Three CV examples by career stage
Pick the one closest to you. The structure matters more than the wording.
Graduate or student CV example (1 page)
Header, two line summary naming the graduate programme you want, education with classification and relevant modules, college and personal projects written like jobs, part-time work with transferable results, then skills and languages. Example bullet: "Built a Python dashboard tracking 12 months of club finances, cutting the treasurer's monthly reporting from 3 hours to 20 minutes."
Professional CV example (2 pages)
Header with target job title and work authorisation, four line summary, core skills block mirroring the advert, then four to five roles in reverse chronological order with three to five result bullets each. Example bullet: "Grew paid search revenue 34% year on year on a €480k budget by restructuring campaigns around intent keywords."
Career changer CV example (2 pages)
Same skeleton, different weighting. Summary states the target role explicitly, core skills leads with the transferable stack, and each past role is rewritten around the outcomes the new field cares about. Add a short 'relevant projects or training' block before experience so the switch is obvious in the first ten seconds.
A worked Irish CV example, section by section
This is the exact skeleton behind every example above.
Header
Marta Nowak · Financial Accountant · Dublin 8, Co. Dublin · +353 8X XXX XXXX · marta.nowak@email.com · linkedin.com/in/… · Stamp 4 holder, no sponsorship required.
Professional summary
"Qualified accountant (ACCA) with 6 years in shared services across Ireland and Poland. Cut month end close from 9 to 4 days and led the migration of 3 entities onto NetSuite. Looking for a financial accountant role in a multinational in Dublin."
Core skills
Grouped, not a word cloud: Financial reporting (IFRS, statutory accounts) · Month end close and reconciliations · NetSuite, SAP, Excel (Power Query, pivot models) · Audit liaison · Process automation · Stakeholder reporting.
Experience bullets
Action, method, result. "Reduced aged debt by €310k in 8 months by rebuilding the collections cadence and weekly reporting for 4 country leads." Three to five per role, most recent role gets the most.
Education and qualifications
ACCA, qualified 2021 · BSc Accounting and Finance, University X, 2:1, 2017. Add professional bodies and recent certifications on their own line.
Additional information
Languages with levels, work authorisation, notice period. Four lines maximum, then stop.
What the strongest examples do differently
The same CV, before and after, is usually a rewrite of these six habits.
| Weak version | What the strong examples do |
|---|---|
| "Responsible for month end close" | "Cut month end close from 9 days to 4 by automating reconciliations" |
| "Excellent communication skills" | "Presented monthly results to 4 country finance leads" |
| Two column layout with icons and skill bars | Single column, plain headings, ATS-readable |
| Generic summary reused for every role | Summary naming the exact target job title |
| No mention of visa status | One line: "Stamp 4 holder, no sponsorship required" |
| File named cv-final-v3.pdf | Firstname-Lastname-CV.pdf |
The same examples work for the UK with minor changes: right to work wording, degree classification and UK spelling.
Examples by field, and what each one has to prove
- ·IT and software: stack, scale and ownership. Users served, latency cut, releases shipped, systems owned end to end.
- ·Marketing: budget managed, channel results, and the metric the business cared about (pipeline, CAC, revenue), not impressions.
- ·Finance and accounting: qualification status, entities and systems handled, close timelines, audit outcomes.
- ·Sales and commercial: quota, attainment percentage, deal sizes, sales cycle and the market you sold into.
- ·Design: the problem, your role in the team, and what changed for the user or the business, with a portfolio link in the header.
- ·Hospitality and operations moving into office roles: volumes, teams managed, cost or process improvements, and the transferable systems you used.
Next steps
Three ATS-safe templates built to exactly the structure in these examples, no email required.
The standard Irish layout section by section, with the formatting rules behind these examples.
Upload your CV and get an instant score against what Irish employers screen on.
The four paragraph structure Irish recruiters expect, in Word and PDF.
One-to-one help turning the CV into interviews in the Dublin market.
What clients say about working with us
“My experience with HULA Career exceeded my expectations. They provided exceptional guidance throughout every step of my dream job search. I am incredibly grateful to Hugo and Laura for their unwavering support.”
“Hugo is a friendly and dedicated professional who can help you with career coaching. He was very attentive to me, making calls to teach me strategies to get the perfect job and providing accurate and professional material.”
“If you're looking for any career related help or advice in Ireland, HULA is the one for you. Hugo and Laura are two of the sweetest and kind hearted people who go above and beyond to support you.”
“I had an amazing experience with HULA Career! Their team provided outstanding support in improving my LinkedIn profile and CV, making them more professional and impactful. Their guidance was clear, personalized, and extremely helpful.”
“I've been a client of HULA Career for a while now, and working with them has been one of the best decisions I've made for my professional growth. From the very beginning, they made me feel seen and heard.”
“I had a very good experience with HULA! Hugo is an amazing professional who always goes beyond to provide the best service he can. I learned a lot from our sessions and would recommend 100% for anyone who needs help finding a new job.”
“HULA met my expectations perfectly. I was looking for guidance to create a standout resume, and they fully understood my needs. The team was extremely attentive and delivered excellent services.”
“They are excellent professionals and exceed expectations. They helped me in a practical way, but also in a psychological way so that I could position myself in the labour market in another country. Thank you so much, you're amazing.”
Not sure your version reads as well as the example?
Run it through the free ATS analysis, or book a free consultation and we will tell you honestly how it lands with an Irish recruiter.
Written by
Hugo F
Career coach and co-founder of HULA. He works every week with international professionals hiring into Ireland, the UK and Portugal, and coaches them through CV, LinkedIn, applications and interviews. More about Hugo.
Frequently asked questions
What does a good Irish CV example look like?+
Two A4 pages, single column, reverse chronological. Header with name, target job title, city and county, phone and LinkedIn. Then a three to four line summary, a core skills block, experience written as results with numbers, education, and a short additional information section. No photo, no date of birth, no marital status, no PPS number.
Are there free CV examples for Ireland I can copy?+
Yes. Every example on this page is written to the Irish format and you can download the matching Word and PDF templates for free, without giving an email address. Copy the structure and the bullet phrasing, then replace the numbers with your own.
What is a good CV example for a student in Ireland?+
One page. Education first, then any part-time work, internships, college projects and societies. Write the projects like jobs: what you did, what tools you used and what the outcome was. Add a short summary naming the graduate programme or role type you are targeting.
How do I write CV bullet points that Irish recruiters respond to?+
Use the action, method, result order: what you did, how you did it, and the measurable change. "Cut monthly close from nine days to four by automating reconciliations in Excel and Power Query" beats "Responsible for month end close" every time.
Is a curriculum vitae sample from another country safe to copy for Ireland?+
Not directly. US resumes are one page and often drop detail Irish recruiters expect, while many European CV samples include a photo, date of birth and nationality, which Irish employers do not want and some legally strip out. Convert to the two page Irish format first.
How many CV examples should I look at before writing mine?+
One good one in your field is enough. Copying structure and phrasing from several examples usually produces an inconsistent CV. Pick the closest example here, keep its skeleton, and spend your time on the numbers in your bullets instead.