Guide
How to write a CV for Finland: example and adaptation
Start with the employer’s instructions. Your CV should make your actual experience, education and relevant skills easy to find. This guide provides a customer-service example and a practical way to adapt your own CV to a specific vacancy. You can read and use the example without a DAVLA account.
Fictional customer service CV example
This is a fictional example, not a real person’s application. Replace the placeholders in square brackets with your own details. Keep only statements that accurately describe your experience.
Contact details
[Name] · [Town or city] · [Phone] · [Email]
Example profile
Customer service assistant with experience in retail and online-store customer communication. I have advised customers, handled returns and checked order status. I am looking for a customer service role where I can use these skills.
Work experience
Customer service assistant · [Employer], [Location] · [MM/YYYY–MM/YYYY]
- Advised customers on product choices and served them at the checkout.
- Processed online-store returns and answered questions about orders.
- Introduced a new colleague to the returns process.
Education
[Qualification or course] · [Institution] · [Year]
Skills and languages
[Systems and tools you have used] · [Language and actual level]. Explain what you can do in a language, such as answering customer questions. Do not claim a certified level without the relevant evidence.
Fictional example. Replace the placeholders and keep only statements that are true for you. No account required.
Adapt your CV to a specific job advertisement
Suppose an advertisement asks for customer service, order processing and Finnish-language skills. Match each requirement to evidence from your own experience. Adaptation changes the emphasis and wording, not the facts.
Customer service experience
Before: “Worked with customers.”
After: “Advised customers on product choices and processed online-store returns.”
Why: the example CV above supports both activities. The revision names the work instead of claiming an unverified result or adding a new responsibility.
Order processing
Before: “Handled online-store customer service.”
After: “Processed online-store returns and answered questions about orders.”
Why: these are the tasks described in the example. They do not establish experience with the full order process or a particular system. If the advertisement requires a system you have not used, ask whether training is available; do not add it to your skills.
Finnish-language skills
The example deliberately leaves the language level blank. Fill it with your real ability and a task you can perform, if applicable. Do not turn the employer’s required level into a claim about yourself.
If the requirement is unclear, ask the named contact before sending your application. Choose the document language and file format requested by the employer.
What a good CV looks like in Finland
Write clearly and describe your experience in concrete terms. Use headings and an open layout so that the essentials are easy to find. Choose the style according to the role and the employer’s instructions.
Treat everything below as common practice, not as a rule. Expectations can differ in design fields, academic roles and the public sector, and the advertisement is always your strongest guide.
Basic CV structure
A familiar, safe structure is contact details, a short profile, work experience, education and skills. Reverse chronological order is the most familiar to Finnish recruiters: your latest job comes first.
- Contact details: name, phone number, email address and your town or region.
- Profile: a summary of three or four lines covering your field, how long your experience is and what you are looking for.
- Work experience: job title, employer, location and dates, plus a few concrete achievements.
- Education: degrees with institutions and years.
- Skills: tools, systems, certificates and language skills at realistic levels.
Length and formatting
One or two pages is the most common length for most roles. Academic and research CVs are often longer because publications and funding are listed in full.
Use clear headings, enough white space and an ordinary font. Dense multi-column templates can look impressive, but some recruitment systems read them poorly. Save your CV as a PDF unless the employer asks for something else.
Official sources: InfoFinland — job application and CV
Common CV mistakes
- Sending the same general CV to every job, with no link to the requirements of the advertised role.
- Listing duties without results, so the reader cannot judge how well the work went.
- Describing language skills at a level that does not match your real ability.
- Using heavy graphic templates that break when a recruitment system reads them.
- Missing dates, unexplained gaps or job titles that differ between your CV and your application.
- Writing a cover letter that repeats your CV instead of explaining your motivation and suitability.
CV or ansioluettelo: is there a difference?
In job applications, CV and ansioluettelo usually mean the same document. Its purpose is to describe the experience, education and skills that matter for the role. Academic roles may also ask for a list of publications, for example. Always follow the employer’s instructions on content and scope.
Check before sending
- Verify contact details, dates, job titles, qualifications and every experience statement.
- Put relevant experience where it is easy to find. A concise CV suits many roles; academic applications may need more detail.
- Choose the document language and file format requested in the advertisement. An English guide does not mean the employer wants an English CV.
- If a cover letter is requested, explain your motivation and relevant examples without repeating the entire CV. Send the documents yourself using the employer’s specified channel.
Official sources: InfoFinland
Frequently asked questions
Keep reading
Prepare your documents with DAVLA
In DAVLA you can compare a job advertisement with your profile and prepare a CV and cover letter. Personal features require an account and are subject to the service’s terms and limits. You review the documents and send the application yourself. DAVLA does not submit applications automatically.