How to Write a CV That Stands Out: A 2026 Dutch CV Guide

A good Dutch CV is concise, factual, and built for both the recruiter who skims it in 7 seconds and the ATS that parses it in milliseconds. The shape is similar to a UK or US resume but with specific Dutch quirks: a brief personal profile is welcomed, photos and date of birth are increasingly being dropped (especially in tech and at international employers), and Dutch employers genuinely value directness over self-promotion. This guide walks through the format, what to include, what to leave out, the ATS reality at Dutch employers, how to use AI tools without ending up with the kind of CV that 33% of hiring managers can spot in under 20 seconds, and what changes by sector.

Length

One page if you have less than 5 years of experience, two pages maximum otherwise. Dutch recruiters are explicit about preferring concise documents. CVs longer than two pages are not read.

As a graduate, one page is the goal. If you're spilling onto a second page with thin material, cut. The bar is not how much you can fit; it's how much of what's there is genuinely relevant to the role.

Layout

Clean, simple, scannable. Single column for ATS parsing. Clear section headings. Bold for job titles and company names so they catch the eye in a 7-second scan. Avoid heavy graphics, columns, sidebars, icons, or coloured backgrounds: these often break in ATS parsing and Dutch employers see them as design noise.

Standard fonts (Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Garamond, or similar) at 10 to 11 point body, 12 to 14 point headings. Use white space generously.

What to leave out by default

• Date of birth. Optional in the Netherlands, increasingly dropped, especially in tech and at international employers. Including it gives discrimination risk you can simply avoid.
• Photo. Trend is to omit, especially in tech, at international companies, and where the employer is GDPR-conscious. Some traditional sectors (sales, hospitality, certain client-facing roles) still expect one. Check the company's careers page or LinkedIn presence; if their team photos are professional headshots, a photo on your CV is fine. If not, leave it off.
• Marital status, religion, nationality (unless visa-relevant), social security/BSN number. Dutch employers don't expect or want these and they can complicate the recruiter's GDPR position.
• Full street address. City and country are enough. Phone number and email are essential.
• Generic skill ratings ("Excel: ████░" bars). Recruiters don't trust them; they take up space; they break in ATS parsing.
• "References available on request." Implicit. Either provide actual references when asked or leave the line off.
• Generic objective statements ("Seeking a challenging role where I can grow..."). Replace with a specific personal profile (covered in Section 4) or omit entirely.

What to keep

• Full name, professional email address, phone number with country code (+31 6 ... if you have a Dutch number), city/country, LinkedIn URL.
• Personal profile: 2 to 4 sentences answering "who are you professionally and what are you looking for next."
• Work experience and internships in reverse chronological order.
• Education in reverse chronological order with thesis title if relevant.
• Languages with proficiency level (CEFR or descriptive).
• Relevant skills (tools, methods, certifications).
• Optional: brief hobbies/extracurriculars if they show something the rest of the CV doesn't (leadership, teamwork, sustained commitment).

Dutch CVs follow a fairly standard sequence. The order is built around the assumption that a recruiter will scan the top half of page one before deciding whether to read further:

• Header: name, contact details, LinkedIn URL
• Personal profile (2 to 4 sentences)
• Work experience and internships (reverse chronological)
• Education (reverse chronological)
• Languages
• Skills (tools, methods, certifications)
• Optional: extracurricular activities, volunteer work, publications, awards

Two important nuances for graduates specifically:

Recent graduate with limited paid work? Education comes before work experience. The thesis title, relevant courses, and academic projects do real work here. Internships, student jobs, and project work go under "Work experience" with the same formatting as a full-time role.

Career changer or non-traditional path? A skills-first or hybrid format can be appropriate, but use it sparingly. Dutch recruiters are generally trained to read reverse-chronological CVs and may treat a skills-first format with mild suspicion. If you go this route, justify it briefly in the personal profile.

The personal profile (sometimes called "Profile," "Personal Summary," or just "About") is 2 to 4 sentences at the top of the CV, just under your contact details. Done well, it answers three questions in less than 50 words:

• Who are you, professionally? ("MSc Industrial Engineering graduate from TU Delft")
• What are you good at, specifically? ("with hands-on experience in process optimisation and data analysis using Python and SQL")
• What are you looking for next? ("looking to apply this in a graduate operations role at a manufacturing or logistics company")

The personal profile is also the section where AI-written CVs reveal themselves the fastest. The Resume-Now AI Applicant Report (March 2025) found that 33.5% of hiring managers can identify an AI-generated CV in under 20 seconds, and the personal profile is the single most-cited tell. Phrases like "results-driven professional with a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions" appear so frequently in AI output that recruiters recognise them immediately.

