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Country Guide Known as “CV”

Italian CV Format: How to Write an Italian CV (2026)

The Italian CV format is the first impression you make on Italian employers. Getting the details right, from the photo rule to the date format, signals that you understand the local market and its expectations.

Length is a key signal in Italy: 1–2 pages; 1 page for graduates and junior roles, up to 2 for experienced professionals..

Italian recruiters value concise, well-structured CVs.. The photo rule is Optional. A clean professional headshot is traditional and still common, especially in corporate and banking roles, but not mandatory, and many modern and international firms omit it..

On the Europass format a photo is optional.. Dates follow Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g. 12/06/2025) or Month/Year (MM/YYYY, e.g. 06/2025) for work experience. Consistency matters most; never write MM/DD/YYYY.. These are the details recruiters notice first, so they anchor this guide.

Personal details follow a clear local standard: Name, phone (with +39 from abroad), professional email, city, and LinkedIn URL. Date of birth, nationality, and marital status are traditional but increasingly dropped in modern CVs..

Never include your codice fiscale (Italian tax code), bank details, or religion.. Section order matters too: Contact details → Personal profile or objective (2–4 lines) → Work experience (reverse-chronological) → Education → Skills (technical + languages) → Certifications → References (“References available on request” is accepted)..

Recent graduates may put Education before Work experience.. Each section below explains the reasoning behind the rule, not just the rule itself.

This guide covers the Italian CV format end to end, with example content for software engineer at every career level. Use it to write a cv that passes the first screening.

Use This CV Example Build Your CV Free

Italian CV Format at a Glance

Document type
CV: “CV” or curriculum is the standard term in Italy. The Europass template, born in Italy, is widely accepted and often the safest format. Applications are made in Italian for most local roles and in English for tech and international companies. A cover letter (lettera di presentazione) is expected for most roles.
Typical length
1–2 pages; 1 page for graduates and junior roles, up to 2 for experienced professionals. Italian recruiters value concise, well-structured CVs.
Photo
Optional. A clean professional headshot is traditional and still common, especially in corporate and banking roles, but not mandatory, and many modern and international firms omit it. On the Europass format a photo is optional.
Date format
Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g. 12/06/2025) or Month/Year (MM/YYYY, e.g. 06/2025) for work experience. Consistency matters most; never write MM/DD/YYYY.
Paper size
A4.
Personal details
Name, phone (with +39 from abroad), professional email, city, and LinkedIn URL. Date of birth, nationality, and marital status are traditional but increasingly dropped in modern CVs. Never include your codice fiscale (Italian tax code), bank details, or religion.
Section order
Contact details → Personal profile or objective (2–4 lines) → Work experience (reverse-chronological) → Education → Skills (technical + languages) → Certifications → References (“References available on request” is accepted). Recent graduates may put Education before Work experience.
ATS friendliness
Moderate; large Italian companies and multinationals (Eni, Enel, Intesa Sanpaolo, Luxottica, Ferrari, plus Google and Amazon offices) screen with ATS. Use standard headings, a clean single column, and PDF export. Mirror keywords from the job description.

Italian CV Examples

Real Italian CVs written to these conventions across three experience levels. Switch tabs to review each, then load it straight into the builder to make it your own.

G

Giulia Rossi

Software Engineer (Graduate)

Entry Level [email protected] Milan, Italy

Professional Summary

Entry Level software engineer (graduate) with experience at Bending Spoons (Milan) and Google (Milan) in Milan, Italy. Skilled in Go, TypeScript and React, with a focus on reliability and clean architecture. Following the standard Italian CV format.

Work Experience

Software Engineer (Graduate)
07/2025 – Present

Bending Spoons (Milan) · Milan, Italy

  • Ship customer-facing features in the search using Go, TypeScript and React, following team code review and CI/CD practice.
  • Reduced API response time by 22% by introducing response caching in a search endpoint.
  • Fixed 40+ production issues across two quarters, maintaining a 99.9% service uptime record.
  • Pair with senior engineers on system design and observability, contributing to the team's on-call rota.
Software Engineering Intern
01/2025 – 06/2025

Google (Milan) · Milan, Italy

  • Built a reporting dashboard in React and Python that cut weekly report generation from 3 hours to 20 minutes.
  • Wrote 60+ unit and integration tests, raising feature coverage on the module to 92%.
  • Presented the project to 150+ staff at the local office; offer extended.

