Spanish CV Template In English [Ultimate English Guide]

Your CV is perhaps the most important document that an employer will look at in your application. It effectively summarizes all your experience, and lets them know your abilities at a glance. This helps employers to shortlist candidates at the first stage for any job. They will usually spend less than a minute looking at each CV. Therefore, you must make sure that your CV projects an impressive yet accurate picture of your achievements so you stand out in front of any employers and get more interview calls.

This guide will give you tips on writing the perfect CV when applying to jobs in Spain, and the kind of things that will stand out for a potential employer.

Simple Spanish Style CV Template In English

This is your chance to make the best first impression; after all, a good CV is instrumental in landing you that interview call that will take your application further. So your aim is to pique the interest of the hiring manager enough that they will want to speak with you to learn more about your experience and skills. It is worth spending some time figuring out how to put all of your information on that brief document in an ideal manner.

You can find numerous templates online to help you with organizing your CV. Usually, CVs should be between one to two pages, with appropriate margins. The margins can be around 1.5 to 2 cm on all sides. Deviating too much from the margins can give the document a messier and unprofessional look.

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How To Write A Spanish CV In English

A CV is expected to be short, not exceeding two pages in most cases. Generally, employers will be expecting the following to be on your CV:

Personal Information

  • A Personal Photograph

In Spain, it is common and expected of candidates to include their photograph with their CV. This will typically be done at the very top of the document. If you are unable to add your picture to the CV, you can also include it separately, though this is not ideal. You should add it to the top of your document unless you have been specifically instructed not to.

Make sure the picture is professionally taken, for this will make a huge difference. A confident smile and appropriate attire can indicate professionalism which will boost your application. The CV is not the right place for a casual picture or a selfie! This, or an uninterested/unhappy expression is sure not to do you any favors in the job market.

If you are uncomfortable attaching a photo, remember that it is not compulsory, just very frequently seen. More recently, ‘anonymous’ CVs without personal photographs are also becoming accepted as employers realize the range of people applying to their companies.

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  • Personal Details

You should include your name, date of birth, nationality, full address and contact details at the top of your CV. You can even include your NIE (which is your foreigner’s ID number) if you already have the authorization to work in the country. And if you don’t include your age or marital status here for whatever reasons, remember than it is legal and acceptable in Spain to be asked about these two details, unlike some other European countries.

There are a few things to remember here. If you have a long name, it may help to mention only your first and last name for logistical reasons. This will make addressing you much easier and can avoid confusion. Moreover, if you are an expat, you should mention your country in the address and a contact number with the correct country code. You don’t want to miss a job opportunity just because you forgot to mention the correct phone number! And in case of your address, it will help an employer to know if they need to sponsor your visa when they make a job offer.

Your email address should be professional and ideally only consist if your name and no other abstract information or words. So you might want to ditch that high school email address and instead make a separate one for professional use only. 

  • Personal Statement

You can also include a personal summary, though this is not mandatory. A personal statement can be used as an attention grabbing tool to summarize your goals as a professional. You should keep this shorter than 100 words to convince a recruiter to actually read your CV.

Work Experience

This section will be filled out in reverse chronological order, meaning your most recent experience will go first, then the one before that and so on. The language you use in this section should aim to ‘sell’ yourself. You should focus on what you were responsible for and the results that you were able to achieve at each of your workplaces, while highlighting how they are relevant to the position for which you are applying. Emphasize the qualities that make you unique and therefore a great employee. 

Using bullet points will help keep this section clear and organized. Moreover, using the right language is important. A lot of companies today use Application Tracking Systems (ATS), which means that they will be filtering CVs based on a few keywords. You should make sure you use the most relevant keywords for your profession or industry so you make it past this initial level of screening.

If you took a gap between any of your jobs, it is your choice if you wish to mention it on the CV or not. But generally, for any gap longer than a few months, employers may ask you what you were doing. Furthermore, if you wish, you can also include your voluntary work here which can be a big asset for you. It can demonstrate that you have interests in various areas.

For each position, you can mention the following:

  • The name of the company
  • Your position or the title of your post (if your work was part time or you were an intern, you can also mention that here)
  • Dates that you were employed there
  • Location (if in another country)
  • Responsibilities that were assigned to you (mentioning them in bullets can make them easier to locate)
  • Results that you were able to achieve, which you can mention in quantifiable terms to make your achievements more concrete (e.g. if you were able to achieve a 10% increase in sales)
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Education

Again, this section should be in reverse chronological order. You can mention your university degree and major, as well as any other diplomas or certifications you have earned. For recent graduates, this section will be lengthier and have more details. But if you have been in the workforce even for a few years, you should make sure that you moderate the level of detail in this section and it does not end up overshadowing your work history. In such cases it is also better to have the career section before the education section (and vice versa for recent graduates).

You should mention the following for each degree:

  • Name of the institute
  • Program that you were enrolled in or the title on your degree
  • Years that you studied for
  • Location 
  • In some cases, you can also include your GPA or grade, though this is purely optional and up to you

Skills

In this section, you can mention any activities that you believe are a good addition to your CV and which would benefit your employer. These will showcase your strengths and can include software that you are adept at using, languages that you can use proficiently, and any other interest areas that reflect how well-rounded you are as an individual (and by extension an employee). But maintain a balance; don’t include too many skills here lest it distracts from your more important ones.

References

This is an optional section. In some cases, you might choose to mention the names of your references straightaway so that they are easier to contact. However, if you wish to provide these names on request only, that is also acceptable and completely your own choice.

Spanish or English – In which language should you write your CV?

If you are applying to a company where the majority uses English and the company conducts its business in the language, then you should submit a CV written in English. However, for most of the companies in Spain, your CV will probably be screened by someone whose native language is Spanish. If you are not fluent in the language and are unsure about your spelling and grammar, it is always safer to stick to English. You can try learning Spanish in the meantime, and can even mention it in the skills section to let your employer know that you are dedicated to learning the language. At the same time, conduct a little research into the company culture and the geographical location: in some places, sending an English CV could be frowned upon.

To improve your chances of getting noticed, it could help to submit a CV written in Spanish. However, do this only if you are comfortable with the language and will not be making any mistakes. Maybe even have a friend who is a native speaker, proofread your CV for errors. Also, sending in a CV in Spanish will also set the tone for future interactions. You are signaling to the employer that you are fluent and they might even request for your first interview to be in Spanish. So be aware of the implications of this decision and choose carefully.

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Final Thoughts

This guide will have hopefully clarified a few things for you when it comes to submitting your CV for job applications. Your CV should be a carefully worded document that best captures your work ethic while also allowing your personality to shine through and making the employer come back for a second look. For the most part, all you need your CV to do is to land you an interview offer where you can elaborate on each of these points in greater detail. Now that you have all the information at hand, happy job hunting!