What makes a profile bad

• Generic adjectives: "motivated, dynamic, results-driven, passionate."
• Claims with no specifics: "proven track record," "strong skills," "strategic mindset."
• Long paragraphs (5+ sentences). 50 words max.
• Mismatch with the rest of the CV (claiming "5 years of experience" when the CV shows 2).
• Could-belong-to-anyone framing. If your profile would still make sense pasted onto someone else's CV, it's too generic.

What makes a profile good

• A specific role/degree anchor ("Marketing graduate from RUG" not "motivated communications professional").
• One or two named tools, methods, or domain areas you've actually worked with.
• A specific direction for what you want next.
• Plain language. No jargon you wouldn't use in person.

Each role on the CV gets a header (job title, company, location, dates) and 3 to 5 bullets describing what you did. The bullets are where the work happens.

The structure of a strong bullet

The pattern that works across sectors:

• Start with a verb ("Built," "Led," "Analysed," "Designed," not "Responsible for" or "Helped with").
• Specify what you actually did, with enough detail to be falsifiable.
• Where possible, end with a measurable outcome (number, percentage, time saved, money made/saved).

Examples

Generic bullet: "Responsible for managing the social media of the company."

Better: "Ran Instagram and LinkedIn for an Amsterdam fintech with 40 employees; grew LinkedIn following from 1,200 to 4,800 in 6 months by shifting from product posts to founder-led commentary."

Generic bullet: "Improved processes through data analysis."

Better: "Analysed 2 years of customer support ticket data in Python; identified 3 categories accounting for 60% of ticket volume; drafted self-service flows that reduced inbound tickets by 22% over the next quarter."

Why this matters specifically against AI-generated CVs

SHRM 2025 data on AI in recruiting found that CVs with quantified achievements get approximately 2.3x more callbacks than CVs without them. The Resume-Now report found that 62% of hiring managers are more likely to reject AI-generated CVs that lack personalisation, and the strongest signal of personalisation is named systems, named projects, and real numbers.

Numbers, named tools, and specific contexts are also exactly what AI cannot fabricate convincingly without making up facts you'd then be unable to defend in an interview. Real specifics protect you twice: they get you the interview, and they hold up in the interview.

What to do if you don't have impressive metrics yet

Most graduate roles don't generate easily-quantifiable outcomes. That's fine. The rule is: be as specific as you can with what you have. "Used" what tool, "presented to" what audience, "contributed to" what project, "improved" what specifically. If a bullet would still make sense if you'd done a completely different job, it's too generic.

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is the software your CV gets uploaded into when you apply via a company's careers page. It parses your CV into a structured database, gets indexed for recruiter searches, and routes you through the company's hiring stages. According to Jobscan's State of the Job Search 2025, around 99% of recruiters now use an ATS.

Which systems Dutch employers actually use

The Dutch ATS landscape is a mix of homegrown and international systems:

• Recruitee. Dutch-founded ATS, widely used by Dutch SMEs and scaleups across all sectors. If you're applying to a Dutch tech company between 20 and 500 employees, you'll likely encounter Recruitee.
• Homerun. Another Dutch-founded ATS (since 2014), focused on small businesses up to roughly 250 employees. Common at design-led and creative companies.
• Workday. Used by larger multinationals with Dutch offices (banks, FMCG majors, large consultancies, the larger tech companies). One of the more parsing-strict systems; format conservatively.
• SAP SuccessFactors. Common at large industrial and enterprise employers (ASML, Philips, KPN, Shell, large public sector).
• Greenhouse. Used by many international scaleups with Amsterdam offices. Stripe, Databricks, and similar tend to use it.
• Bullhorn. Standard at Dutch staffing agencies and recruiters (Adecco, Randstad, Hays, Robert Half, Undutchables).
• Other systems you may encounter: Lever, Workable, Personio (HR suite with recruiting), iCIMS, Connexys (Dutch enterprise ATS), Hirex.

What ATS parsing actually does

ATSs parse your CV into structured fields: name, contact, work experience entries, education, skills, etc. They use this for two things: indexing for keyword search, and showing the recruiter a structured view of your application. Modern ATSs use increasingly capable language models for parsing and matching, but they still trip on:

• Multi-column layouts. Many parsers read top-to-bottom, left-to-right, and a two-column CV gets read as gibberish.
• Header/footer placement. Contact details placed in the header text are sometimes ignored by older parsers.
• Tables and text boxes. Especially when used for layout rather than for tabular data.
• Graphics, icons, and progress bars. Treated as images, not text.
• PDF that was image-scanned (rather than text-based). Parses as image, not text.
• Unusual section headings. "Career trajectory" parses worse than "Work experience." Stick to standard names.