Education

BSc Computer Engineering
2021 – 2025

Politecnico di Milano · Milan

Focused on computer science fundamentals, distributed systems, and software engineering.

Skills

TypeScript & JavaScript (Experienced) React & Node.js (Experienced) Python (Skillful) SQL (PostgreSQL) (Skillful) AWS (S3, Lambda) (Skillful) Git & CI/CD (GitHub Actions) (Experienced)

Certifications & Links

  • AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials
  • GitHub portfolio with 25+ public repositories
  • LinkedIn profile linked in the header
Use This Example

How to Write an Italian CV: Step-by-Step

1

Open With Contact Details and a Short Personal Profile

Start with your name, phone (use +39 from abroad), a professional email address, city, and LinkedIn URL.

Date of birth, nationality, and marital status are traditional but increasingly dropped in modern CVs.

Never include your codice fiscale (Italian tax code), bank details, or religion.

Follow with a 2–4 line personal profile:

who you are, your specialism, and what you bring.

Example

"Software Engineer with 3 years' experience building banking platforms in Milan. Skilled in Java, Kotlin, and AWS, with a focus on reliability and regulatory compliance. Seeking a full-time role in an Italian product team."

Entry Level

Keep the profile to 2–3 lines: your degree, internships, and core languages.

Mid Level

Lead with years of experience, your stack, and the products or teams you have shipped for.

Senior Level

Summarise scope: systems owned, team size led, architecture decisions, and business impact.

2

List Work Experience Reverse-Chronological With Quantified Achievements

List roles most recent first with job title, company, city, and dates in DD/MM/YYYY or MM/YYYY format.

Write 3–5 achievement-led bullets per role;

"cut API response time by 40% by introducing caching" beats "responsible for backend development".

Italian recruiters want results, not responsibilities, so quantify impact in every bullet.

Example

"Software Engineer. Intesa Sanpaolo, Milan, 06/2022 – Present. Migrated a payments service to Kubernetes, cutting deployment time from 40 to 8 minutes and improving on-call resolution by 30%."

Entry Level

Detail internships, thesis projects, and open-source contributions with measurable outcomes.

Mid Level

Quantify features shipped, systems owned, uptime or latency improvements, and team collaboration.

Senior Level

Highlight architecture decisions, team leadership, mentoring, and business impact in revenue or efficiency.

3

Place Education With Italian Institutions Prominently

Italian employers recognise the local university system:

Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Torino, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Bologna, and the University of Milan.

List your degree, institution, dates, and grade (voto di laurea) where strong.

Recent graduates place education before work experience;

experienced engineers keep it after.

Mention certifications (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) in a separate line.

Example

"MSc Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, 2018–2020. Thesis: 'Scalable stream processing for banking analytics' (Grade: 110/110 cum laude)."

Entry Level

Lead with your degree, grades, and thesis or capstone project.

Mid Level

Add professional certifications and any continued education alongside the degree.

Senior Level

Keep education brief; lead with certifications and any leadership training.

4

Show Key Skills and Language Assets

Use a short skills section with 6–10 competencies mirroring the job description:

languages (Java, Kotlin, Go, Python, TypeScript), frameworks (React, Spring), and platforms (AWS, GCP, Kubernetes).

Large Italian companies screen with ATS, so keyword match and clean parsing decide the first cut.

English fluency matters at international firms;

Italian is expected at local ones.

Example

"Java · Kotlin · Go · Python · React · Spring Boot · AWS (S3, Lambda, ECS) · Kubernetes · Terraform · CI/CD (GitHub Actions) · SQL (PostgreSQL) · Italian (native) · English (C1)."

Entry Level

List languages and frameworks from coursework and internships honestly.

Mid Level

Add depth: cloud certifications, distributed systems, observability, and testing practice.

