A Dutch CV is a plain document. It is read quickly, it is expected to be true, and it is judged on whether the reader can find what they need without effort. There is no single official format, but there is a clear set of habits among Dutch recruiters and hiring managers, and a CV that follows them reads as competent before a word of content has been weighed. This guide lists those habits and the choices behind them, for a CV written in English for an English-language vacancy in the Netherlands.
One page or two
Two pages is the ordinary length for someone with several years of experience; one page for a recent graduate or a first job. Three pages is read as a lack of editing, except in academic or medical CVs, which follow their own conventions. Length is not the goal in itself: the rule is that everything on the page earns its place for this job. A twelve-year career written for a project management role mentions the two years in sales in one line, not in six bullets.
The CareerCraft generator holds a CV to two pages because the house template was calibrated at that length, and because the second page is where recruiters stop reading in practice. When the content runs over, it trims the oldest and least relevant entries first.
A4 or Letter
The paper size in the Netherlands, as in the rest of Europe, is A4. Almost no one prints a CV any more, so a PDF laid out on US Letter is read on screen without anyone noticing, as long as it is a PDF and not a Word file that reflows. If you do expect printing, A4 is the safe choice. CareerCraft lays out every CV and cover letter on A4, in the PDF and in the Word file.
A photo, or not
Photos on CVs are common in the Netherlands, more so than in the United Kingdom or the United States, and less so than in Germany. They are not required, and a growing number of employers, especially larger ones and the public sector, prefer CVs without one to keep the first selection neutral. The practical rule: a photo is optional, never expected, and a plain CV without one is never marked down. If you include one, it is a small, recent, neutral head shot, not a social media picture.
What goes at the top
Name, job title or target role, city, telephone number, e-mail address and LinkedIn profile. The full street address, date of birth, nationality and marital status used to be standard on Dutch CVs and are no longer necessary; some employers now ask applicants to leave them out. Two lines that do help, because they answer the recruiter’s first questions:
- Your right to work: “EU citizen”, “Highly skilled migrant permit, valid until 2028”, or “Requires sponsorship”.
- Your location and availability: “Based in Rotterdam, available from June”, or “Relocating to the Netherlands in September”.
Below the contact block, a profile of three or four lines: who you are professionally, the field and level you work at, and the one or two things that matter most for the job. Written for the vacancy, in the third person without pronouns or in the first person, but not as a list of adjectives. “Results-driven team player with a passion for excellence” tells a Dutch reader nothing and costs you the line.
Experience, in reverse order
Most recent job first. For each: job title, employer, city, dates with month and year, and three to five lines on what you did and what came of it. Numbers where they exist: team size, budget, volume, time saved, revenue, error rate. The Dutch reader trusts a specific, modest claim over a broad one. “Coordinated the migration of 14 suppliers to the Breda warehouse; opened on the planned date” is stronger than “Led a complex, high-impact logistics transformation”.
Gaps are not a problem if they are visible and explained in two words: “parental leave”, “relocation”, “sabbatical, travel”. An unexplained gap raises a question the recruiter has to ask; an explained one does not.
Education and Dutch equivalents
Degree, institution, city and country, year. If your degree is from outside the Netherlands, it helps to add the level in Dutch terms, because Dutch employers sort by them: WO (research university, bachelor’s and master’s), HBO (university of applied sciences, bachelor’s level) and MBO (vocational). Nuffic, the Dutch organisation for international education, evaluates foreign diplomas through the IDW service and publishes country-by-country comparisons; for regulated professions such as healthcare, law and teaching an official recognition is required, not optional.
Languages, skills, the rest
List languages with a level, using the CEFR scale (A1 to C2) or a plain word such as “native”, “fluent” or “working knowledge”. Dutch is worth listing even at A2: it signals intent, and for roles labelled “Dutch preferred” it is sometimes the difference between an interview and a rejection. Tools and technical skills go in a short list; soft skills do not belong in a list at all, they belong in the experience lines as things you did.
“References available on request” is left out: everyone assumes it. Hobbies are optional and usually left out above junior level, unless one is relevant to the job.
Language and spelling
An English-language vacancy gets an English CV. British spelling is the convention in the Netherlands (“organisation”, “programme”), and job titles are written in English even for Dutch employers: “Business Analyst”, not “Business Analist”. Consistent dates, one font, no tables that break in an applicant tracking system, and a file name with your name in it: Ines-Carvalho-CV.pdf, not CV_final_v3.pdf.
The short version
- Two pages at most, PDF, A4 or Letter, one font, no tricks.
- Contact block with right to work and availability; no date of birth or marital status.
- A profile written for the job, then experience in reverse order with specific results.
- Education with Dutch levels where useful; languages with CEFR levels; Dutch listed if you have any.
- Photo optional. References line out. British spelling.
CareerCraft writes a CV in this format from your own documents for one job at a time, and the motivation letter guide covers the document that goes with it.