Ireland CV and resume guidance – Page 2

Usually not, once you have the Leaving Certificate. Junior Cycle results are mainly useful for students still in school applying for part-time jobs or Transition Year placements.

When to include it:

• You are in fifth year or younger and have no Leaving Certificate yet.
• An employer asks for it specifically.

Otherwise, use the space for your Leaving Certificate, further study, work experience and skills.

Lead with education and relevant experience, keep to one or two pages, and give evidence of the competencies the programme lists. Many Irish graduate programmes in finance, consulting, tech and engineering also use online forms and assessments, so your CV is one part of the process.

Include:

• Degree, classification or expected result, and key modules.
• Internships, work placements and part-time jobs.
• Clubs, societies and volunteering with your role and results.
• Technical skills and languages.

Example: "Events Officer, University Accounting Society: organised a careers fair with 25 employers."

Apply early, as some graduate programmes recruit well before final exams.

Yes. Work placements, such as those built into many Irish degrees, should be listed as proper work experience with the employer, role, dates and achievements. Graduate recruiters treat them as real experience.

Example:
"Work Placement, Finance Assistant, a semiconductor company, Leixlip, Jan to Aug 2024

• Prepared month-end accruals and supported the external audit.
• Automated a weekly cost report in Excel, saving the team several hours."

Mention the placement in your Education entry too, so the reader sees it is part of the course.

No. Salary history and expectations do not usually go on an Irish CV. Employers and agencies ask about them separately, on a form or in conversation.

If an advert asks you to state salary expectations, put them in your cover letter or the form. Research typical pay for the role and location first, and be ready to discuss a range.

Use A4 and a simple, single-column layout. A4 is the standard paper size in Ireland, and a clean layout works well both for human readers and for applicant tracking systems used by larger employers.

Tips:

• Keep to clear headings: Profile, Experience, Education, Skills.
• Use a readable font and enough white space.
• Save as a text-based PDF unless the employer asks for Word.

ResumeBuilder.ae offers A4 and US Letter; choose A4 for Ireland.