• For companies
• For candidates
• Contacts

CZ | EN

Personnel counseling

How to write a CV correctly

A Curriculum Vitae is a document which helps to represent you while you are looking for the right position. It is the first thing a potential employer gets, therefore, you should pay significant attention to its creation.

Five fundamental principles for writing the CV

• brief – do not write your CV as an essay, your CV should be structured, the recommended length is between 1-3 pages (according to your experience)
• mistake-free – read your whole CV after you have written it, it should not contain any grammar mistakes or typing errors
• truthful – do not pretend or lie in your CV, it must be truthful, thus be serious
• well-arranged – differentiate the headlines (e.g. by using bold font) so that the CV is clear and easily readable for the HR specialists
• logically structured – maintain chronological order of events in your career

The structure of the CV

Your CV should not miss these points:

• personal data and contact details - (name and surname, address, e-mail, phone number, preferably also date of birth)
• education and qualifications – state the name of the institution, field of study, title, year of graduation, you can mention passed certifications or professional training and we recommend to mention the theme of final thesis (diploma work). The education should be arranged chronologically (most recent at the beginning)
• professional experience – write the name of the employer and of the position, add job description, date of commencement and departure. The employment summary should be arranged chronologically (most recent at the beginning)
• skills and abilities – specify your knowledge of IT technologies (languages, operating systems, networking or database skills)
• language skills – specify the level of your language skills (e.g. basic/inter-mediate/upper-mediate/excellent or passive/active skills)

We recommend that the following information is also mentioned:

• professional aim – you can specify the preferred work
• further achievements – publications, awards, trainee-ships
• personal characteristics – personal insight
• interests – your hobbies
• list of referees – contact information for people who could provide references (is an optional part of your CV)

Other recommendations:

Most international companies require an English version of your CV, so make sure that you have this version with you at the interview. If English is not one of your strong points, we recommend that you have your English CV checked by a native speaker, teacher etc.

Other possibility is to use an universal european format of CV (so called Europass), which is especially suitable for international environment (e.g. if you are applying for some position abroad). It is accessible in many languages at http://europass.cedefop.eu.int. Although we mention Europass as another way how to write a CV easily, we strongly recommend to create your own CV. Every single CV represents its author, thus, compared to a „template-like“ Europass, your original CV increases the prospects to suceed in the recruitment process by attracting the recruiter´s attention.

It is recommended that you save your CV in these file formats: rtf, doc, pdf. It is not advisable to use txt, xls, sxw, odt formats. Call the file clearly, e.g. “Novak_Jan_CV”.

It is recommended that you enclose your consent for processing of your personal data. You can use this example:

I hereby confirm, that the data that I have provided is accurate and true. I also agree that PERSPEKTIVA^® CZ, spol. s r.o. of Bašty 8, Brno, 602 00, can use the data for mediating the employment until I withdraw this consent. I was made aware of my rights according to law 101/2000 Sb., especially of my right to retract this consent at any time.

Example of a structured CV