CV example: Public sector

This is what a strong CV looks like in this field, and why it is built that way.

Starter — Public sector

In the public sector, the CV and cover letter are explicitly checked against a predetermined list of competencies, so every experience here is written as a situation with an outcome — the STARR format, without the label above it. Board and committee work is included as full-fledged experience alongside internships, since without much paid experience, that is where collaboration and handling conflicting interests become visible. The profile summary stays within the five lines that the Dutch central government itself publishes as the standard.

8+ years of experience — Public sector

Fourteen years of experience across two layers of public administration. The roles are described so that the competencies used organisation-wide by central government — integrity, political sensitivity, environmental awareness — emerge from the situations themselves rather than appearing as buzzwords on the CV. The position held before 2014 is listed as a single line without a task description, in line with central government's own standard of summarising experience older than ten years.

The people, employers and results in these examples are invented.