Senior Level

Focus on architecture, scaling, security, and leadership skills (system design, incident command, mentoring).

5

Close With References and a Clear Right-To-Work Line

Italian convention is to write "References available on request" (referenze disponibili su richiesta);

never list referee contact details on the CV itself.

If you are not an EU/EEA citizen, state your work permission clearly:

"Work permit holder" or "EU Blue Card holder".

Italian employers sponsor work permits for skilled roles, and being upfront about your status saves everyone time.

Example

"References available on request. Right to work: EU Blue Card holder (sponsorship current)."

Entry Level

Use your university careers office and a thesis supervisor or internship mentor as referees.

Mid Level

Prefer two professional referees: a current engineering manager and a senior colleague.

Senior Level

List a director of engineering and a peer tech lead who can verify leadership outcomes.

6

Use Italian or English, A4, and an ATS-Clean Layout

Italian is standard for local roles;

English is standard for tech and international companies.

The Europass template is widely accepted and often the safest choice.

Write in the language of the job ad.

Use A4 with a clean 10–11pt font and 2.54cm margins.

Save as a PDF named Nome_Cognome_CV.pdf.

Use a single column;

large Italian companies run ATS and multi-column layouts parse badly.

Proofread carefully.

Example

"Save as Rossi_Giulia_CV.pdf and mention relevant keywords from the job description."

Entry Level

Have your university careers office review the CV before applying.

Mid Level

Check every date and certification is exact; gaps read as hiding something.

Senior Level

Verify all certifications and permits have current dates; keep it to two pages.

What Makes the Italian Cv Different

Three details separate a strong cv in Italy from a generic one.

First, the length:

1–2 pages;

1 page for graduates and junior roles, up to 2 for experienced professionals.

Italian recruiters value concise, well-structured CVs..

Second, personal details:

Name, phone (with +39 from abroad), professional email, city, and LinkedIn URL.

Date of birth, nationality, and marital status are traditional but increasingly dropped in modern CVs.

Never include your codice fiscale (Italian tax code), bank details, or religion..

Third, the layout and section order:

Contact details → Personal profile or objective (2–4 lines) → Work experience (reverse-chronological) → Education → Skills (technical + languages) → Certifications → References (“References available on request” is accepted).

Recent graduates may put Education before Work experience..

Write every experience bullet with numbers.

Italian recruiters compare candidates on measurable outcomes:

latency reduced, revenue grown, costs cut.

Each bullet should start with a strong action verb and end with a quantified result.

Finally, tailor the document to the specific job ad.

Identify the top three requirements and mirror them in your summary, skills, and experience bullets.

Generic CVs are screened out quickly in this market.

Milan software engineer salaries in 2026 run roughly €25k–€35k for juniors, €35k–€50k for mid-level, and €50k–€80k+ for senior roles (WhatIsTheSalary, 2026), and Milan hosts the Politecnico di Milano, major banks, and Google and Amazon offices.

Key Skills Valued in Italy

Technical Skills

Programming languages relevant to the roleCloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)Container orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker)CI/CD and IaC (GitHub Actions, Terraform)Databases and data pipelines (PostgreSQL, Kafka)Observability (Prometheus, Grafana)

Soft Skills

Clear written and verbal communicationTeam collaboration and code reviewProblem-solving under pressureTime management and delivery focusStakeholder communicationContinuous learning

Keywords and Terminology for Italian Cvs

Using the right keywords is the only way to pass an ATS screen and reach a human recruiter.

Extract them from the job description and mirror the exact wording:

job title, required skills, and tools.

Job-ad keywords (mirror the wording exactly)Languages and frameworks the team usesPlatforms and tools (cloud, CI/CD, databases)Practice terms (agile, testing, observability)Local qualification and certification terms

How Experience Is Presented in a Italian Cv

Experience is the core of the document, written reverse-chronologically with the most recent role first.

Each role shows the job title, company, city, and dates, followed by achievement-led bullets with numbers.

Entry Level

Focus on internships, projects, and transferable skills; show reliability and a fast learning curve.

