If you are looking for a job in Europe, you may have doubts about how to prepare a résumé
Europass is a platform that allows you to generate a CV that can be understood in all European Union member states. In other words, it can become your ally when looking for a job in another country. It was created in 2004 after the European Parliament approved a measure aimed at promoting a document that reflected the skills and competencies of a person in a transparent way for all member states. Or, in other words, HR managers in Germany can find what they are looking for in the same place as someone in Slovenia who wants to hire a worker. They save time and you have a greater chance that your CV will be read.
In Spain, 1,245,934 people used this tool to complete their résumés last year. Of these, more than half (646,937) stated that they lacked experience, and only 58,105 indicated that they had work experience spanning more than 20 years. In addition, in most cases (538,840 people) users indicated that they only spoke one foreign language, followed by 393,963 individuals who spoke two, 157,534 who spoke three and 63,413 people who could communicate in four or more languages.
Creating your Europass is very easy. In addition, you can save it in the cloud on Google Drive or One Drive and access it from any computer or create different versions in different languages, or with different professional profiles. The Europass consists of five documents, two of which you must complete yourself.
- The parts you can fill in:
Curriculum vitae: Enter the information requested: personal information, type of application – the job you are looking for -, professional experience… Be clear and concise and, above all, be careful with the spelling!
Language Passport: This is a self-assessment tool for language skills and qualifications.
Cover letter: This is optional. This is what is known as a ‘letter of introduction’ in Spain. It is not mandatory but it will help recruiters to know a little bit more about you. Or, don’t you introduce yourself when you meet someone new? - What you should request:
Europass Mobility: If you have studied, worked or done volunteer work in other European countries, this document will contain the knowledge and skills acquired. For example: work experience in companies, an academic course as part of an exchange programme or volunteer work with an NGO. It must be completed by two organisations: first, the one from the country of origin, and secondly, the one from the host country. In this case, you will have to ask the Centre that sent you abroad to contact the National Europass Centre.
Certificate Supplement: this is a document attached to Technical Qualifications or to a Vocational Training Certificate describing the acquired knowledge and skills. You can request it from the National Certificate Supplement Inventories or from the National Reference Point. It helps understand the qualifications acquired.
Diploma Supplement: This is a document that is issued to university graduates along with their official qualifications. In this case, you apply for it at the centre where you obtained your degree. As in the previous case, it facilitates the understanding of your qualifications. - You may be wondering:
Is it all translated automatically?: If you change the language in the editor (just below the logo), the CV headers and the fields that use taxonomies, such as sex, nationality, type of phone number, name and language level, etc. will be translated. However, you will have to translate the free text that you have typed in – such as your work experience, education and training or skills.
In addition, if you want to update it at a later date, you won’t have to start from scratch. You can simply access the latest version on your computer or from the cloud and edit it.
