievements.

If you have limited work experience, consider including notable achievements from your academic background, such as theses or group projects, and align them with the job description. These projects may have helped you develop transferable skills that could be beneficial for the role you're applying for.

Alternatively, if you have substantial work experience, you can just stick to listing your school or university name, program name, and dates of attendance.

To summarise, be sure to include the following in your academic background:

Whether you speak 1 or 5 languages, we recommend you always include a language section in your CV.

In the Netherlands, fluent English and/or Dutch is the minimum requirement. If you’re an English speaker learning Dutch, make sure to include that too. You want to show that you’re proactively trying to adapt and willing to learn the language of your host country!

When presenting your languages, it's important to state both your level of proficiency in words and an internationally-recognised language score or certificate.

Here's an example of how you can present your language skills in your CV:

Be sure to include both your level of proficiency and the associated language score, as the former may seem abstract and the latter may not be known by employers.

Finally, we highly recommend you include a skills section in your CV. Try to find a balance between the hard and soft skills the employer is seeking. The best way to include relevant skills in your CV is to highlight those that the employer included in the job description and incorporate them into your CV. For some roles having a driving license is an advantage, so if you have one, make sure you clearly state so.

Don't like about the skills you have. In a job interview in the Netherlands, you'll likely be asked for practical examples of when you used certain skills in previous work environments. If you don't have actual examples to back up the skills you claim to have, don't list them on your CV. It may leave a bad impression during a job interview. An employer may wonder: What else are they not being honest about?

In sum, here is how you can incorporate skills into your CV:

TIP💡We often host or highlight events that offer free CV checking services. Visit our events page to view opportunities that could give your CV a boost.

We hope this practical guide helps you write or improve your CV, one that lands interviews.

In a nutshell, keep in mind that a winning CV should be tailored to the job advert, highlight your achievements, include relevant skills, be well-structured and eye-catching, and be compatible with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

Writing a solid CV takes time and effort, granted. But you’ll soon see that it’s worth it: that time and effort will make you stand out from other candidates!

Done writing or improving your CV? Book a free Job Hunt Advice session to find out what the next steps are in your career path, and check out these other career services you can use. And don't forget to create your Jobseeker Dashboard account, to track your progress and save international-friendly jobs!

Yes.
You should always tailor your CV to each role. Focus on highlighting the most relevant experience, skills, and achievements that match the specific job description. Even if roles seem similar, employers are looking for a clear connection between your background and their vacancy.

Usually, applying online or by email is perfectly fine.
Most companies expect applications through their website or via email, and this should be your default approach. Prioritise applying through the company's website as opposed to its LinkedIn page. We recommend sending it in a PDF file format.

That said, some candidates in the Northern Netherlands have also found success by approaching companies in person. This can help you stand out and make a direct impression.

No, this is not necessary.
For most roles (especially outside academia), you don’t need to include references on your CV. If an employer wants references, they will ask for them later in the process.

Don't shy away by showing who you are.
Especially in the case of smaller companies, team fit is critical. Don't shy away from explaining what brought you to the region and what makes you committed to staying here. It can also help to explain what you do for fun outside of the office.

Focus on your strengths.
Many skills are transferable across different industries. Look back over what you did at your previous job. Were you given any responsibilities that might come in handy for your new job? In some cases it may also be wise to volunteer with an organisation operating in this space. Perhaps you can also take on one-off projects connected to this new industry to help make your CV stronger while also expanding your network.