Resume format by country: CV rules for the US, UK, Canada and Europe#

A resume that is exactly right in Toronto is wrong in Vienna. The Swiss application dossier that a Zurich recruiter expects — photo, date of birth, diplomas attached — would raise eyebrows in London, where none of those belong on a CV. Same career, same person, different document.

This guide covers the eleven countries you can target in our builder — the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain — plus the common case of an English CV for a continental European employer. For each one: photo, date of birth, personal data, length, page size, date style, file conventions and what to send alongside the CV, based on official public sources rather than folklore.

The rules at a glance#

"Off by default" and "omit" are privacy-first defaults, not legal bans: they keep the document safe in the strictest reading of each market's conventions. The detailed sections below say when a local tradition justifies adding something back.

The ATS baseline that applies everywhere#

Country conventions change; machine readability does not. Whatever the target market:

• One text column, normal reading order, standard section headings.
• Name, phone, email, city and links in the document body — not only in a header, footer, icon or text box, which some parsers skip.
• Selectable text, no scanned pages, no skill-rating charts, no tables for the main layout.
• A text-based PDF unless the portal explicitly asks for DOCX.
• One date convention throughout, on the same line as each role.
• A clear ASCII file name: Jordan_Avery_CV_CH_DE.pdf, Jordan_Avery_Resume_US_EN.pdf.

If your current resume fails any of these, fix that before worrying about country rules — our ATS optimization guide covers the mechanics.

United States#

The US resume is the most stripped-down document in this guide. No photo, no date of birth, no nationality, no marital status — not because a law forbids them on your side, but because federal anti-discrimination law binds the employer's side: recruiters do not want information about protected characteristics in front of them, and many will discard a resume that carries it. The Department of Labor's CareerOneStop guidance also recommends leaving off the full street address; city and state are enough.

• Photo: no.
• Date of birth / age: omit, always.
• Length and page: 1–2 pages, US Letter — not A4.
• Dates: Mar 2021 – Present. Month names avoid the classic US trap: 03/04/2025 reads as March 4 in the US and April 3 almost everywhere else.
• File: Jordan_Avery_Resume_US_EN.pdf — it is a resume here; "CV" means a long academic document.
• References: a separate document, provided on request. "References available upon request" wastes a line.

Applying to a Spanish-language vacancy in the US market? The document rules stay American — Letter paper, no photo, no personal data — only the language changes.

Full detail, including the resume-vs-CV distinction and why anti-discrimination law shapes the document: our US resume format guide.

Sources: CareerOneStop — Résumé formats and top portion of a résumé (U.S. Department of Labor); EEOC — Prohibited employment practices.

Canada#

Canada follows the North American pattern — no photo, no date of birth, no age — and adds two specifics of its own. First, never put a Social Insurance Number on a resume; the Government of Canada's Job Bank warns against it explicitly. Second, the country is bilingual by law, and so are its date conventions: 07/01/2026 is January 7 to a French-Canadian reader and July 1 to an English-Canadian one, which is why the Government of Canada recommends the ISO form YYYY-MM-DD as the only all-numeric date style in both official languages.

• Photo: no.
• Date of birth / age: omit.
• Length and page: 1–2 pages, US Letter.
• Dates: Mar 2021 – Present in English, mars 2021 – aujourd'hui in French, or 2021-03 as the bilingual-safe form.
• Language: match the vacancy — an English posting gets an English resume, a Québec French posting gets a French CV. Our builder formats dates the Canadian way for both.
• File: Jordan_Avery_CV_CA_EN.pdf or _CA_FR.pdf.

Full detail on the bilingual rules, the SIN warning and the ISO date recommendation: our Canadian resume format guide.

Sources: Job Bank — How to write a good résumé and safety tips for job seekers (Government of Canada).

United Kingdom#

The UK CV is as photo-free as the American resume, but on A4 and with its own spelling. Official guidance from nidirect, myjobscotland and the Civil Service is consistent: no photo, no date of birth, no age, no salary history — a CV is judged on evidence of what you did, in at most two A4 pages.

One detail that quietly marks a CV as imported: American spelling. A UK document organises, specialises and lists programmes — if your master resume was written for the US, the wording needs more than a paper-size change. That is a wording change you make in the text — in our builder you edit the British forms yourself, and the paid AI tailoring, keyed to the job's language, matches the spelling when you tailor to a UK role.

• Photo: no — discouraged.
• Date of birth / age: omit; salary history too.
• Length and page: maximum 2 pages, A4.
• Dates: Mar 2021 – Present or 03/2021 – 06/2024 — UK numeric order is day-first, so never use US-style month-first numbers.
• File: Jordan_Avery_CV_GB_EN.pdf.

Full detail, including the British-spelling switch and the two-page cap: our UK CV format guide.

Sources: nidirect — CVs and cover letters; myjobscotland — How to create an effective CV; UK Civil Service Careers — How to write your CV.

