CV examples
A complete, rendered document for each of these jobs. In the UK, Ireland and Australia these are CVs in the ordinary sense of the word; for a continental application you would add a photo and a few personal details, and the table below says exactly which. Nothing here is a fragment or a stock photo of one.
What to change by country
The content of these examples travels. The conventions around it do not, and getting them wrong is the kind of error that gets noticed before anything you wrote does.
UK & Ireland
Two pages · No photo
Identical in substance to a US resume. No date of birth, no marital status, no nationality. Referees available on request, and don't list them.
Germany & Austria
Two pages, sometimes more · Photo expected
A Lebenslauf is closer to a complete record than an edited highlight reel. Gaps are expected to be accounted for rather than closed quietly, and a signed, dated version is still common.
France
One page · Photo usual
Noticeably more formal in register than a British CV, and more compressed. Personal details at the top; a short accroche in place of a long summary.
Netherlands & Nordics
Two pages · Photo optional
Direct and plainly written. The Dutch in particular read an over-polished CV with suspicion, so understatement works better here than anywhere else on this list.
US & Canada
One page, two if senior · Never
Say resume, not CV — outside academia, a CV means something else entirely and sending fifteen pages ends the application.
Software & engineering
Developers, data, infrastructure and security.
Product & design
The people who decide what gets built, and how it looks.
Business & finance
Analysis, delivery, accounting and operations.
Sales, marketing & people
Revenue, demand, support and hiring.
Healthcare & education
Licensed and classroom roles, where credentials lead.
Common questions
Are a CV example and a resume example the same thing?
- In the UK, Ireland and Australia, yes — the documents below are exactly what those markets mean by a CV. In continental Europe you would add a photo and some personal details. In the US and Canada, a CV means an exhaustive academic record, which is a genuinely different document from any of these.
How long should a CV be?
- Two pages for almost every non-academic application, one if you are early career, and one for France specifically. An academic CV has no upper limit because its purpose is completeness rather than persuasion — every publication, grant and conference, with no editing for brevity.
Should I copy a CV example word for word?
- No. Copy the structure — bullets that lead with what you owned and end with what changed — and write the content from your own history. Recruiters read hundreds of these and recognise borrowed phrasing immediately; it reads worse than plain language of your own.
What personal details go on a CV?
- Name, phone, email, city and a professional link, everywhere. Add a photo, date of birth and nationality for most of continental Europe. Never include your full street address, your marital status or your ID number for a UK, Irish or North American application — and never include a national insurance or social security number anywhere.
What if my job isn't listed?
- Use the closest one in the same field. The transferable part is the writing pattern rather than the job title, and the advice about metrics, scope and keywords applies to essentially any role.
Build it in the editor
One document, exported per market — change the length and the personal details rather than maintaining several files.
Start your resume