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2026-04-12 · 6 min read
US resume vs UK CV vs German Lebenslauf vs Indian CV. The format, content, and cultural expectations differ more than you think. Here's what changes by country.
"CV" and "resume" are sometimes used interchangeably in English, but across countries they mean very different things. Apply for a job in Germany with a US-style resume and you'll get filtered out for being "incomplete". Apply in the US with a German-style CV and you'll get filtered out for being "weird".
Here's what actually changes country-to-country, based on real norms — not the generic "be polite and professional" advice you've read a thousand times.
Length: 1 page (strictly enforced at entry and mid-career in most industries). 2 pages OK at senior level.
Photo: No. Omitting a photo is standard; including one is a legal liability for the employer and can cause your CV to be discarded.
Personal details: No date of birth, no marital status, no gender, no passport number. Full name, city/state, phone, email, LinkedIn. That's it.
Style: Achievement-oriented. Every bullet ideally quantified. Strong verbs. No paragraphs — bullets only.
Cover letter: Optional for most roles. If you include one, it's short (250-300 words) and specific to the role.
Signals that matter: Brand-name companies, quantified impact, movement/promotions.
Length: 2 pages is the norm, even for mid-career. 1 page is sometimes seen as too thin.
Photo: No. Same reason as US — diversity bias regulations.
Personal details: No date of birth, no marital status. A Right-To-Work statement is helpful if you have work authorisation: "Eligible to work in the UK without visa sponsorship."
Style: More narrative than US — you'll often see a short paragraph under each role instead of pure bullets. A short "Personal Statement" (similar to a summary) is standard.
Cover letter: More expected than in the US, especially for graduate / early-career roles.
Signals that matter: Institution name (Oxbridge, Russell Group) carries more weight than in the US; "first" (equivalent to a 3.7+ GPA) is worth mentioning.
Length: 2-3 pages is standard. A 1-page CV signals you're hiding experience.
Photo: Yes — still common and expected in most industries (changing slowly). Professional headshot, top-right corner of page 1. Some companies officially say "no photo needed"; include one anyway unless they explicitly forbid.
Personal details: Date of birth, city of birth, nationality, and marital status are still common (particularly in traditional industries like finance, law, manufacturing). Younger / tech companies increasingly don't require these.
Style: Tabular, chronological, dense. Every role includes start and end dates to the month ("04/2022 – 08/2024"). Gaps need explanation.
Cover letter (Anschreiben): Required almost always. 1 page, formal tone. Germans take this document seriously — it's a core part of your application.
Signals that matter: Precision, chronological cleanliness, formal qualifications (Ausbildung, specific certifications).
Length: 1-2 pages. 1 page is still the dominant norm at junior/mid levels.
Photo: Optional but common. Doesn't raise concerns if included.
Personal details: City + region, nationality. Age is sometimes included at senior level, less common at junior.
Style: Clean, compact, fact-dense. A left-side column with skills / education / languages, a right-side column with experience. Bilingual CVs (French + English) are worth preparing.
Cover letter (Lettre de motivation): Expected. Formal, 1 page, structured around "your company → me → us".
Signals that matter: Elite institutions (Grandes Écoles) carry enormous weight; bilingual fluency is valuable; international experience is a positive differentiator.
Length: 2 pages is common, even at mid-career. 1 page is seen as thin by most recruiters.
Photo: Sometimes included (especially in government / PSU / traditional industries). Private sector tech is moving away from photos, following the US norm.
Personal details: Date of birth is common. Father's name appears on traditional templates but is increasingly dropped. Marital status is included in some older templates; skip it for tech roles.
Style: Heavy on technical skills sections (often a full skills section at the top). "Key Skills" boxes. Many candidates include "Declaration" lines at the bottom ("I hereby declare that the above information is true…") — this is a hangover from government paperwork; drop it for any modern company.
Cover letter: Less emphasised than in Europe, more than in the US. Include one if the application form asks; skip otherwise.
Signals that matter: Institute (IIT / NIT / BITS / IIM), company prestige, years of experience — often listed prominently.
Length: 1-2 pages.
Photo: Optional, about 50/50 in practice. No strong norm either way.
Personal details: Date of birth is common but decreasingly so. Nationality only if relevant for work permits.
Style: Clean, direct, bullet-based — closer to US/UK than DACH.
Cover letter: Common for formal roles, less so for tech.
Signals that matter: English fluency is assumed; Dutch is a plus but rarely a requirement for international roles.
Length: 1-2 pages for international roles. For Japanese companies, a separate Japanese-format 履歴書 (rirekisho) is required — strict template, often handwritten.
Photo: Yes, always, for Japanese-format CVs. For English CVs targeting international firms, optional.
Personal details: Age, gender, and photo are standard on the Japanese format. Nationality matters for visa purposes.
Style: For Japanese-format: extremely structured, handwritten or filled-in from a strict template. For international format: US-style works.
Cover letter: Expected. Deferential tone. Respect for hierarchy matters.
Signals that matter: Continuity (job-hopping is still viewed negatively), Japanese language ability (JLPT level), specific technical qualifications.
Length: 2-3 pages is common.
Photo: Optional. Increasingly less common in international / Western-run firms.
Personal details: Nationality, visa status, and date of birth are often included. Driver's license (for certain roles).
Style: Western format works for international firms in the UAE / Dubai. Traditional local firms may expect more detail.
Cover letter: Common, especially for senior roles.
Signals that matter: Nationality and visa status matter heavily for hiring — not because of discrimination but because of work-permit logistics.
Length: 2-3 pages is the norm. 1 page is seen as thin.
Photo: No, following the US / UK norm.
Personal details: No date of birth. Visa / work authorisation status is helpful to call out explicitly.
Style: Similar to the UK — narrative-friendly, bullets and short paragraphs mixed.
Cover letter: Expected for most applications.
Signals that matter: Visa status, Australian/NZ work experience preferred for local roles. Higher-education institution matters less than in the UK.
Right now, CVCL ships with a Modern template optimised for US/UK/India tech markets — single column, ATS-friendly, Space Grotesk + DM Sans. If you're applying in DACH or Japan, you'll want to manually adapt the output (we provide editable DOCX for exactly this reason).
A future update will add country-specific templates. If that's important to you, email support — we prioritise templates based on user demand.
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