German CV for doctors: format and example

How a German CV differs from a UK or US CV

• Written in German. Hospitals read applications in German, even when the department speaks English.
• Table style: dates in the left column (MM/YYYY), the job on the right, two to four bullet points underneath.
• Personal details are normal: date and place of birth and nationality are common, though optional.
• A photo is common but optional.
• No long personal statement. A profile of three or four sentences is enough.
• No references list. Hospitals ask for references (Arbeitszeugnisse) as attachments instead.

The order German hospitals expect

1. Persönliche Daten (personal details): name, address, phone, e-mail.
2. Profil (profile): which specialty training you want, your degree, your Approbation status, your German level.
3. Berufserfahrung (work experience): newest first, with dates, job title, hospital, department and town.
4. Studium und Ausbildung (education): medical degree, internship year, clinical rotations.
5. Approbation und Prüfungen: the exact status of your licence and exams, with dates.
6. Fort- und Weiterbildungen (courses): for example BLS, ACLS, ultrasound courses.
7. Kenntnisse (skills): procedures you can do on your own, and hospital software.
8. Sprachen (languages): every language with level and certificate.

Your degree and job titles: keep the originals

• Write your degree exactly as it appears on your diploma: "Doctor of Medicine (MD)", "Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)", "Docteur en Médecine".
• Do not translate it into "Staatsexamen". That is the German degree, and you do not hold it.
• Do not put "Dr." before your name unless you wrote a doctoral thesis. An MD or MBBS is a medical degree, not a German doctorate.
• In Germany, "Arzt" or "Ärztin" is a protected title: you may only use it once you hold an Approbation or a Berufserlaubnis. Your past jobs abroad keep the title they had there.

How to write your Approbation and language status

The hospital needs to know when you can start. Write the real status with a date, never the date you hope for. Anything not yet passed is "ausstehend" (pending) or "angemeldet" (registered).

Every case, with the exact German wording: How to show a pending Approbation, FSP or Kenntnisprüfung on your CV.

Example: a finished German CV

Lina Haddad is an example person: medical degree in Jordan, internship year, general practitioner, German B2, Approbation applied for. Klaro wrote this CV only from her details. It is in German, because German hospitals read it in German.

Common mistakes

• Unexplained gaps. Time spent on recognition is not a gap: write "Anerkennungsverfahren und Vorbereitung auf die Kenntnisprüfung" (recognition process and exam preparation).
• "Passed" for an exam whose result is still pending. Hospitals can check with the authority.
• A German level higher than your certificate.
• English job titles with no explanation. Add what the job was, for example "Internship-Jahr (Pflichtrotation)".
• No specialty goal. The hospital wants to know which Facharzt (specialist title) you are training for.

Questions