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This guideline provides VET students with specific suggestions on how to participate in internships. It is advisable that VET trainers analyse the contents together with the students since the first steps of the organisation of the internship. The guideline covers topic such as: selection of the company; writing of the CV; behaviour rules in a company.

Table of Contents

1.2 Curriculum Vitae

1.2.1 How to Write an Appropriate CV

A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is a professional document that offers the reader an overview of your professional and educational history. Your CV communicates your personality: your skills, assets and hire-ability. Trainee candidates who wish to carry out their traineeship in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland are recommended to use the Europass CV format. It is preferable for easier comparability of your qualifications and experience. This CV format is currently available in all EEA languages in the EURES website CV on-line and is suitable for both vocational and academic graduates.

Not only classic CV formats can be used, but also those depending on the employer’s specific requirements. Different templates are available online (See Paragraph 2.3.).

Basic principles for a CV are as follow:

Simplicity. Recruiters usually read through CVs for a few seconds before making a selection. Keep your CV reader-friendly by using short sentences, positive language, and, where appropriate, technical terms. Do not write redundant information.
Accomplishments. You should showcase your strengths and experience.
Factual and comprehensive. Make sure the information you provide is factual, accurate and relevant (e.g. focused on the employers’ needs).
Length. Try to keep your CV to a maximum of 2 pages (employers’ time is precious!).
Clarity. Write the CV yourself and have it proofread by somebody else before uploading it onto a job portal or mailing it to the employer.
References. Always double-check references and secure permission before providing them.
Targeted CV versions. Is important to adapt your standard CV to the job profile you are interested in. It means that you should emphasise specific qualifications, skills, training or experience with relevance for the selected vacancy.
Skills. Emphasis should be on your skills. Your specific skills gained through academic studies, volunteering activities and employment will demonstrate your competences.
Your font shall be scannable and easy to read. Calibri, Times New Roman and Arial are the most recommended fonts. Size 12 or 11 should be used.
Updating. Update your CV as soon as you have completed or achieved something important.

After having built your CV online, download and share it, and also email it to your email address.

Online Resource

Key Skills that all CVs need
Online article presents transferable, job-related and adaptive skills and their descriptions.

The best fonts for your resume ranked
Online article giving suggestions which font types and sizes are the best ones for the employers to perceive.

Action Verbs By Skills Categories
Online article by Orlando Haynes. Skills are categorized by the author into: Communication/People Skills, Creative Skills, Financial Skills, Helping Skills, Management/Leadership, Organizational, Research and Teaching Skills. Job seekers can select skills relevant to them and add them to their CVs

185 Powerful Verbs That Will Make Your Resume Awesome
Online article gives advice which action verbs could be used to create an impressive CV. The action verbs are presented by skills categories with a focus on those skills which are relevant to professional activities and employment.

Operative Tools

Europass CV
Templates for a Europass online CV in the national language of a EU Member State and English are given here.

Europass CV
CV template, instructions and examples how to build a Europass CV online to be sent to the desired hosting organisation. Basic principles for a good CV are given.

Resume builder
Resume writing guide is presented here. Tailored resume templates customized for various fields and industries are offered.

Activity 1
Check out categories which are relevant to your professional competences and describe what you really did using action verbs, for example, led a project and brought it to life, saved a company/ school time and money, increased customer satisfaction, changed or improved something, brought in partners, funding or resources, researched the market, collected information and communicated it, oversaw or achieved something.

Activity 2
Look through the list of action verbs and select those which can be used for your CV purposes.

Activity 3
Build your online CV/ resume. Choose a template offered for a student, write your CV / resume using the online Resume Coach advice, share it online and download it. Edit it whenever necessary.