An English CV for the rest of Europe#

A large share of international applications fit none of the boxes above: an English-language CV sent to an employer in continental Europe — a Dutch scale-up, a German multinational's English-speaking team, an EU institution. For that case, use European document conventions with international English content:

• Page: A4, not Letter.
• Photo and personal data: follow the employer's country, not the language. An English CV to a Swiss employer may still carry a photo; the same CV to an employer in Brussels or Madrid should not.
• Dates: Mar 2021 – Jun 2024 or day-first numerics — never US month-first order.
• Europass: recognised everywhere in the EU and genuinely useful for cross-border formality (EU institutions, some public bodies), but not mandatory anywhere. For private-sector applications a cleaner ATS-friendly layout usually reads better.

This "English · Europe" target exists as its own option in our builder precisely because it is neither a US resume nor a UK CV. And if English is not your native language, translate the career, not the sentences.

Sources: Europass — Create your Europass CV; EURES — Living and working.

France#

French official guidance keeps the CV lean: at most two A4 pages, and the once-traditional personal block — age, marital status, nationality — is now explicitly optional. The privacy-first move is to leave all of it off, along with the photo, and let the experience section carry the application. Recruiters in France read the profil line at the top carefully; two to four lines targeting the specific role earn their space.

• Photo: off by default; add one only if the vacancy or sector genuinely expects it.
• Date of birth / age: optional — omit unless you have a reason.
• Length and page: maximum 2 pages, A4.
• Dates: 03/2021 – 06/2024 French numeric style, or spelled-out months (mars 2021 – juin 2024).
• Cover letter: still a live tradition in France — add a tailored lettre de motivation whenever the vacancy mentions one.
• File: Jordan_Avery_CV_FR_FR.pdf.

Full detail, including when an English CV works in France and the lettre de motivation: our France CV format guide.

Source: EURES — Living and working conditions: France.

Belgium#

Belgium's defining constraint is linguistic, not typographic: applications run in Dutch in Flanders, French in Wallonia, German in the East Cantons, and either (or English) in Brussels. Sending a French CV to a Flemish employer is a worse mistake than any formatting slip — match the language of the vacancy, always. The document itself is restrained: no photo unless requested, no date of birth, one to two A4 pages.

• Photo: only if the vacancy asks.
• Date of birth / age: omit.
• Length and page: 1–2 pages, A4.
• Language: the vacancy's language decides — Nederlands, Français or Deutsch.
• File: Jordan_Avery_CV_BE_FR.pdf or _BE_NL.pdf, matching the language you wrote in.

Full detail on the language map, region by region: our Belgium CV format guide.

Source: EURES — Living and working conditions: Belgium.

Luxembourg#

Luxembourg hiring runs trilingual — French, German and Luxembourgish, with English common in finance and tech — and listing your languages with honest levels matters more here than almost anywhere else. A professional photo is still common on Luxembourg CVs, but it is a habit, not a requirement; a photo-free CV loses nothing with an ATS.

• Photo: common, not mandatory — your call, guided by the employer.
• Date of birth / age: omit.
• Length and page: 1–2 pages, A4.
• Language: match the vacancy; French is the most frequent default.
• Cover letter: normally part of the application package.
• File: Jordan_Avery_CV_LU_FR.pdf.

Full detail on the trilingual market and where English CVs work: our Luxembourg CV format guide.

Source: EURES — Living and working conditions: Luxembourg.

Switzerland#

Switzerland keeps the most traditional application culture in this guide. The classic dossier is a package: CV with a professional photo, date of birth and often nationality, plus diplomas and certificats de travail / Arbeitszeugnisse. None of it is law — data-minimisation is always defensible — but a Swiss recruiter who expects the traditional format will notice its absence. When in doubt, include the photo and keep the rest lean; state your work authorisation instead of nationality if that is the actual question.

Three details give away a non-Swiss document instantly:

• Dates use dots: 03.2021 – 06.2024, not slashes. Swiss date style is 14.03.1984 in all four language regions.

• German-language CVs use ss, never ß: Swiss Standard German dropped the eszett; Strasse, not Straße. A ß on a CV tells a Swiss reader the document was written for Germany.

• The language follows the region: German for Zurich, French for Geneva, Italian for Ticino — cross-region applications in the wrong language rarely survive screening.

• Photo: traditional and expected in the classic dossier.

• Date of birth: traditional, optional — include it if you follow local convention, drop it for an international-style application.

• Length and page: maximum 2 pages, A4.

• Attachments: diplomas and employment certificates commonly accompany the application.

• File: Jordan_Avery_CV_CH_DE.pdf, _CH_FR.pdf or _CH_IT.pdf.

Full detail on the dossier, the dotted dates and the ss-not-ß rule: our Switzerland CV format guide.

Source: EURES — Living and working conditions: Switzerland.