Practical formatting rules

• Single column.
• Standard fonts (Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Garamond, Georgia). No decorative or display fonts.
• Standard section names: Personal Profile, Work Experience, Education, Skills, Languages.
• Dates in a consistent format (e.g. "09/2023 - 06/2024" or "Sep 2023 - Jun 2024").
• File format: .pdf is generally safe; .docx is sometimes preferred by older systems. Both are widely supported.
• Filename: "FirstName-LastName-CV.pdf" rather than "final_v3_resume.pdf."
• Tailor the language to match terminology from the job description, in context. Stuffing keywords with no context gets caught by both modern ATS scoring and the human reading after.

Source: HoorayHR ATS System Decision Aid 2024; Hirex Best ATS tools in the Netherlands 2026; CareerBldr CV Writing Guide for the Netherlands 2026; Workday What is an ATS 2026.

A few data points worth grounding this conversation in:

• ResumeBuilder 2023: 46% of job seekers reported using AI tools to write or modify their CV.
• Multiple 2025 industry surveys: that number climbed past 55%.
• Resume-Now AI Applicant Report (March 2025, 1,000+ hiring managers): 74% have personally encountered AI-generated content in applications. 62% are more likely to reject AI-generated CVs that lack personalisation. 33.5% say they can identify an AI-generated CV in under 20 seconds.
• TopResume survey (May 2025, 600 US hiring managers): about 20% would automatically reject a CV they identified as AI-generated.

The pattern is consistent: AI use is widespread, recruiters are increasingly attuned to it, and rejection is most strongly driven by generic AI-output prose, not AI use itself.

How to use AI well

• As an editor, not an author. Write the substance yourself. Then ask the AI to tighten phrasing, improve verbs, or reduce word count. The 2023 Noy & Zhang Science paper found AI editing of human-written prose raised quality 18% (graded blind). AI as ghostwriter is the trap; AI as editor is genuinely useful.
• To translate. If you're an international writing in English (or a Dutch graduate considering an English CV), AI is excellent at improving fluency without changing the substance.
• To reverse-engineer the keywords from a job description. Paste the JD and ask which terms map to your actual experience. Use the answer to update your bullets, in context.
• To stress-test bullets. Paste a bullet and ask "what would a recruiter ask in interview to verify this?" If you can't answer the questions, the bullet is exaggerating and needs revision.

How to use AI badly

• Pasting the job description and asking the AI to generate a CV. The output reads like a press release for a fictional candidate. Recruiters spot this fast.
• Letting the AI add metrics or qualifications you don't actually have. Hallucination is a known issue (the Johns Hopkins research on ChatGPT hallucinations cited a 27% rate); inflated CVs that don't survive an interview question are worse than honest ones that do.
• Letting the AI write the personal profile from a generic prompt. Result: "results-driven professional with a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions."
• Power-verb stuffing every bullet. AI loves "spearheaded," "orchestrated," "championed," "revolutionised." Real work uses ordinary verbs. "Built," "led," "wrote," "shipped," "analysed."

The honest conversation about Aurora

Aurora is GradGuide's AI career coach, including a CV builder. We're aware of the irony of saying "don't generate your CV with AI" while building an AI CV tool. The distinction we genuinely care about: Aurora is built specifically to ask you for the substance and then help structure it well, not to invent the substance for you. The output should sound like you, slightly polished, not like a generic template.

Whichever AI tool you use, the test is the same. Read the result out loud. If it sounds like a person describing what they actually did, you're fine. If it sounds like a press release, the recruiter will think so too.

Tech and software. Skills section near the top with named technologies (languages, frameworks, cloud, databases). GitHub URL in the header. Projects (personal or open-source) treated as work experience entries. Education matters less; what you've shipped matters more. No photo. CV in English by default.

Finance and banking. Education near the top, with degree class and any honours. Quantitative coursework called out (econometrics, statistics, financial modelling). Tools section names what you've actually used (Excel, VBA, Python, Bloomberg, FactSet). Internships at recognised firms get prominent placement. Photo optional, more common in retail banking than investment banking.

