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Guide

A Danish CV for international candidates

A CV in Denmark is short, plain and written for one job. Here is what goes on it, what stays off, and how to say what you did.

Updated

At a glance

Length
One A4 page at the start of a career, two at most with experience.
File
PDF, with real text, not a picture of text.
Order
Latest job first. Dates as month and year.
Language
The language of the job ad. An ad in English gets a CV in English.
Photo
Common in Denmark, not required. Fine to leave out.
Date of birth, marital status
Not needed. Most current guides advise leaving them out.
References
Not on the CV. Employers ask for them later.

CV or resume?

In Denmark, and in most of Europe, the document you send with an application is called a CV. If you come from the US or Canada, it is the same short document you know as a resume: one or two pages, written for one job. It is not the long academic CV that lists every paper and talk, unless you are applying for a research post.

The top of the page

Your name, a phone number with the country code, a professional e-mail, and the city you live in. A street address is not needed. Add a link to an online profile if it is up to date.

A photo is common on Danish CVs, but it is not required, and leaving it out is fine, especially with an international employer. Sources disagree on how much the photo matters, so the choice is yours. If you add one, make it recent and plain: a clear portrait, a neutral background, never a selfie or a holiday picture.

Date of birth and marital status are not needed, and most current guides tell you to leave them out. Some older guides call them the norm. Nothing requires either. If you already have the right to work in Denmark, one line saying so, on the CV or in the letter, saves the reader a question.

The summary: two short sentences

Under your name, say who you are and which of the job's work you have done, in the job's own words. Then the skills you have that it asks for. Around 25 to 40 words. One result with one number, only if it backs up what you said. Leave out lists of soft skills, and words like passionate, results-oriented and proven.

Instead of

Passionate and results-oriented analyst with a proven track record of delivering insights.

Write

Data analyst with four years in retail reporting: weekly sales reports and dashboards in SQL and Power BI. Cut month-end reporting from nine days to four.

Experience: one fact to a line

For each job: the employer, your title, the place, and the months and years. Under it three to five lines. A line says one thing you did, in the past tense, and what came of it. Start with the verb. Name something a reader could point at: a report, a team of five, 200 carriers. Give a number with its starting point, “from 61% to 74%”, not a bare “+13%”.

Instead of

Responsible for weekly reporting.

Write

Built weekly sales reports in SQL for 40 stores; cut the preparation from six hours to 40 minutes.

Instead of

Helped the team improve customer service.

Write

Rewrote the first-reply templates for the support team; first-call resolution went from 61% to 74%.

Instead of

Worked on a project to move systems.

Write

Moved nine legacy reports into the new data warehouse, in a team of four; owned the sales data model.

Two things are worth knowing about Denmark. Stay factual: a plain fact beats an adjective, and overselling does not help you. And say what the team did and what your part was: “in a team of four; owned the data model” tells a Danish reader more than “great team player”. Use only numbers you could explain in an interview. If the job asks for something your CV does not show, do not stretch a line to cover it. Say it in the cover letter.

Education, with a degree from abroad

Write the degree, the institution, the country and the year. If the employer may not know your university, you can add what the degree corresponds to in Denmark. The Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science will state that for a finished foreign qualification: it is free and normally takes one to two months (see its page below). You do not need it to apply.

Languages and skills

List your languages with an honest level. “Danish: beginner” is better than a claim the interview will test. If the ad asks for Danish and you have none yet, say what you are doing about it in one sentence of the letter. For skills, name the tools the ad names and you really use.

Interests: only if there is something to say

A short line about life outside work is common on Danish CVs, and optional. Keep it to something real, and say what you did: “Ran five half-marathons, best time 1:52.” A list of hobbies with no detail tells the reader nothing.

Write it for one job

A Danish ad is often a wish list, so you do not have to match every line. Read it, find the three things it asks for most, and make sure your CV shows them, in the ad's words where it is true. Career sites list a generic CV, sent unchanged to every job, among the common mistakes. When you pick a template, pick a plain one: Danish employers value clarity over design.

The file

  • PDF, one column, an ordinary font.
  • Ordinary headings: Experience, Education, Skills. Many employers receive applications through a tracking system, which reads plain headings and real text most reliably.
  • No text inside images, no skill bars, no columns that read in the wrong order.
  • File name: your name and CV, for example Maja Holm - CV.pdf.

Before you send it

  1. Is it one page, or two at most?
  2. Does the summary say who you are and what the job asks for, in two sentences?
  3. Does each line say one thing you did, with a number that has its starting point?
  4. Is there anything on it you could not explain in an interview?
  5. Are the dates, the spelling and the contact details right?
  6. Is it in the language of the ad?
  7. Is the file a PDF with a name a recruiter can find later?

Tailor your CV to a real Danish job

Responsa reads the job ad, shows every change to your CV as a card you accept or decline, and never adds a skill your CV does not show.

See how it works

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Questions

How long should a CV be in Denmark?

One A4 page at the start of a career, two at most with experience. An academic CV can run longer.

Do I need a photo on a Danish CV?

No. A photo is common in Denmark, but it is not required, and you can leave it out, especially when you apply to an international employer. If you add one, use a recent, plain portrait, not a selfie.

Should I put my date of birth or marital status on a Danish CV?

You do not need to. Nothing requires either, and most current guides advise leaving them out. Some older guides call them the norm, so it is your choice.

Should I write my CV in Danish or English?

In the language of the job ad. If the ad is in English, or you are not fluent in Danish, write in English. Write in Danish only if you can do it well.

Is a CV the same as a resume?

In Denmark the short document you send with an application is called a CV. It is what a US or Canadian reader would call a resume: one or two pages, written for one job.

Next

The CV says what you did. The letter says what you will do here. How to write a cover letter for Denmark.

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