Germany#

The German Lebenslauf sits between the Swiss dossier and the photo-free north: a photo is optional but still common, date of birth is traditional but no longer expected, and the CV is only one part of the Bewerbung — a tailored cover letter (Anschreiben) is normally assumed, and employers routinely expect Zeugnisse (references and certificates) as attachments, at least by the interview stage. Germany's General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) is the reason photo and birth date have been drifting off the document: employers cannot require them, and public guidance increasingly encourages leaving them out.

• Photo: optional; still common. A neutral professional portrait only — or none.
• Date of birth: traditional but optional; omit for an international or ATS-heavy application.
• Length and page: 1–2 pages, A4.
• Dates: 03/2021 – 06/2024 or 03.2021 – 06.2024 — pick one and keep it.
• Cover letter: the Anschreiben is normally part of the package.
• File: Jordan_Avery_CV_DE_DE.pdf.

Full detail on the Bewerbung package, the Anschreiben and the Zeugnisse: our German Lebenslauf guide.

Source: EURES — Living and working conditions: Germany.

Austria#

Austria reads like Germany with the traditions turned up one notch: the photo is not just common but genuinely expected in a classic application, and the package logic — CV plus cover letter plus supporting documents — still holds. Date of birth, though, is better left off unless a form asks: it adds nothing an Austrian recruiter needs.

• Photo: traditional and expected; use a current professional headshot unless the employer runs photo-free recruitment.
• Date of birth / age: omit by default.
• Length and page: 1–2 pages, A4.
• Cover letter: normally part of the application package; qualification evidence is often requested as copies.
• File: Jordan_Avery_CV_AT_DE.pdf.

Austrian German differs from Germany's in register more than in spelling — but a CV written for the German market works in Vienna, while one written for Zurich (with ss replacing ß) does not.

Full detail on the photo expectation and how Vienna differs from Berlin: our Austria CV format guide.

Source: EURES — Living and working conditions: Austria.

Italy#

Italy's conventions are closer to France than to the German-speaking world: no photo unless the vacancy asks, no date of birth, one to two A4 pages, and a cover letter that still carries real weight. One Italian specific: job postings sometimes ask candidates to include a personal-data consent statement on the CV. When they do, use the exact wording the employer supplies — do not invent a generic legal clause, and do not add one unprompted.

• Photo: only if requested.
• Date of birth / age: omit.
• Length and page: 1–2 pages, A4.
• Cover letter: normally part of the application.
• Consent clause: only when requested, and only the employer's wording.
• File: Jordan_Avery_CV_IT_IT.pdf.

Full detail, including the consent clause and when an English CV works: our Italy CV format guide.

Source: EURES — Living and working conditions: Italy.

Spain#

Spanish guidance caps the CV at two A4 pages and treats the photo as genuinely optional — "not compulsory" is the official phrasing, and the photo-free version is the safer default for both privacy and parsing. Spain's other distinctive trait is regional: vacancies in Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country may run in Català, Galego or Euskara, and matching the vacancy's language is as important as in Belgium. Don't attach certificates up front; Spanish employers request them when they need them.

• Photo: not compulsory; off by default.
• Date of birth / age: omit.
• Length and page: maximum 2 pages, A4.
• Language: Español by default; match regional-language vacancies.
• Attachments: only when requested.
• File: Jordan_Avery_CV_ES_ES.pdf.

Full detail on the co-official languages and the two-page cap: our Spain CV format guide.

Source: EURES — Living and working conditions: Spain.

Dates: the small detail that gives you away#

Nothing marks a resume as written elsewhere faster than the wrong date convention. The same date renders differently in every market this guide covers:

Two rules keep every version safe: never write an all-numeric date with a day in it (03/04/2025 is ambiguous across the Atlantic), and translate "Present" into the language of the document — aujourd'hui, heute, presente, actualidad. When you switch the target country in the builder, dates reformat to the local convention automatically — that is the whole point of picking the country you're applying in rather than just a language.

Personal data to leave off everywhere#

Whatever the country:

• No national ID, passport, tax, social-security or bank numbers on a resume — ever. This includes the Canadian SIN and the US SSN.
• Gender, religion, ethnicity, political views, health data and family status do not help screening anywhere and invite problems in most markets.
• City and country are enough; a full street address is needed only when a form demands it.
• In the EU/EEA, data minimisation is the safest principle: include what assesses the application, nothing else.
• Public-sector, security-cleared, regulated and academic roles play by their own rules — follow their forms exactly.

How this guide was researched#

Every country rule above traces to official public sources: government employment services, labour ministries, EURES country pages, Europass and anti-discrimination authorities. Commercial resume-builder blogs were not used as evidence. Where an official portal does not prescribe a complete national format, the recommendation above is a privacy-first default and is labelled as such, not presented as law. Research reviewed: 17 July 2026.

Cross-border references: Europass · EURES — Living and working · European Commission — Data protection in the EU