CV/Resume style standards in Poland

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Aug 30, 10, 02:04 #1

Hello,

Having just had an unbelievable holiday in Polska (particularly Wawa), I am set on experiencing "working life" in Poland for at least a couple of years!

Background: Although born in good ol' Mokotów, Warsaw, I emigrated to Australia as a 6 year old with my parents. I'm currently working an IT career in Canberra.

So in a nutshell, I know how job seeking works in Australia, but not in Polska! I suspect if I apply for some PL jobs with my current resume (nawet przepisane po Polsku), that I will not be at the top of the pile! ;)

Question: How does a professional jobseeker structure their CV/Resume when looking for a job in PL?

For example, I have read that over 80% of job seekers include a photo of themselves on the top right-hand side of their CV. Now, doing so would be really tacky in Australia, so naturally I am hesitant. In your experience, is this true?

For every job that I apply for in Australia, I have to address key selection criteria for the role. However, the jobs that I have seen ask for a CV to be sent via an "aplikuj" link, and don't even ask for detailed responses to the job description!!!!?

In Australia I am used to the following CV structure:

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- Personal information (name, address, e-mail, phone, languages, passports, security clearances).

- Short (2 paragraphs at the most) summary of experience and strengths.

- Education summary (University name and years attended + any certificates)

- Work experience. This is a multi-page dot point section outlining company/department names + dates, and detailed responsibilities in bullet points.

- Work skills. In my case "computing skills" listing in bullet point form, my key strengths.

and finally;

- Referees names and contact details.

-----------------

Thanks for any help/assistance in advance!

I have been a "guest" observer on Polishforums over the past month, and I hope to get a little more involved into the future! Great site!

Cheers,

Kangurek

asikThreads: 2 Posts: 547 Joined: Feb 17, 09 ♀	Aug 30, 10, 04:06 #2
Kangurek: Question: How does a professional jobseeker structure their CV/Resume when looking for a job in PL? Some good examples: http://www.cvtips.pl/wzory-cv

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,412 Joined: Aug 29, 07 ♂	Aug 30, 10, 07:22 #3
Kangurek: For example, I have read that over 80% of job seekers include a photo of themselves on the top right-hand side of their CV. Now, doing so would be really tacky in Australia, so naturally I am hesitant. In your experience, is this true? supposedly tacky here in the USA too but sure as heck has always worked great for me. i'd say, personalize it and make it uniquely yours. :)

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Aug 30, 10, 07:31 #4

a couple of points from my experience (I'm an ex-pat living in Poland so I've noticed some differences)

- a photo is as expected as your name. And most CVs have the applicant's age on them ... I don't want either, but it seems expected.
- security clearances ... maybe not so needed unless the job calls them out ?
- The Letter is important here - paragraphs of text in which the applicant tries to beg for the job while putting in as many supporting-evidence-clauses for his/her brilliance and suitability. I hate reading them when I'm interviewing because they need to be written well to be effective and I'm not really caring about people's ability to string sentences together.
- unless you walk on water (and they really need that skill), make sure the difficulty of calling you to interview doesn't exceed your potential usefulness ...

EurolaThreads: 6 Posts: 2,647 Joined: Dec 2, 06 ♀	Sep 2, 10, 05:39 #5
Wow. I took a peek at the CV link above and my jaw dropped to the floor. Omg, totally unthinkable in the USA, in color, with a picture, age? If any company requested it on the resume here they could get sued...you are not even supposed to say the year you graduated from college. Only your credentials count. I'm speechless.

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Edited by: plk123 Sep 2, 10, 08:09 #6

Eurola:

Omg, totally unthinkable in the USA, in color, with a picture,

not unthinkable at all.. color ones are quite acceptable in certain fields (not much of a difference as many people use different colored paper here instead) and i have had a pic on mine of years.. i think it has helped me way more then not. i always get positive comments about it. and those CVs look way more like resumes then actual CV used in the rest of the world.

cjjThreads: 2 Posts: 239 Joined: Sep 28, 07 ♀	Sep 2, 10, 08:29 #7
The amount of personal detail I've seen on some cvs is ridiculous. I don't want to know ages, home addresses, dates of birth ... I'd much rather have some clear idea that the skills being offered meet those called out in the job advert /sigh/ oh, and if you go for a photo, remember the Polish obsession with The Left Ear ;) /cj

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,412 Joined: Aug 29, 07 ♂	Sep 2, 10, 08:53 #8
cjj: oh, and if you go for a photo, remember the Polish obsession with The Left Ear lol.. tru, tru.

