How do I write my CV in English?
Put your name, your job title and your contact details at the top, then two or three lines of personal profile: "Project manager with six years of experience in logistics." After that come Work Experience, Education, Skills and Languages, with jobs and qualifications listed most recent first. Write the achievements as bullets that start with a verb and drop the "I": "Led a team of six", "Reduced processing time by 20%." A photo, date of birth, marital status, nationality and a signature at the bottom are usually not expected by UK and US employers; German, Austrian and Swiss ones often still ask for them.
- In the UK the document is a CV; in the US an ordinary job application is usually a résumé. Both are commonly one or two pages and run in reverse-chronological order.
- Achievement bullets open with a verb and get by without "I": past simple for completed achievements, present simple for ongoing duties — "Led a team of six", "Manage a team of six".
- A photo, date of birth, marital status, nationality and a signature are usually not expected by UK and US employers; in German-speaking countries they are often still part of the document.
B1 · Business Writing · 10 minThe English CV, taught brick by brick for German speakers.
A structured ten-slide lesson for B1 learners. Hear the top of a finished CV in context, meet the building blocks from a tutor — the structure and its sections, the personal profile with its achievement bullets, and the words that tip over on the way out of German — then practise them in the interactive drills before a final quiz. The whole arc is under ten minutes and nothing requires a signup.
- CEFR levelB1 · Intermediate
- Time to completeAbout 10 minutes
- SkillsWriting, Vocabulary, Listening, Business English
- Bricks10 blocks
01 / 07
CV, résumé, Lebenslauf — one document, three names
Your Lebenslauf is called a CV in English, short for the Latin curriculum vitae. That is the word employers use in the UK, Ireland and Australia. In the US an ordinary job application is usually called a résumé, and "CV" there tends to mean the long academic list of publications, teaching and conferences. So as an applicant writing from a German-speaking country: check where the company sits and use its word. Very little changes in the content itself. The version you send to a company is commonly one or two pages long, and it runs in reverse-chronological order — the most recent thing at the top, then backwards through the years. Start at the beginning of your career instead and you force the reader to scroll to the end before she learns what you do today — and that is what the order is meant to make easy to find.
02 / 07
The structure: which sections, in which order
At the very top go your name, your job title and your contact details: city, phone number, email address and, if you keep one, your LinkedIn profile. Many people now leave the full street address off; the city is usually enough for the reader to judge the distance. Under that comes the personal profile, and after it the sections in this order: Work Experience, Education, Skills, Languages. The English headings are plain nouns, and there is no "Personal Data" block of private details in the German sense. Every entry under Work Experience carries the same four pieces of information: job title, company, place, dates — "Sales Manager, Continental AG, Hannover, 2019–present". Under Education you give the qualification, the school or university and the years. Keep one layout across all entries so the page can be skimmed in a few seconds. If you are at the start of your working life, Education may move ahead of Work Experience — that is a common case where swapping the two sections makes sense, as is a recent retraining or a fresh, highly relevant qualification.
03 / 07
The personal profile: two or three lines at the top
The personal profile is the short paragraph directly under your name, so it sits at the very top of the page. Three things belong in it: what you are professionally, how long you have been doing it, and what you are good at. "Project manager with six years of experience in logistics and a track record in process improvement." Notice what is missing: the sentence gets by without "I", and often without a finite verb at all. That is the usual shape on a CV — the document is yours, so you do not have to say so. Be concrete. "Motivated team player with excellent communication skills" is so general that it tells the reader very little about you; "Project manager with six years in logistics, focused on rebuilding planning routines that were slowing teams down" does. Two or three lines are enough. If you apply for different kinds of roles, the profile is the part you rewrite each time: the same experience can be cut one way for a sales job and another way for a project role.
04 / 07
Achievement bullets: verb first, no "I", a number
Under each job you do not write prose, you write bullets — and bullets that begin with a verb. "Led a team of six." "Managed the switch to a new CRM system." "Reduced processing time by 20%." "Negotiated framework contracts with three suppliers." The "I" drops out because it is obvious who is meant; that saves space and lets every line begin with the action rather than with you. For anything completed, use the past simple: "Led", "Managed", "Reduced" — including achievements in your current job. The present simple fits the ongoing duties of the role you are in now: "Manage a team of six across two sites." Useful verbs to start from: led, managed, built, developed, introduced, reduced, increased, negotiated, trained, coordinated. And the second half of the rule: wherever you honestly can, get a number in. A percentage, a team size, a budget, a number of clients. "Improved the reporting process" says little; "Reduced the monthly reporting cycle from five days to two" says what you did, and it gives you something to talk about in the interview.
05 / 07
What a UK or US CV usually leaves out
This is the most visible difference from a German Lebenslauf. An application photo, date of birth, place of birth, marital status, number of children, nationality, and the place, date and signature at the bottom: UK and US employers usually do not expect any of it. The reasoning is equal treatment in recruitment — the fewer personal characteristics sit on the page, the less they can feed into the decision. Some employers ask explicitly for those details to be left off. The other way round: German, Austrian and Swiss companies often still expect a photo and a signature, even when you apply to them in English. So decide by where the company sits and who reads the file, not by the language your CV is written in. If you are applying to the London arm of a German group, follow local practice and, when in doubt, ask HR. What you can drop in every case: your school marks from the early years, and the line "References available on request" — anyone who needs them will ask.
06 / 07
The translation traps: Praktikum, Ausbildung, Chef, aktuell
A handful of German words do not survive the trip into English intact, and they sit in exactly the lines that describe your career. "Praktikum" in a company is an internship — not a "practice"; "practicum" exists, but mainly for a placement that forms part of a degree course — and in English you do or complete an internship rather than make one. "Ausbildung" is an apprenticeship; "vocational training" works as the broader label. "Berufserfahrung" is work experience, and the section carries that heading. "Kenntnisse" are skills — "knowledges" is not used this way in English. "Chef" is your manager, line manager or boss; an English "chef" cooks. "Aktuell" is current, while "actual" means something closer to "real" — hence "in my current role" rather than "in my actual role". And the "Abitur" has no fixed English counterpart: name it, and add a gloss your reader can place, such as "Abitur (roughly equivalent to A-levels)" or "Abitur (German higher-education entrance qualification)". The same principle covers company names and qualifications: keep the original name and explain it in brackets.
07 / 07
Dates, languages and the last pass
Two smaller points that work differently in German. First the dates: an English CV writes a job that is still running as "2019–present". Resist turning German "seit 2019" into "since 2019" in the date line — it is understandable, but the usual format is "2019–present" — and "bis heute" into "until today". Put a dash between the years, and if you give months, give them in one consistent form: "03/2019–present" or "March 2019–present", but not both on the same page. Second, languages: both styles are common — "German (native), English (fluent), French (intermediate)" or CEFR labels such as "English (C1), French (B1)". Neither one is required; pick one and stay with it across the document. Then give the page a last pass: are jobs and qualifications listed most recent first? Does each bullet open with a verb? Do the tenses match the dates? And has someone who does not know you read it through? A basic spellchecker can easily miss "manger" where you meant "manager" — so ask someone to proofread as well.