If you are looking for a job in Germany, you should apply with a CV in German with Europass. This is the standard form for CVs in Europe and is widely accepted by employers in Germany.
This article is a step-by-step guide on how to complete a Europass resume in German.
Topics in this article
How do you find a CV template in German? >>
Fill in personal information >>
About your professional experience >>
Information on education and training >>
Personal skills data >>
Saving your CV in German with Europass >>
How to hire someone to write your CV >>
How can you find a German CV template online?
It is best to go directly to the Europasswhere you will find a sample CV in German.
The first message you will see will be a notification asking you to either register – Registrieren – or continue as a guest – Als Gast fortfahren.
I usually prefer not to register and fill in as a guest.
The downside is that after 48 hours, all your data will be deleted from the database.
How to write your career summary in German? Main steps
Step 1: Personal information (Meine persönlichen Angaben)
Before you start filling in the form, you need to decide in which language you want to fill in your CV. – Entscheide bitte, in welcher Sprache du dein Profil anlegen möchtest.
I recommend German language – Deutsch.
Datumsformat auswählen – you can also choose the date format
You will then start entering your personal details.
Required fields
Vorname(n) – first name
Nachname(n) – last name
Geburtsdatum – date of birth
Geschlecht – gender – Here you have to choose from the list:
- männlich – male
- weiblich – female
- divers – diverse
- keine Angabe – No details (you have the right not to give details)
Staatsangehörigkeit – citizenship – Search i.e. rumänisch (Romanian)
Here you can enter more than one citizenship by clicking on the + Hinzufügen
Contact details
E-Mail-Adresse – email address
Telefonnummer – phone number – you can choose
- Privatwohnsitz – landline phone at home
- Beruflich – work phone
- Mobiltelefon – mobile phone
- Sonstige (others)
Important: Don’t forget the country code and area code.
Address
Typ – Address type
You can choose from:
- Privatwohnsitz – residential address
- Beruflich – work address
- Sonstige – other address
Straße und Nummer – street and number
Postleitzahl – postcode
Ort – city
Land – country – when searching for country in German, look for i.e. Rumänien (Romania)
Once you have finished filling in all your personal details, click on Weiter (i.e. continue).
Step 2: Professional experience (Berufserfahrung)
In the CV template in German language you have the possibility to enter details about previous jobs and your current job.
And here you can enter more than paid jobs.
It is recommended to introduce internships, voluntary work, training courses and more.
How to get started?
Important: start with your current job – or the most recent job you had.
What details are required?
1. Occupation or position held at the respective workplace (Beruf oder Funktion)
If you don’t know the exact name of your job or position, look up in an online dictionary.
2. Details of the company where you were or are still employed (Arbeitgeber)
In this section you must enter:
- name of company/employer (Name)
- the name of the city where the employer is based (Stadt)
- country (Land)
3. The period you were employed at a particular job in the German CV template
- from (von) – until (bis)
- Day (TT or DD – from Tag), Month (MM – from Monat), (DDYYY or YYYY – from Jahr)
- if you are still employed at the most recent job listed on your CV (which you should start with, by the way), write the date you started (von) and then click the Laufend button (current job).
4. Details of main tasks and responsibilities (Wichtigste Tätigkeiten / Zuständigkeiten angeben)
Please note: this is the most important section of the CV. Therefore, you should also give it maximum importance.
How to write about tasks and responsibilities?
- First, make a list of your activities and responsibilities at work.
- Of these, choose the three or four most important – don’t forget: the resume should not exceed 2 pages
- find the best translation.
Because I know it’s not always easy to translate into German, here’s what I found for you:
If you need inspiration in writing activities and responsibilities in German, I recommend looking on Berufenet Arbeitsagentur. Here you will find job descriptions and responsibilities for many professions, jobs and positions in German.
You have two search possibilities on Berufenet Arbeitsagentur:
- you can enter the search word in German
- look in the lists of professions, trades or occupations: Berufsfelder sau Tätigkeitsfelder
Examples of job descriptions in German for CVs
German language job description for logistics assistant – Assistent/in – Logistik
- Transport-, Umschlag- und Lagerprozesse (TUL-Prozesse) organisieren, vom Versand über den Umschlag bis hin zur Lagerung von Waren
- TUL-Mittel zur Verfügung stellen
- Gütertransport- und Lagerleistungen abwickeln und kontrollieren
- Ladungen sichern und überwachen
- bei der Kommissionierung mitwirken
- logistische Prozesse dokumentieren, Informationen auswerten und verarbeiten
…
Job description for Laboratory Chemist in German – Chemielaborant/in
The full job description can be found at Berufenet Arbeitsagentur Chemielaborant/in
- für den Laborbetrieb erforderliche Chemikalien, Geräte und sonstiges Laborzubehör bestellen und bereithalten
- Laborgeräte, -einrichtungen sowie Laborcomputer bedienen und pflegen
- Versuchsabläufe planen, Apparaturen aufbauen
- organische und anorganische Stoffe hinsichtlich ihrer qualitativen und quantitativen Zusammensetzung sowie Struktur analysieren
- Feststoffe zerkleinern, sieben, filtrieren, destillieren
- fotometrische Bestimmungen vornehmen, d.h. Messung der Lichtstärke
- volumetrische und gravimetrische Bestimmungen durchführen
- Stoffe reinigen, identifizieren und charakterisieren
- …
Job description for a mechanical engineer in German – Ingenieur/in – Maschinenbau
The full job description can be found at Get in Engineering.