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Edited by: Bolle Sep 2, 10, 11:37 #9

Un-fcuking-believable!

Personal photo on resume?

and this:

Dane osobowe

Data urodzenia:
Miejsce urodzenia:
Stan cywilny:

4 kwietnia 1986 roku
Kraków
Niezamężna

WOW!

"Oh let me see here, this one is too old; this one isn't attractive enough for me; she's not blond; he's a warszawiak - don't want that; what the hell this one is black, **** him; young & married? ****, she's gonna pop out a kid any time, don't want to pay for maternity leave; oooo this blondie is single and i'm a pathetic slob, maybe if i hire her i'll finally get a chance, etc..........."

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Edited by: scottie1113 Sep 2, 10, 11:42 #10

Eurola:

Wow. I took a peek at the CV link above and my jaw dropped to the floor. Omg, totally unthinkable in the USA, in color, with a picture, age? If any company requested it on the resume here they could get sued...you are not even supposed to say the year you graduated from college. Only your credentials count. I'm speechless.

I agree. My students can't believe it when I tell them that. The first year I was in Poland only a few friends knew when my birthday was. Somebody mentioned that they could always look at my CV to find out. Not so. My resume is not a CV per se. No picture, no date of birth, no cover letter, etc. I got my job after a face to face interview. There were four other Americans teaching at my school that year, two full time and two part time. None had photos or dates of birth on their resumes. No problem.

Marital status? You've got to be kidding me. Unfortunately, what Bolle mentioned does happen here.

Oh, that obsession with the left ear is so right on! And don't smile.

♂

Sep 2, 10, 19:35 #11

My order is as follow:

- Personal information (name, e-mail, phone, languages).
- Work skills. listing in bullet point form, my key strengths.
- Short (2 paragraphs at the most) summary of experience and strengths.
- Work experience. This is a multi-page dot point section outlining company/department
names + dates, and detailed responsibilities in bullet points.
- Education summary (University name and years attended + any certificates)

If they ask me for a photo or address in CV and at the same time salary is the most top secret data I give them middle finger. I'm not going to spread my personal data at that level of recruitment process. I apply for electronics technician not for the model post.

EurolaThreads: 6 Posts: 2,647 Joined: Dec 2, 06 ♀	Sep 3, 10, 05:46 #12
plk123: not unthinkable at all.. Really? Resumes are submitted on line nowadays, many employers want 'copy & paste' .txt file or .doc file. Anything with a picture would go to the spam folder. In the age of Identity theft people put this kind of information on the paper and the internet? wtf. Once again, unthinkable. Maybe it worked 20 years ago, but not now.

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Sep 3, 10, 08:13 #13

I've seen plenty of CV's submitted by IT people (programmers) - majority of them had no photos and most contained no personal details, like marital status, age or number of children.

Unfortunately almost all of them had the absurd 'hobbies' section, usually mentioning book reading or mountain climbing, because everyone has read a book and went on vacation to Bieszczady :)

The point is that you will do fine by submitting the CV written your way - as long as the professional experience will match the particular post nobody will care about lack of photo etc.

♀

Edited by: milky Sep 3, 10, 09:58 #14

I think the (Polish)Catholic mentality may encourage this kind of out 0f date bulsh1t. Photo,DOB marriage status. If there are very little jobs, they can probably get away with anything in order to choose the "perfect worker". They could probably ask you if you go to mass or not, if they wanted. How-ever if you no someone on the inside, you wont even need a CV.
Then again, you only have to read Barbara Ehrenreich book on "job coaching" in the USA, to see how the whole thing has turned into a circus on a world-wide basis.

♂

Edited by: plk123 Sep 3, 10, 10:39 #15

Eurola:

Really? Resumes are submitted on line nowadays, many employers want 'copy & paste' .txt file or .doc file. Anything with a picture would go to the spam folder. In the age of Identity theft people put this kind of information on the paper and the internet? wtf. Once again, unthinkable.
Maybe it worked 20 years ago, but not now.

yeah but there is always an option to attach a .doc, like you said and thus not a problem with the pic.. as to all the other info.. definitely.. my address is always my p.o. box.. i hate giving out my email too but then i have one just for employment purposes..

milky:

Barbara Ehrenreich book on "job coaching" in the USA,

what's the title? because "job coaching" it is not.

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