The Dutch CV sits between the German and the British conventions and leans hard on directness. One to two pages, a photo and birth date that are genuinely optional rather than expected or forbidden, no references section, and a tone that states what you did without decoration. English is widely accepted — the Netherlands runs one of Europe's most English-fluent job markets — and the highly skilled migrant permit makes it one of the more realistic destinations to apply to from abroad.
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The six questions people ask most, answered in a line each.
What it's called in Netherlands: CV
1–2 pages, 2 is the ceiling
One page for graduates, two for experienced professionals. Dutch employers read a third page as an inability to prioritise.
Optional — genuinely your call
Common on Dutch-language CVs, increasingly dropped at international companies. Neither including nor omitting one will count against you.
English is widely accepted
Follow the ad. Tech, research and international roles in Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Rotterdam run in English; public sector and client-facing work needs Dutch.
MM/YYYY or Mon YYYY
Reverse-chronological. Full dates are day-first (DD-MM-YYYY), so spell the month when there is any chance of confusion.
PDF, A4
Named clearly, for example CV-Firstname-Lastname.pdf. A short motivation letter is expected with most applications.
Left off the CV
Dutch employers ask at the final stage. The old "referenties op aanvraag" line has largely disappeared and adds nothing.
Resumito's country engine turns each of these on or off automatically when you pick Netherlands as your target.
Profile photo
You can add it, but it's not needed.
Date of birth
You can add it, but it's not needed.
Nationality
You can add it, but it's not needed.
Marital status
We keep this field out of your Netherlands resume.
Military service status
We keep this field out of your Netherlands resume.
Place of birth
We keep this field out of your Netherlands resume.
References
Left off the resumeHobbies & interests
Not shownTop to bottom, the order a Netherlands employer expects to read.
Personalia — personal details
Name, phone, email, city, LinkedIn. Date of birth and nationality are optional and still fairly common here; marital status is not.
Profiel — profile
Three or four factual lines. Dutch readers discount superlatives, so describe rather than sell.
Werkervaring — work experience
Reverse-chronological with employer, role, dates and concise results. Contract and interim work is normal and does not need explaining.
Opleiding — education
Degree, institution, years. For a foreign degree, add the Nuffic/IDW Dutch equivalent (hbo or wo level).
Vaardigheden — skills and languages
Languages by CEFR level. Say your Dutch level even if it is A1 — silence is read as none, and honesty is respected.
Cursussen en certificaten — courses
Relevant certifications with dates. Optional closing block; skip anything that does not relate to the role.
Dutch professional culture treats plain statement as respect for the reader's time, and treats promotional language as noise. A profile that opens "passionate, results-driven leader with a proven track record of excellence" does not read as confident here — it reads as content-free, and the reader mentally discounts the rest of the document.
Write what you did and what happened. "Managed the migration of 14 legacy applications to Azure for a 900-person insurer; finished two months ahead of plan and cut hosting cost by 31%." No adjectives were needed and none were missed. The same principle applies in interviews: Dutch interviewers ask blunt questions and expect blunt answers, and hedging reads as evasion rather than politeness.
The Netherlands is the one market in this list where the honest answer to "should I include a photo?" is that it does not matter much. Dutch-language CVs, especially outside the big cities, still often carry one. International companies in Amsterdam and Eindhoven increasingly ask candidates not to, following the same anti-bias reasoning as UK and US employers. Neither choice will remove you from a shortlist.
The same middle position applies to date of birth and nationality: both are optional, both still appear on plenty of Dutch CVs, and neither is expected. Marital status and religion do not belong on the page. If you are applying from Iran and building one document for several countries, the safer default is to leave the photo and birth date off — that version works in the Netherlands and also works in the UK, Canada, the US and Australia, where they are liabilities.
The Netherlands hires internationally through the kennismigrant (highly skilled migrant) permit, and the mechanics shape how you should apply. Only employers registered as IND recognised sponsors can bring you in on it, that register is public, and the requirement is essentially a salary above an age-dependent threshold rather than a labour market test. Filtering your applications to recognised sponsors is the highest-leverage thing an offshore applicant can do.
