Hi everybody, I've a question for us: when you apply for a position in a multinational company in Poland:
1) which CV do you use, Europass or the traditional one? 2) do you hide some information as age, photo, address? I'm interested especially in the address because, I read HR managers could see it in negative way when an employee not based in Poland applies for a job there...
Either europass or traditional is fine. Make sure your linkedin is up to date - I would always check that as well as your cv if you were on the shortlist.
Not putting your address and not making clear that you don't speak Polish and have not worked in Poland would be pretty weird. If I invited you for an interview and then got a blank response when I asked you "kawa czy herbata" at the start then I would think both of us have wasted our time.
There are plenty of employers who would consider foreigners for some roles but they should be upfront about it.
Agreed regarding the address, also I would include information about not speaking Polish. Don't make someone do the digging, they won't appreciate it. My CV is pretty honest and concise. All personal information is there, brief descriptions of previous jobs, education info and a quick 2 liner about interests (I always liked reading what people were interested in.
I had never heard of a Europass CV before and quickly googled it, from a recruiters point of view, avoid this like the plague. I always wondered why so many people had identical CVs that I would pass over. You want to stand out, use the Europass as a starter template and then make it your own.
Also, I have noticed in Poland people always put a picture on their CV but in the UK we don't. Is there a particular reason for the picture? If I was keen I would check LinkedIn/GoldenLine. Always thought there was little point in a picture on a CV, what is the PF consensus?
I've seen many Polish CVs and not all of them had photos or age stated. I haven't put them in myself when I've prepared my CV. I'd say it depends. In IT where there's scarcity of potential candidates no one will take such trivialities into consideration when assessing someone. Not sure about other areas though.
I've sent my cv to a multinational company without a photo, I'm interviewing guys who are not adding photos to their CVs. Nobody cares about the photo as far as I know at least in the IT business. Not sure about other markets.
If you are applying in the US or for a US company, NEVER include a photograph or anything that overtly indicates age, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation or disability status on your CV. Otherwise, company policy may require that they put your CV directly in the bin without even reading it. I remember seeing CV's with photos on them when I moved to Poland, and thinking how bizarre that was.
I do a lot of recruiting - maybe 15 positions a year
If i wanted a Polish speaker with 2-3 years of work experience and able to work flexible hours and then sat down and found a mid 30s Italian with a couple of small kids at home and an ageing mother to care for then I would be seriously annoyed with my HR dept for not sifting that information. Make it easy for the person interviewing you, as you will get one hour of their time - the recruitment process should not discriminate but it should also allow all facts to be on the table.
no a photo is not necessary but as I said before I would check your linkedin anyway and as you should know you get about 40 percent less linkedin hits if you dont put a photo there. I dont care if you are good looking or not but a jacket, tie and combed hair can be a good sign that you are professional. - yes it depends if you are going for IT or banking.
You dont have to put your age but anyone with a bit of knowledge could work backwards to your graduation date. More important is tfhat any career gaps are explained.
Good luck but really dont get stressed about that - if you have good experience that should shine through to any employer regardless of the format of your cv.
Skill based CVs very good and Polish HR people are familiar with them, however all that stuff can be covered in the introductory paragraph that comes before you list work experience. Keep it concise thought - recruiters have a hell of a lot to sift through. About 'Europass' ones, if there were a lot of CVs I usually just threw the 'Europass' ones away and looked at the real ones. Or looked at them last if I had time. Bear in mind that the person who reads the CV sees lots (really lots) of them and won't dwell on little details (unless it's the kind of company that wouldn't be much fun to work for anyway) but may notice any glaring omissions. Re. not speaking Polish, you'll need to make it clear but also shouldn't tell them - sounds strange but isn't: just present it positively, meaning listing the languages you do speak. The recruiter will see that Polish isn't among them.
Btw, photos are sadly common on CVs in Poland (I've had CVs on my desk in PL with holiday/beachwear/wedding dress photos!) and you will also have to put your date of birth. Good to put a LinkedIn address on if you have one (though most people in Poland don't, and a busy recruiter probably won't look unless they call you for interview and even then maybe not. Needless to say, stuff on your CV and LinkedIn profile should not be in conflict). No need to put gender on.
For format, I use (and ran this by the HR people in a large company and got a few tips) 1. Introductory paragraph saying who you are and what you can do/have done. Keep this very brief. 2. Current work, 3. Rest of the work experience starting with most recent and working back with just job title and employer for stuff more than 15 years ago - the further back, the less info, unless a particular job you once had is especially relevant to the one you want.
4. Education and training, following the same principle of working backwards 5. Personal/contact data (OK to include languages here although you can put it separately just after the education/training). For contact, an email address is enough, a phone number is a good idea and a LinkedIn address should go here. I don't include a home address, however many choose to.
I don't include stuff about hobbies (though it can be a good idea, especially if you're young and your CV's a bit thin), nor do I put contact details for current or past employers since they will ask for names, email etc if they want to take up a reference. I do include the city/country though since that's important. Also, education/training means post-18. Nobody much cares which school you went to when you were 16 unless it's Eton/Harrow/Lancing/Roedean/Hogwarts etc in which case you should put it though frankly if you'd gone somewhere like that you wouldn't be asking here anyway.
Also, common sense but you'd be surprised how many people don't do it, be conservative about fonts/text effects. NO pretty borders or weird typefaces (TrueType only unless you don't care what sort of a mess it looks to the HR person using a different computer operating system). Use no more than 2 typefaces or font sizes ever (one perhaps for headings/titles and one for the rest) - I use the same one for everything except the title at the top saying Curriculum Vitae - Fred Bloggs and just bold the employers' names, schools etc and Italic the job titles/course taken. BTW, Calibri, Trebuchet etc look great however serif fonts (Times New Roman, etc) are easier on the tired eyes of the person reading CVs.
One last thing. In Poland CVs include a brief paragraph (at the end, tiny font size, often Italic) required by Polish data protection laws. If the recruiter gets plenty from abroad he or she won't absolutely expect it, however it is a VERY good idea to include this since omission would be noticed (and a problem) whereas inclusion would stand out positively if the pile of CVs are all foreign. The text is:
"Wyrażam zgodę na przetwarzanie moich danych osobowych dla potrzeb niezbędnych do realizacji procesu rekrutacji (zgodnie z Ustawą z dnia 29.08.1997 roku o Ochronie Danych Osobowych; tekst jednolity: Dz. U. z 2002r. Nr 101, poz. 926 ze zm.)."
In English: "I hereby give consent for my personal data to be processed for the purposes of recruitment, in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act dated 29.08.1997 (uniform text: Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland 2002 No 101, item 926 with further amendments)"
@jon357 thanks a lot for your big explanation. This is my situation: I'm a profile with circa less than 2 years of experience gained in different positions. One month ago I started applying to Multinationals abroad: at first I used Europass, then traditional CV and now I'm thinking to consider skill-based one due to non-linear career path, what do you think?
Polish language isn't a problem because I've always applied for positions which I'm suitable for, expecially the languages. Even though I've always met all requirements listed, I don't understand why HR managers don't call me :|
Skills based is fine, and would make up for you being fairly early in your career. It might very well impress too, though the golden rule with CVs is to keep them concise. With careful use of margins/line spacing/indents/font size you could probably keep it to 1 page (HR people like that).
why HR Managers don't call me
A lot of competition for jobs in Poland but don't be put off. It would be a shame if you gave up after sending 1000 CVs and number 1001 would have been the one to get results.
How many pages of CV is considered appropriate for HR skimming through an IT professional with 11 years of experience considering anything too lengthy will get too boring unless it is someone with a PhD or super exceptional talent?