Mid Level

Show ownership: features shipped, systems run, and improvements measured in numbers.

Senior Level

Show scale: teams led, architectures owned, budgets or revenue impact, and mentoring outcomes.

Tailoring Your Cv to Italian Employers

Tailoring means adjusting the lens, not rewriting your history.

Identify the top three priorities in the job ad and make sure they appear in your summary and your first skills.

Match the ad's language exactly.

Common Italian Cv Mistakes to Avoid

Avoid these errors that regularly get applications rejected in Italy:

1. Getting the length wrong: 1–2 pages; 1 page for graduates and junior roles, up to 2 for experienced professionals. Italian recruiters value concise, well-structured CVs. is the local standard.

2. Ignoring the photo rule: Optional. A clean professional headshot is traditional and still common, especially in corporate and banking roles, but not mandatory, and many modern and international firms omit it. On the Europass format a photo is optional.

3. Using the wrong date format: use Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g. 12/06/2025) or Month/Year (MM/YYYY, e.g. 06/2025) for work experience. Consistency matters most; never write MM/DD/YYYY. consistently.

4. Including personal details that local practice excludes: Name, phone (with +39 from abroad), professional email, city, and LinkedIn URL. Date of birth, nationality, and marital status are traditional but increasingly dropped in modern CVs. Never include your codice fiscale (Italian tax code), bank details, or religion.

5. Listing duties instead of achievements; quantified results win every time.

Italy Job Market and Salary Outlook

The Italy job market in 2026 remains active for software engineers, with demand concentrated in the major cities.

Understanding the typical salary brackets for your level helps you calibrate your examples and negotiate with confidence.

LevelTypical annual salary (EUR, gross)Typical CV length
Entry Level€25,000–€35,0001 page
Mid Level€35,000–€50,0001–2 pages
Senior Level€50,000–€80,000+2 pages

Source: WhatIsTheSalary + Glassdoor Milan software engineer salary data, 2026 (approximate gross ranges, see sources)

Key Tips for Writing an Italian CV

  • Tip 1: Save as a clean, selectable PDF named FirstName_LastName_Role_Cv.pdf.
  • Tip 2: Use a professional email address; never a personal-sounding handle.
  • Tip 3: Include the correct international dialling code on your phone number.
  • Tip 4: Keep the length to the local standard: 1–2 pages; 1 page for graduates and junior roles, up to 2 for experienced professionals. Italian recruiters value concise, well-structured CVs..
  • Tip 5: Mirror the job ad's keywords verbatim for ATS screens.
  • Tip 6: Have a careers service or a trusted colleague proofread before sending.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a photo on my Italian CV?

A photo is optional. A clean professional headshot is traditional and still common, especially in corporate and banking roles, but it is not mandatory, and many modern and international firms omit it. On the Europass format a photo is optional.

Should I include my date of birth, codice fiscale, or marital status on an Italian CV?

No. Date of birth, nationality, and marital status are traditional but increasingly dropped in modern CVs. Never include your codice fiscale (Italian tax code), bank details, or religion on a CV, as they are sensitive personal data. Keep the header to name, city, phone, email, and LinkedIn.

Is the Europass CV format accepted in Italy?

Yes. The Europass template was created under an EU initiative and is widely accepted across Europe, including Italy. It is often the safest format for public-sector and traditional employers. For tech roles, a clean custom single-column layout also works well.

How long should an Italian CV be?

One to two pages: one page for graduates and junior roles, up to two for experienced professionals. Italian recruiters value concise, well-structured CVs, so every line must earn its place.

What does a software engineer CV look like in Italy?

A 1–2 page, ATS-clean single column: contact details, a short personal profile, work experience reverse-chronological with quantified achievements, education (Politecnico di Milano, Sapienza, University of Bologna), a keyword-matched skills section, and "References available on request".

Milan tech salaries run roughly €25k–€35k at entry, €35k–€50k mid, and €50k–€80k+ for senior roles, so tailor your examples to the level you are applying for.

Conventions verified for 2026 and based on well-established Italian recruitment practice.

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the following authoritative sources.

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