German CV format and cover letter: what employers expect

Germany uses the tabular CV: dates in a narrow left column and the role, employer and achievements on the right. The Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) recommends no more than two A4 pages, with the most recent station first, cut down to what matters for the job you are applying for. Between them, EURES and the Federal Employment Agency suggest these sections:

• Personal details and contact information, usually with a photo.
• Work experience, including internships, newest first.
• Schooling, vocational training and higher education, with dates and final grades where they help you.
• Further training and certificates relevant to the role.
• Language skills, graded by level.
• Other professional knowledge, such as IT skills.
• Interests and voluntary work, only if they say something useful about you.

Two things surprise most internationals. First, gaps get noticed, because the format lists every station with month and year. Give each one a factual line rather than leaving a hole. Second, the German CV is less of a sales document than a US résumé. A short profile at the top is fine, but recruiters want verifiable stations and results, not adjectives. The achievement bullets that work anywhere work here too: action, what you did, and a number.

The DAAD puts it well: German companies don’t insist on application photos, but they are customary. EURES agrees that despite the trend towards anonymous selection, a friendly photo with a neutral background is still part of a German application. It goes top right on the CV or on a cover sheet. Use a professional portrait, not a holiday picture or a selfie.

You decide how much personal data to share. The General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) bans discrimination at work on grounds of race or ethnic origin, sex, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual identity. Some employers ask for anonymised CVs with no photo or details that reveal gender or origin. You can leave out date of birth, marital status and nationality; a line on your work authorisation is worth more if you are not an EU citizen.

On signatures, the Federal Employment Agency advises signing the CV and cover letter with your full name for a paper application, and inserting a scanned signature for email or online applications.

When a job ad asks for “vollständige Bewerbungsunterlagen” (complete application documents), the Federal Employment Agency lists the contents as the cover letter, an optional cover sheet with photo, the CV, your certificates and job references, and any further attachments. For speculative applications and student jobs, a short application (Kurzbewerbung) of a cover letter and a one-page CV is common.

Follow the channel the ad names: email, post or the company’s own portal. For email, EURES recommends a single PDF of no more than 2 MB. For portals, upload the documents separately as PDFs. Never send originals by post, only copies. Some employers also ask for a motivation letter (Motivationsschreiben), which explains your personal reasons for wanting the job, while the cover letter argues your fit.

A German recruiter can’t place a degree or an employer they have never heard of. Do the translation work for them:

• Degrees: give the original title, then the German or English equivalent in brackets. If the anabin database rates your university H+ and your degree as equivalent, say so. If not, a ZAB Statement of Comparability (€208) settles the question for employers and for the visa.
• Employers: add one line on what the company does and its size. “Logistics provider, 400 employees, Lagos” tells the reader far more than a name.
• Documents: enclose copies of evidence for the training and jobs you mention. EURES advises having qualifications and references translated into German when you apply to a small business.
• Grades: if your system is unfamiliar, add the scale (“3.6 / 4.0”) rather than converting it yourself.

Instead of listing referees, German applicants attach written job references (Arbeitszeugnisse). By law, every employee is entitled to a written reference when a job ends. A basic one confirms the type and length of the work, and on request it must also assess performance and conduct (a qualified reference). The law also says it must be clear and must not use wording designed to say something other than what it appears to say.

If your previous employers don’t issue references like these, ask a former manager for a signed letter on company letterhead that confirms your title, dates and main responsibilities, and translate it. Internship certificates are worth attaching mainly when you are starting out.

The German cover letter is read, and it is short. The Federal Employment Agency’s guidance, summarised:

• No more than one A4 page, addressed to a named contact person with the correct address. Call or check the ad to find the name.
• Say how you found the job: the ad, a job fair or a personal recommendation.
• Explain why you fit the role, with your professional and personal qualifications, in short active sentences. Avoid “would” and “could”.
• Mention salary expectations and your earliest start date only when the ad asks.
• Close by asking for an interview. EURES adds that internationals should explain why they want to work in Germany, and end with “Mit freundlichen Grüßen”.

Templates are for inspiration only; the Federal Employment Agency warns against copying them. One specific detail about the company does more than three compliments. For a structure that works in any language, see our cover letter template guide.

Match the job ad. An ad in English means an English application is expected; an ad in German usually means German, unless it says otherwise. If your German isn’t good enough to write the whole letter, don’t hand in a machine-translated one and hope. Apply in English only where the ad allows it, and state your German level honestly using the CEFR scale.

If you are converting a US-style résumé, add month-and-year dates to every station, split experience and education into clean tabular blocks, and let it grow to two pages if your experience warrants it. Keep the quantified bullets. Before you send, run it through a CV check and compare your wording with the posting, since many employers now take applications only through their own portals.