A template helps when you know what to put in it. Start with your experience and the advertised role, then decide how to present the information. Here is a simple text sample to copy and an exercise for describing tasks. It is not a ready-designed downloadable file.
1. Choose three requirements from the advert
Highlight three important requirements. Beside each, note where you have worked with it: employment, education, an internship or volunteering. Use real examples. If you lack an experience, do not present it as an acquired skill. You can accurately name a related task or training in progress instead.
UZH Career Services recommends a clearly structured CV adapted to the role. The structure below is an editorial sample, not a binding Swiss standard or a promise about an employer’s decision.
2. Fill this text sample with your details
Copy the headings into your document. Replace every placeholder and remove sections where you have nothing relevant to add.
FIRST NAME SURNAME
Contact: email, telephone, place of residence
PROFILE — optional
Professional focus and one relevant, substantiated experience
WORK EXPERIENCE — most recent first
Month/year – month/year | Role | Employer, location
- Specific task and your contribution
- Tool used or a verifiable result
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Dates | Qualification/course | Institution
OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Dates | Assignment/role | Your task
SKILLS
Language and a clearly described level
Software/tool and its practical use
For a first job, education may come before employment. A profile is optional: use it only if it brings relevant information together. Describe skills in understandable words instead of an unexplained scale. Consider additional personal details individually; do not copy private information simply because a template includes it. The UZH handout describes the photo as optional; check the specific application’s instructions separately. UZH handout 2025.
3. Make a general task concrete
Fictional administration example:
- Too general: “Helped in the office.”
- More specific: “Recorded customer enquiries by email, followed up outstanding points with the team and prepared replies.”
The second version describes a task without inventing figures or responsibility for the whole team. Add a result only if you can explain and substantiate it. Do not copy this example if you did not do that work.
Your exercise: Choose one of your roles. Write down the task, your contribution and a tool actually used or a real result. Turn these into one clear sentence. Could you tell a concrete example about it in an interview?
4. Check the completed template
Read the content separately from its design. Do relevant experiences address the three requirements? Do dates, qualifications and job titles match your documents? Have you removed every placeholder?
Open the exported file. Check page breaks, cut-off lines, contact details and links. Try copying text from the PDF into an empty document and check the reading order. This is a practical self-check, not proof of flawless processing by every applicant tracking system. Follow the employer’s required file format and upload instructions.
5. Choose one next step
Finish one role before redesigning the whole document. You can work on paper or in your existing editor. The PARAT homepage provides information; check which functions are actually offered for your workflow. A tool does not replace your checks or decisions about personal details.
