Resume

Tailor your resume to the specific job. Highlight key requirements, responsibilities, and keywords from the job posting if they align with your actual experience.

Organize your resume so that important information is easy to find. Use clear headings, short bullet points, and a clean layout.

Don’t just list your positions; describe what you did, what you learned, or what you accomplished.

Instead of just:

“Marketing internship”

It’s better to include a description of your tasks, role, and responsibilities:

“Assisted with the planning and implementation of social media campaigns; created content plans and analyzed reach in Excel”

This makes it clear which skills you applied.

Templates can help you establish a clear structure. However, make sure your resume doesn’t look cluttered and that the content remains the focus.

AI tools can help you organize, phrase, or find appropriate keywords. Review all suggestions carefully, stick to your actual experiences, and don’t upload any sensitive personal data to AI tools whose privacy practices you can’t assess.

If you’re about to complete your bachelor’s, master’s, or diploma program, or are just starting your career, you can place greater emphasis on your academic background. If you’re at an advanced stage of your studies, you usually don’t need to go into detail about high school or your high school diploma. Mention them briefly if they’re relevant to your application or if your resume would otherwise be very short.

You don’t necessarily need extensive work experience to demonstrate relevant skills.

The following are particularly helpful:

• Field of study and planned or completed degree
• Majors, specializations, or relevant electives
• Bachelor’s or master’s thesis, if it’s relevant to the position
• Academic projects, practical projects, or group work
• Internships, part-time jobs, tutoring, or student work
• Semesters abroad or international experiences
• Involvement in university groups, clubs, or initiatives

It’s not just where you were that matters, but what you did there. Briefly describe the tasks you took on, the tools or methods you used, and the skills you developed.

 If you already have professional experience, your resume should highlight your current and relevant skills. The focus isn’t on your “job seeker” status, but on what you can bring to your next position.

The following are particularly important:

• current and most recent job positions
• relevant tasks and areas of responsibility
• project, consulting, or leadership experience
• industry knowledge
• methods, tools, and systems
• professional development and current skills
• results, contributions, or improvements you’ve achieved

You can describe older or less relevant positions more briefly or summarize them. Transitions, career changes, or periods of job searching don’t need to be hidden. If you took advantage of continuing education, courses, or support programs during this time—such as through the AMS—you can mention them in a factual manner. Projects, volunteer work, or consulting experience can also help highlight your career trajectory.

Helpful guiding question:

What should the next organization immediately recognize about my experience, work style, and motivation?

When applying for PhD, pre-doc, postdoc, or other academic positions, you often need an academic resume, also known as an academic CV. This differs from a traditional resume used for applications to companies or government agencies.

An academic CV can be longer and emphasizes different aspects. Relevant sections may include:

• academic background
• research interests
• dissertation or thesis
• academic positions and projects
• publications
• conference papers and presentations
• teaching experience
• methodological and laboratory skills
• Third-party funding, scholarships, or awards
• Academic memberships
• Activities as a reviewer, committee member, or in organizational roles
• References

The focus here is more on highlighting your academic profile, your research experience, and your academic fit. Nevertheless, make sure it’s clear and easy to read: An academic CV should also be well-structured and tailored to the specific job posting.

 If you want to make the transition from academia to industry, government, the public sector, consulting, or NGOs, your resume needs to be well-tailored. Not all academic details are relevant for every position.

Consider: Which skills from your academic work are relevant to your new field?

These might include, for example:

• Project management
• Data analysis
• Academic writing
• Presenting and communicating complex content
• Teaching and training
• Experience with external funding or budgeting
• Stakeholder communication
• International collaboration
• Problem-solving and analytical thinking
• Self-organization and working under uncertainty

Publications or conference papers can be mentioned if they are relevant. Often, a selection or a reference to a separate list of publications is sufficient.

A brief profile can be particularly helpful here. It shows right from the start how your academic background aligns with the new target position.

Example:

“Ph.D. in the social sciences with experience in qualitative research, project coordination, and data analysis. Particularly interested in the application of scientific methods in strategy, evaluation, and public administration.”

When applying for a job internationally, you shouldn’t simply translate your German-language resume. Check the standards of the target country and industry.

In many international contexts, especially in the U.S. or the U.K., photos, dates of birth, gender, marital status, or nationality are not included. Instead, the focus is on education, work experience, skills, achievements, and activities.

Pay special attention to:

• The language of the job posting
• Country-specific standards
• The length of the CV or résumé
• No additional personal details if they are uncommon in the target country
• Clear descriptions of degrees, grading systems, and institutions
• Concrete results and achievements
• Relevant keywords from the job posting

If you’re applying in English, make sure to use clear, precise language. Terms like “CV” and “résumé” may be used differently depending on the country.

 In the DACH region, we recommend including your name, email address, phone number, and address—or at least your ZIP code and city—on your resume. This makes it easy to see how you can be reached and which region you’re applying from.