Two things worth putting on the CV. First, your Nuffic or IDW evaluation if you have one, written as "BSc Industrial Engineering, Sharif University of Technology (evaluated by IDW as equivalent to a Dutch wo bachelor's degree)". Second, one line on availability and relocation, because Dutch hiring processes are short and a manager wants to know whether you can start within their planning horizon. Salary expectations are asked directly in the Netherlands, but they belong in the conversation, not on the CV.
For engineering, data, research, design and most roles at international companies, none at the point of hiring — these teams work in English and many are majority non-Dutch. For public sector work, healthcare, education, law, sales into the domestic market and anything client-facing, Dutch is a genuine requirement and no amount of CV polish substitutes for it.
Either way, put your actual level on the CV in CEFR terms, including a beginner one. "Dutch A2 (in progress, B1 course from September)" tells a Dutch employer that you understand you are moving to a country with its own language and you are doing something about it — a small line that reads as commitment to staying, which is exactly what a company sponsoring a permit is trying to establish.
The errors that sink the largest number of otherwise strong resumes.
Promotional language in the profile
The fastest way to lose a Dutch reader. Replace every superlative with a number or a specific outcome and the same paragraph becomes credible.
A three-page CV
Two pages is the working maximum. If your history does not fit, compress roles older than ten years to a single line each rather than adding a page.
Applying to employers who cannot sponsor
Only IND recognised sponsors can hire you on a highly skilled migrant permit. The register is public — check it before spending an evening on an application.
Adding a references section
Dutch CVs leave references off entirely. Employers raise it at the final stage, so the section only takes space from your experience.
Leaving your Dutch level unstated
Silence is read as zero and as indifference. Even A1 with a course booked is a better signal than an empty languages line.
The Netherlands is one of the more tractable European destinations from Iran because the highly skilled migrant permit is salary-based rather than quota-based, the process is fast by European standards, and a large share of the technology, semiconductor, logistics and research sectors operate in English. The practical constraint is that only IND recognised sponsors can hire you on that permit, so your search should start from that register rather than from a general job board.
Get your degree evaluated through IDW/Nuffic and write the Dutch equivalent next to it, because hbo versus wo level is a real distinction in Dutch hiring and salary bands, and no recruiter can infer it from an Iranian transcript. Where your work was at a scale a Dutch reader will not recognise, add the scale clause — a Dutch company of 900 people is large here, and knowing your last employer had 4,000 staff changes how your role is read.
Finally, be ready for a short, blunt process. Dutch companies often move from application to offer in two or three conversations, ask directly what salary you want, and expect a direct number in return. Have your figure worked out against the current highly skilled migrant salary threshold for your age bracket before the first call, because "I am flexible" is heard as unprepared rather than accommodating.
It is genuinely optional. Photos remain common on Dutch-language CVs and are increasingly dropped at international companies in Amsterdam and Eindhoven. If you are using one CV for several countries, leave it off — that version is safe everywhere, including here.
English is accepted across technology, research, engineering, design and international business roles, which is a large part of the market. Dutch is a real requirement for public sector, healthcare, education, legal and client-facing work. Either way, state your Dutch level on the CV.
One page as a graduate, two as an experienced professional, and two is the practical ceiling. Dutch employers read a longer document as a failure to prioritise rather than as thoroughness.
The kennismigrant permit lets an IND recognised sponsor hire you if your gross salary exceeds an age-dependent threshold, without a labour market test. Only registered sponsors can use it, and the register is public — check it before applying, because an unrecognised employer cannot bring you in this way.
No. References are left off the CV entirely and requested at the final stage. The older "referenties op aanvraag" line has largely disappeared and adds nothing but a wasted line.
Through a credential evaluation from IDW/Nuffic, which maps your qualification to the Dutch system and tells an employer whether it sits at hbo or wo level. That distinction affects both role level and salary band, so put the result on the CV next to the degree.
No, but be ready to say a number in the first conversation, because Dutch recruiters ask directly and early. Work it out beforehand against the highly skilled migrant threshold for your age bracket; answering "I'm flexible" reads as unprepared here.
It's not the same template. Resumito's country engine (8 data points per country) toggles which personal fields and sections appear based on your target country — Netherlands gets its own rules, shown above.
Yes — you can build and download your first Netherlands-formatted resume on the free plan, no credit card required.
Yes, you can change your target country any time from the resume editor and Resumito re-applies the field rules instantly.
Pick Netherlands as your target country and Resumito turns each of these fields on or off for you — nothing to memorise.
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