Working abroad in Europe had always been a dream for you. But…how to apply for a job in another European country? We have reviewed the documents and selected the essential information for you to apply with one of the most important tools: the Europass CV.

Yes, the Europass CV is still alive!

For many people, Europass CV is generic, plain, and not creative. But, believe it or not, Europass is the most widely used CV template in Europe, especially in civil services jobs and by consulting companies. According to the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), 38 million Europass CVs were completed or downloaded since its launch in February 2005! Widely spread across Europe, its easy and free access is one of the keys to its success.

Over the years, the Europass website has been regularly updated to adapt to the market’s needs and the growing number of users.  The last update was in July 2020 in order to make it even easier for Europeans to study and work in the other EU Member States.

What documents are part of the Europass CV?

Available in 26 languages, Europass has five documents. The following two are the applicants’ responsibility to complete:

• Curriculum Vitae: a seven-section document that includes your professional experience, educational path, and volunteer work, etc;
• Language Passport: a self-assessment of your language skills, using levels from A to C;

The following three documents are issued by national education and training authorities. You must ask them for this information:

• Europass mobility: in case you have done an internship, volunteer work, or a program abroad like Erasmus, you can ask the host entity to give you an official declaration;
• Certificate supplement: In case you have done vocational training, this certificate will inform recruiters about the skills learned;
• Diploma supplement: In case you hold a higher education diploma, contact your education entity to issue the official document for you;

Why should you use it?

Have you ever wondered why Europass exists? The goal is clear: to standardize job applications in order to promote career mobility in the European Union countries. By using these European-level reference documents, applicants can effectively communicate their skills and qualifications, in a clear way understandable by all European companies.

Plus, the Europass CV is valid whether you are applying in your home country or to a job abroad. You can use Europass documents in 34 European Countries – EU countries plus members of the European Free Trade Association, including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. It is also available in 28 languages, which allows you to apply anywhere in Europe.

All you have to do is go to the Europass CV website with the help of the online editor. Nevertheless, Europass also has its limitations, since the template is not editable and the layout can be too simplistic. So we will help you make sure yours stands out.

How can yours stand out?

Getting a job in a prestigious company in Europe begins with an impressive and detailed Europass CV. That’s the first thing recruiters want to see before they proceed with the interview process and hiring the candidate. However, for the IT industry, the default Europass CV template is far from ideal. To help you, we detailed 4 tips to help you improve your Europass CV. Some ideas include adding a CV summary, a list of the stack of technologies in each professional experience, and an auto-evaluation table of your skills.

Sprint CV – We help you make Europass your best friend

To have your own free optimized Europass CV, you just need to go to SprintCV website and generate it automatically after filling in your information. If you don’t want to do all of this from scratch, you can convert your LinkedIn profile and generate your Europass CV in less than 5 minutes. If you are still wondering if the Europass CV template is relevant for your career, we give you the reasons why it’s, by far, the most used CV template in Europe!

Besides, we also want to be on your side when you decide to go all-in for a new challenge. We are also here to provide you with free guidance on the next steps of your career such as:

• Second opinion on your CV
• Advice and help you to search for a better job
• Connect you with companies hiring to work at the European Commission

Feel free to reach out to our founder on Linkedin or via Email.