Create a CV – The essential core of your application

The CV (also known as „Curriculum Vitae“) is the core of any application. At first glance, it looks like a dry list of all facts, but a recruiter can learn everything important about you from your CV. In principle, they can quickly determine from the CV whether you are suitable for the desired position.

This is also why the trend, including at SYNERGIE, is towards simplified application processes. Instead of thick stacks of paper, which the applicant painstakingly gathers, often only a meaningful CV is required in the first step as a rough impression. And only when there is mutual interest are additional documents requested for the individual information in the CV.

This is important for your impactful CV: (Professional) roles

List your career progression chronologically in your CV. Whether you start with your current or oldest position is not so important. The main thing is that the order in the CV is chronological.

No gaps

Don't leave anything out! An experienced recruiter will spot gaps in your CV at a glance. So, it's not worth trying to gloss over periods of time. List any possible „gaps“ and try to explain them briefly. You could also mention them again in your cover letter.

Applicant Tracking Systems used today, like the one SYNERGIE uses, visualise CVs and highlight potential gaps at a glance – as the graphic demonstrates here.

Important details

Briefly describe the activities at each stage in your CV. Use the CV to not only list job title and company, but also to go into areas of responsibility and ultimately prove your suitability.

You can also adapt these as needed to suit the desired position and address the key requirements of the role.

Leave out unnecessary things

Which primary school you attended is usually as irrelevant as a precise list of all 15 Word training courses. Leave out unnecessary information in your CV and summarise other points. Even your parents' profession is only of interest, if at all, to recent graduates directly after their studies or school-leaving qualifications.

Personal Details

Consider which personal details you wish to include in your CV. Name, place of residence, full contact details (!) with phone and email address, and also date of birth are standard, of course.

Information about your personal life situation in your CV (such as „married“ or the number and ages of your children) allows your potential future employer to draw conclusions from their experiences with other candidates in similar life circumstances. If you want to counter assumptions, communicate your circumstances actively: If you mention (younger) children in your CV, for example, point out that you have childcare and are therefore flexible with working hours (if this is the case). By the way: Omitting such information in your CV might seem tempting at first glance to get a job, but it can then lead to problems later in the employment relationship.

So, bank on openness – and not just on your CV!

Your knowledge and skills

Whether it's language skills, IT skills, or special skills relevant to your profession, certificates or similar: You assess your abilities yourself in your CV. As a rule, you can divide them, for example, into „basic knowledge“, „advanced knowledge“, and „expert knowledge“ or represent the depth of the ability graphically, e.g. with stars.

Important: For each requirement stated in the job advertisement, consider whether you possess the relevant knowledge and can cite it in your CV.

Also important: remain honest! (This applies to your entire CV, of course). If you state „fluent English skills“ on your CV, your interviewer will almost certainly test this during the interview.

Hobbies

Hobbies like „reading“ and „going to the cinema“ are not necessarily helpful on a CV. However, if you are involved in voluntary work or are part of a football team, this can be relevant depending on the job and should be included on your CV.

In principle, (real) hobbies make you more interesting to HR professionals and establish a personal connection. However, they are primarily useful in your CV if they are genuine hobbies and passions, or if they have a connection to your future job.

Photo - Yes or No?

Your CV, or an additional cover sheet with your application documents, usually contains a photo of you. Although anonymised applications have been discussed in recent years, applications without a photo have not yet caught on in Germany.

A likeable photograph on your CV can also be additionally persuasive and impress the recruiter. However, be sure to use a professionally taken photograph (not a casual holiday snap!) on which you are dressed as you would be in your potential new job.

And A smile helps 😉

Colourful or sober

The same applies to your CV: form follows function. First and foremost, your CV must contain all the important information and present it clearly. Depending on the length of your professional career to date, a CV should ideally be no more than one to three pages long.

How you wish to visually design your CV is entirely up to you. The design says the most about you and your personality and should suit you (and your desired job).

There will be a complete renunciation of major graphical implementations when using your CV from the social networks XING or LinkedIn: More and more companies, including SYNERGIE, offer a simple and quick application method by allowing applicants to simply enter the link to their XING profile. A CV is then virtually generated from the data available there. It is, of course, important that your profile is accordingly well-maintained.

And one more tip to finish.

With the tool CV.com You can easily create your PDF CV from your XING profile, if you still want to have a bit of input.

More application tips in our blog
Application Template: Find information on patterns and templates
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