You can include a professional online profile if it is well-maintained and effectively supports your application—for example, LinkedIn, GitHub, a portfolio, or a personal website.

Date of birth, place of birth, nationality, and a headshot are still common in German-speaking countries. Depending on the position, industry, and organization, you may include this information.

If you use a photo, it should be recent, professional, and appropriate for the industry. Make sure the image quality is good, the background is uncluttered, and you look well-groomed. Avoid selfies, vacation photos, or heavily edited photos.

Different standards may apply to international applications. You can find more information on this under “Applying Internationally.”

A short profile is a brief paragraph at the beginning of your resume, directly below your contact information. It is optional and can be helpful if you want to quickly highlight your most important skills, experiences, and career goals.

A short profile is particularly useful if your resume covers a wide range of experiences, if you’re changing career paths, if you’re transitioning from academia, or if you’re applying for a job without a detailed cover letter.

Keep your brief profile short: Two to three concise sentences are usually sufficient. Describe who you are, what relevant experience or areas of focus you bring to the table, and where you’d like to go in your career. Tailor the brief profile to the specific job and avoid general clichés like “team player,” “resilient,” or “motivated” unless you can back them up with concrete examples.

Example:
“Master’s graduate in political science with a focus on labor market and social policy. Experience in qualitative research, project coordination, and presenting complex content in an accessible way. Particularly interested in the intersection of analysis, consulting, and public administration.”

For most applications, one to a maximum of two pages is sufficient. For applicants with extensive professional experience, scientific applications, or academic profiles, the resume may be longer.

Keep the following in mind:

• clear headings
• consistent date formats, for example, 10/2024–06/2026 or since 10/2024
• easy-to-read font
• sufficient white space
• PDF format, not a pure image file
• simple, single-column lists instead of complex tables or multiple columns
• important information in the body text rather than only in graphics, icons, headers, or footers

The layout should support your content, not distract from it. This applies regardless of whether your resume is read first by a person or a system.

Good bullet points highlight exactly what you contributed.

A helpful structure is:

• What did you do?
• In what context?
• Using what tools, methods, or skills?
• What was the result or your contribution?

Skills can be broadly divided into three areas: technical skills (your knowledge in the respective field), methodological skills (how you work, such as project management, data analysis, or presentation techniques), and personal skills (how you collaborate with others and organize yourself).

Example:

“Analyzing survey data in SPSS and preparing the results for a project report on student satisfaction.”

This way, you demonstrate not only an activity but also the method, context, and value.

Describe your skills realistically and clearly. For languages, it’s helpful to use the levels from the Common European Framework of Reference, such as B2, C1, or C2.

When it comes to IT skills, you should list programs, tools, or systems that are relevant to the position. A general statement like “good computer skills” is usually too vague.

You can mention AI skills if they are relevant to the job. Be specific about how you use AI tools.

Example:

“AI tools: ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Copilot for research, text structuring, and idea generation; confident handling of data protection limits.”

Many career paths aren’t linear. Changing majors, career reorientation, caregiving responsibilities, illness, job searches, or career breaks are all common.

You don’t need to justify these. What’s important is that your resume remains clear and that you can demonstrate what’s relevant to your next position. Even during transitional phases, you often develop skills that can be professionally relevant, such as self-organization, a sense of responsibility, or the ability to handle change.

Here are some helpful tips:

• List continuing education courses
• Include volunteer work
• Highlight projects or self-directed learning experiences
• Summarize older positions
• Clarify your professional focus in the brief profile

Your resume should show where you want to go in your career and what skills you bring to the table.

Many applicants wonder whether their resumes are first reviewed by software. Some larger organizations use what are known as ATSs. This stands for Applicant Tracking System. These are applicant management systems that companies use to collect, manage, search through, and, in some cases, presort applications.

Not every ATS is automatically AI-powered. Some systems primarily support the management of applications, while others use automated functions or AI—for example, to analyze documents based on specific criteria. AI systems that analyze applications, filter candidates, or evaluate candidates are classified as high-risk applications under the EU AI Act and are subject to specific requirements, including human oversight.

Regardless of the system used, your application often goes through several stages in larger organizations: first the HR department, and only then the subject matter experts or your future team. So the first person to read your resume may not be familiar with your field in detail.

That doesn’t mean you have to write your resume for a machine. Make sure to use the same good layout as you normally would (see “Length and Layout”). Also helpful:

• Fill out online application forms completely, even if you’re also uploading your resume.
• Avoid tricks like hidden keywords or constantly repeating buzzwords. That comes across as unprofessional rather than helpful, especially when a real person ends up reading it.

The most important thing is this: Your resume should honestly and clearly show what you have to offer. A good resume isn’t “optimized for AI,” but for the job you’re applying for.