- Maschinen, Maschinenteile, Anlagen wie Produktions- und Fertigungsanlagen oder Windkraftanlagen projektieren und konstruieren, Simulationen durchführen, Prototypen entwickeln
- Produktionsverfahren und Produktionsmittel optimieren, Schwachstellenanalysen durchführen – z.B. durch den Einsatz von Toleranzmanagement in den Entwicklungs- und Planungsprozessen
- …
Would you like to find the job description in German for your specialisation? Go to Berufenet Arbeitsagentur.
5. Add a new work experience (Berufserfahrung hinzufügen) in the Europass German CV template
Step 3: Education and training (Allgemeine und berufliche Bildung)
My advice: Before you start filling out this section, go to a certified translator and ask them to translate your diplomas into German.
Do this for two reasons:
- you will know how to translate into German the qualification you have obtained or are about to obtain
- you will be able to scan and attach to your European CV your diplomas and their certified translation
What details are required?
Start with the last school or course you completed. In general, this is enough.
You do NOT necessarily have to write all the schools you have completed, from primary school to university.
1. Title of certificate or diploma obtained (Bezeichnung der erworbenen Qualifikation)
2. Educational institution/training provider (Bildungseinrichtung) and its address – write in Addresszeile
Postleitzahl – postcode
Ort – city
Land – country
3. Website (Webseite)
4. Period of study or schooling:
- from (von) – until (bis)
- day (TT or DD – from Tag), month (MM – from Monat), year (DDYYYY or YYYY – from Jahr)
- if you are still attending a school or college, indicate the date you started (von) and then press the Laufend button (currently)
5. Further details (Weitere Einzelheiten)
If you want to add more details, you can do so by ticking the box next to the text above: Weitere Einzelheiten
6. Add another type of education (Neuen Eintrag hinzufügen)
Click on the blue field where the text above appears to enter another education course you have taken.
Step 4: Personal skills (persönliche Fähigkeiten) in the CV template in German language
You can give details of the following personal skills:
- mother tongue(s) – Muttersprache(n)
- other known languages – Weitere Sprache(n)
What are your personal skills?
1. Muttersprache(n) – mother tongue(s)
Here you can choose from the list mother tongues / languages learned in the family, if applicable.
2. Weitere Sprache(n) – other known languages
The first thing to do here is to choose a foreign language (Sprache): e.g. German.
You then move on to Self-assessment – Sebstbeurteilung, i.e. you show how well you understand, speak and write a foreign language.
The important thing is not to overestimate yourself. Once at the interview, the potential employer will realise how good you are in that language.
3. Digitale Kompetenzen – digital skills
CV – digital skills in German
The employer is interested, in this case, in seeing how proficient you are in using computers, the internet and mobile apps for:
- Data processing – Daten-Verarbeitung
- Communication – Kommunikation
- Content creation – Erstellung von Inhalten
- Security – Sicherheit
- Problem solving – Problemlösung
Within each category you will have to select the option that suits you best.
On the right hand side you already have choices that you can draw in the left field.
If you struggle to understand the German text, you can also open the English version of the European Europass CV online.
Step 5: How to save the Europass Curriculum Vitae
1. When you have finished filling in the personal skills section, click on Weiter, bottom right.
2. You will now be able to view your German Europass CV.
3. Next, click the Beenden – Finish button (End), top right.
4. You will now be able to see your account as a whole. At the bottom left, you will need to click on the Lebenslauf erstellen – i.e. “Create a CV”.
5. Choose Europass-Lebenslauf-Importieren – i.e. import your Europass CV
6. Choose where you want the file to be saved
Mein Gerät means My device (computer, laptop, phone etc.)
Congratulations! 🙂 You have completed the online German CV template.
Let’s recap how to complete a Europass Curriculum Vitae in German
First condition: go to the Europass website, where you will find a European CV template in German.
Step 1: Personal data (Meine persönlichen Angaben)
Step 2: Work experience (Berufserfahrung)
Step 3: Education and training (Allgemeine und berufliche Bildung)
Step 4: Personal skills (Persönliche Fähigkeiten)
Step 5: How to save the Europass CV
How to hire someone to write your CV
If you still need help writing your employment record in German, I can recommend an option I have used several times. Namely, to hire a German CV writing specialist on Fiverr*.
Or you can hire someone just to proofread your resume.
Fiverr* is an online platform where a lot of freelancers offer their services. You can search by the word BEWERBUNG (job application).
Then you contact the person in the ad and within a few days you have a professional CV.
Conclusion
A great place to find a German CV template is on the Europass website.
There you will find a CV template in German which you can fill in with:
- Personal information
- Information about your professional experience
- You can also fill in information about your education and training
- Data about your personal skills
You can then save it as a PDF.
If you still find it difficult or don’t have the time, I recommend hiring someone to write your CV on Fiverr.
Good luck!
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