Language · 2026-08-22 · 13 min read

US vs European CV: résumé, photo, and A4

One-page résumé, no photo or age, Letter; European A4 CV, sometimes a photo. How to adapt the file you already have. Not just language. ClarCV.

US vs European CV is not a synonym of English vs Spanish. Document language follows the ad: CV in English or Spanish. Here the file’s continent changes: a US résumé of one page, Letter, no photo, no age, no marital status; a European A4 CV of one or two pages, sometimes with a photo, languages as CEFR. Sending a New York résumé to InfoJobs (or a CV with photo and ID to Greenhouse in Austin) is a format error, not a translation error.

Photo: photo on the CV. Extra fields: what not to include. ClarCV exports A4 for ES/LatAm/EU. Free: 3 analyses and 2 downloads / 30 days, no card. Pro €7/month. We do not ship US Letter as the main product; if the process is fully American, drop photo and extra data and respect their page.

“CV” in UK academia can be 3–10 pages with publications. That is not a product résumé in San Francisco. Name the document as they do.

United States and Canada (private)

Résumé: 1 page junior/mid; 2 only with a dense path. No photo, no date of birth, no national ID, no gender, no nationality except work authorization (“US work authorized” / “TN eligible”). European-style personal statements, out. Short summary. Achievements with figures. Cover letter separate if they ask. Letter size (8.5 × 11 in). US ATS hates the same things: columns, icons, tables.

• UK private (non-academic): increasingly a 2-page “CV”, often no photo.
• Spain / much of the EU: A4, 1–2 pages, photo still common locally, not at US subsidiaries.
• Germany: sometimes a more rigid Lebenslauf and a photo; read the ad.
• LatAm: hoja de vida / CV — map in hoja de vida or currículum.

What to change on the PDF you already use in Spain

Before (Madrid → US remote process): photo, “age 32”, street address, hobbies, two Canva columns. After: name, email, phone +1 or +34, LinkedIn, city or “Remote, CET overlap”; experience with verbs and metrics; skills as text; one column. Remove the photo. Switch languages to US fluency labels (“Professional working proficiency”) or keep CEFR if the team is mixed. Do not translate “grado” as “grade”; use BSc/BA if it applies.

Europe into Spain (the reverse case)

A one-page US résumé in a local Spanish process can look incomplete (no photo where it is still expected, no CEFR, too much telegram). Add A1–C2 languages, consider a photo if the market is local, A4, and do not leave the phone without a prefix. Achievement content stays. In ClarCV you regenerate a template; you decide photo and Letter vs A4 by destination. The model must not invent a green card or an NIE.