Most companies and recruitment agencies today require a structured curriculum vitae as initial contact with the job seeker. Its main features are brevity, clear structure, clarity and objectivity. It does not mention unnecessary things, it is easy to process for the HR specialist and on the basis of it, it is possible to assess well whether the candidate is suitable for further contact. It is a sieve that is easy and unnecessary to fail.

Essentials of a structured CV

A structured CV has 4 basic categories: personal data, employment, education and other knowledge or skills.

PERSONAL DATA

In particular, basic personal and contact details must be provided here. Indispensable data include:

• Name and surname
• Residence (contact address)
• Phone
• E-mail

This is the absolute basis today. If you think that employers may be interested in other information, such as marital status or place of birth, you can provide it. The same applies to a photo that you only upload if the other party is interested. Such a photograph must be very formal, preferably ID. However, be aware that providing unnecessary and unwanted information may also emphasize it.

Tip: Some information does not even belong to the CV at all, and here we will mention, for example, maternity and parental leave.

PRACTICE

The second item in most structured CVs will be Practice, in which you will clearly list your job, including specific positions and the years you have worked. The current job position, or the one from the near past, is listed first, as it is the most relevant. Other jobs are then listed chronologically from the most recent to the oldest, again including position and timing.

Tip: Don’t be too specific in the time limit, just specify the year-year range, which masks any gaps that may last for several months, which don’t look good at all.

EDUCATION

In some CVs, especially for recent graduates with almost no experience, the role and position of Internship as the most relevant source of information about the applicant’s abilities and experience may replace him. Beware, graduates without “proper” internships will have problems in the labor market, because employers will be very patient with the experience and work habits of their recruits. In the case of recent graduates, it is also possible in some cases to mention internships within longer-term jobs, which, although the scope of work is completely irrelevant, will show the human resources willing to work. In such a case, however, Education again belongs in the structured curriculum vitae before Practice, as well as in our second CV Model, which is intended for graduates.

In Education, proceed again from the newest to the oldest. If it is important for your job application, you can also mention the school you are currently studying – but pay attention to the approach of the employer, who may perceive it as a supplement to qualifications and abilities, but also as fragmentation of attention and back door.

Attention: primary school is not written in the curriculum vitae, so end up at high school.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

This includes all language skills, including state exams, a driver’s license and, last but not least, computer skills. Here, be concise, complete and completely honest. There is no point in highlighting your knowledge of PowerPoint if you have only tried to create a basic presentation in it so far. So for each skill, state the extent to which you master it.

Tip: you can add these basic categories with your Interests, for example . But mention only a few, the biggest one or two, and then the ones that say something important about you in relation to the job you are applying for. If you can get recommendations from previous jobs, do so and list people in the References category who are willing and able to give you recommendations, of course, including contacting them.

The date and, if applicable, the signature are included at the end of the structured CV.

What to watch out for and what to avoid

In the case of a structured curriculum vitae, an adjustment is very important, which should be completely clear. The entire structured CV should fit on a maximum of 2 A4 pages when choosing large margins, as can be seen in our Designs. It may seem to you that there are many blank spaces in your CV and that it is short – this means that you probably wrote it correctly. When it comes to editing, avoid exclamation points, underscore important information, and similar nonsense.

Do not complicate life for the HR specialist and then send yourself and your CV in universal formats – we recommend doc (not docx, nor any open formats from OpenOffice and similar office suites), or pdf.

When sending by e-mail, the Subject and body of the e-mail must be filled in. For the subject, it should be immediately clear to the HR specialist why you are writing to him – so state the name of the position or the name of the advertisement to which you are responding. Also, do not leave the body of the email blank, it will be very inappropriate. Very briefly state why you are actually writing an email and that you are sending a structured CV in the attachment. Never insert a resume as text into the body of an email. Include your basic contact information in the email and write a completely new email for each potential employer – do not use copies or forwarding, mass sending of CVs without trying for an individual approach is a stop sign for most HR professionals, or at least an aggravating circumstance.