Consulting and Big 4. Structured, scannable, achievement-led. Strong personal profile that signals analytical ability and structured thinking. Case competition wins, leadership roles, and study-abroad experience all count. Quantifiable bullets even for student work. Education gets full GPA / cum laude / honours treatment.

Engineering. Education gets significant space, including thesis topic, supervisor (especially if a recognised name in the field), and any technical specialisation. Tools and methods section is large (CAD packages, simulation tools, programming languages, lab techniques). Projects and internships described in detail with technical specifics.

Life sciences and healthcare. Education and research projects get the most space. Thesis title is essential. Publications, posters, and conference presentations listed in their own section if you have them. Specific lab techniques and software listed. For clinical roles, BIG-registratie status and Dutch language level go near the top.

Marketing, communications, and creative. Portfolio link is the single most important element; goes in the header. Personal profile leans more on perspective and approach than analytical credentials. Bullets emphasise outcomes (engagement metrics, growth numbers, campaign performance). Visual design of the CV itself can be slightly more expressive in this sector, though still ATS-parseable.

Government and international organisations. Highly structured, formal tone. Education prominent. Languages prominent. For international organisations, EU/UN-system competency framework keywords matter. For Dutch government, Dutch language level and any policy-relevant academic work or thesis topic.

Logistics and operations. Operational tools (SAP, Oracle, Excel modelling, simulation tools) listed prominently. Quantified outcomes for any process improvement work. Internships with named major employers (Heineken, Unilever, Bol, Picnic, Port of Rotterdam) given prominent placement.

The widely-cited claim that recruiters spend 6 to 7 seconds on each CV comes from one specific study: the Ladders Inc. 2018 Eye-Tracking Study. The headline finding was that recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds on initial CV screening (up from 6 seconds in their 2012 study).

Worth knowing about the methodology before treating this as gospel:

• Sample: 30 recruiters, with no published detail on how they were selected or what types of roles they were screening for.
• The full methodology was never published in a peer-reviewed journal.
• Ladders is a US-based career site for $100k+ jobs; the study reflects US recruiter behaviour at one point in time.
• Multiple recruiting professionals have publicly contested the figure as misleading or oversimplified.

The Ladders study has been replicated in spirit (Wonsulting ran a similar eye-tracking experiment in 2025 with consistent F-pattern findings) but never independently verified at scale. The exact number isn't really the point. The pattern is robust: experienced recruiters skim CVs first, read selectively, and decide quickly whether to spend more time.

What recruiters actually look at first, per the study

• Your name and current title
• Your current company
• Your previous title and company
• Dates of your roles (checking for gaps and progression)
• Education

This is why bold-formatted job titles, clean reverse-chronological structure, and a strong personal profile at the top matter more than any other element. The first half of page one carries most of the weight.

Top-performing CVs in the study had these traits

• Simple layouts with clearly marked section headings
• F-pattern or E-pattern reading flow (eye moves naturally from top-left down)
• Bold job titles
• Bulleted accomplishments rather than paragraphs
• Strong use of white space

Bottom-performing CVs had these traits

• Cluttered layouts
• Multi-column designs that broke the natural eye flow
• Dense paragraphs
• Lack of section headers
• No clear visual hierarchy

Source: Ladders, Inc., "2018 Eye-Tracking Study" (PRNewswire, November 2018); HR Dive coverage November 2018; Spectacle Talent Partners critique April 2023; Wonsulting eye-tracker experiment 2025.

If you're starting a CV from scratch, the highest-leverage 30 minutes is on the personal profile and the bullets for your top 2 to 3 most relevant experiences. Everything else (header, education, languages, layout) is template work.

If you're updating an existing CV, run it through three tests: (1) Does it pass the 7-second scan? Hand it to someone for 7 seconds, ask them what role you're applying for; if they can't tell, the top of the page needs work. (2) Could another graduate from your programme write the same bullets? If yes, rewrite. (3) Does it sound like you, or like a press release? Read it out loud.

Aurora's CV builder is designed for exactly the workflow this post describes: it asks for the substance from you, structures it into a Dutch-conventions-aware CV, flags ATS-unfriendly formatting, and stress-tests bullets that look generic. It's the strongest hand-off we have for this topic.

Internal links

• How to Write a Cover Letter That Gets You Noticed (post #6, rewrite pending)
• How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile to Land Your Dream Job (post #7, rewrite pending)
• Top Industries Hiring Young Professionals in the Netherlands (post #3, rewritten)
• How to Negotiate Your Salary (post #14, rewrite pending)
• How to Prepare for a Job Interview Like a Pro (post #10, rewrite pending)