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Country Guide Known as “CV”

Portuguese CV Format: How to Write a Portuguese CV (2026)

Navigating the Portugal job market requires a document that matches local expectations. The standard Portuguese CV format is concise, structured, and built around conventions that differ from the North American resume.

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

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

Dates follow Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g. 12/06/2025) or written as “June 2025”. Portugal follows the European convention; 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 +351 from abroad), professional email, city, and LinkedIn URL. Date of birth and nationality are traditional but increasingly dropped in modern CVs..

Never include your NIF (Portuguese tax number), 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 Portuguese 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.

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Portuguese CV Format at a Glance

Document type
CV: “CV” or currículo is the standard term in Portugal. Applications are made in Portuguese for most local roles and in English for tech and international companies. A cover letter (carta de apresentação) is expected for most roles.
Typical length
1–2 pages; 1 page for graduates and junior roles, up to 2 for experienced professionals. Portuguese recruiters value concise, well-structured CVs.
Photo
Optional but common. A clean professional headshot is traditional and still widely used, especially in corporate and banking roles, but not mandatory, and many modern and international firms omit it.
Date format
Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g. 12/06/2025) or written as “June 2025”. Portugal follows the European convention; never write MM/DD/YYYY.
Paper size
A4.
Personal details
Name, phone (with +351 from abroad), professional email, city, and LinkedIn URL. Date of birth and nationality are traditional but increasingly dropped in modern CVs. Never include your NIF (Portuguese tax number), 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
High; Portuguese multinationals and IT companies (Farfetch, Feedzai, OutSystems, Critical Software, plus Google and Cloudflare Lisbon offices) screen with ATS. Use standard headings, a clean single column, no tables or graphics, and PDF export. Mirror keywords from the job description.

Portuguese CV Examples

Real Portuguese 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.

I

Inês Santos

Software Engineer (Graduate)

Entry Level inê[email protected] Lisbon, Portugal

Professional Summary

Entry Level software engineer (graduate) with experience at Farfetch (Porto) and OutSystems (Lisbon) in Lisbon, Portugal. Skilled in Kotlin, Java and Spring Boot, with a focus on reliability and clean architecture. Following the standard Portuguese CV format.

Work Experience

Software Engineer (Graduate)
07/2025 – Present

Farfetch (Porto) · Lisbon, Portugal

  • Ship customer-facing features in the payments using Kotlin, Java and Spring Boot, following team code review and CI/CD practice.
  • Reduced API response time by 22% by introducing response caching in a payments 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

OutSystems (Lisbon) · Lisbon, Portugal

  • 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 Science
2021 – 2025

Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), University of Lisbon · Lisbon

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 a Portuguese CV: Step-by-Step

1

Open With Contact Details and a Short Personal Profile

Start with your name, phone (use +351 from abroad), a professional email address, city, and LinkedIn URL.

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

Never include your NIF (Portuguese tax number), 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 fintech platforms in Lisbon. Skilled in Java, Kotlin, and AWS, with a focus on reliability and clean architecture. Seeking a full-time role in a Portuguese 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 month-year format.

Write 3–5 achievement-led bullets per role;

"cut fraud detection latency by 40% by introducing streaming" beats "responsible for backend development".

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

Example

"Software Engineer. Feedzai, Lisbon, 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 Portuguese Institutions Prominently

Portuguese employers recognise the local university system:

Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), University of Porto (FEUP), University of Coimbra, and NOVA University Lisbon.

List your degree, institution, dates, and grade 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 Science, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), 2018–2020. Thesis: 'Scalable stream processing for fintech analytics' (Grade: 18/20)."

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).

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

English fluency matters at international firms;

Portuguese 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) · Portuguese (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

Portuguese convention is to write "References available on request" (referências disponíveis mediante pedido);

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".

Portuguese 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 Portuguese or English, A4, and an ATS-Clean Layout

Portuguese is standard for local roles;

English is standard for tech and international companies.

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_Apelido_CV.pdf.

Use a single column;

Portuguese multinationals run ATS and multi-column layouts parse badly.

Proofread carefully.

Example

"Save as Santos_Ines_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 Portuguese Cv Different

The Portuguese CV format stands apart from its neighbours in a few concrete ways.

The length rule (1–2 pages;

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

Portuguese recruiters value concise, well-structured CVs.), the photo stance (Optional but common.

A clean professional headshot is traditional and still widely used, especially in corporate and banking roles, but not mandatory, and many modern and international firms omit it.), and the date convention (Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g.

12/06/2025) or written as “June 2025”.

Portugal follows the European convention;

never write MM/DD/YYYY.) all signal local awareness.

Write every experience bullet with numbers.

Portuguese 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.

Lisbon software engineer salaries in 2026 run roughly €28k–€35k for juniors, €35k–€45k for mid-level, and €45k–€90k+ for senior roles (WhatIsTheSalary, 2026), and Lisbon hosts Farfetch, Feedzai, OutSystems, and Google and Cloudflare engineering offices.

Key Skills Valued in Portugal

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 Portuguese 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 Portuguese 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 Portuguese 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 Portuguese Cv Mistakes to Avoid

Avoid these errors that regularly get applications rejected in Portugal:

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

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

3. Using the wrong date format: use Day / Month / Year (DD/MM/YYYY, e.g. 12/06/2025) or written as “June 2025”. Portugal follows the European convention; never write MM/DD/YYYY. consistently.

4. Including personal details that local practice excludes: Name, phone (with +351 from abroad), professional email, city, and LinkedIn URL. Date of birth and nationality are traditional but increasingly dropped in modern CVs. Never include your NIF (Portuguese tax number), bank details, or religion.

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

Portugal Job Market and Salary Outlook

The Portugal 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€28,000–€35,0001 page
Mid Level€35,000–€45,0001–2 pages
Senior Level€45,000–€90,000+2 pages

Source: WhatIsTheSalary + Next Level Jobs EU Portuguese software engineer salary data, 2026 (approximate gross ranges, see sources)

Key Tips for Writing a Portuguese 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. Portuguese 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 Portuguese CV?

A photo is optional but common. A clean professional headshot is traditional and still widely used, especially in corporate and banking roles, but it is not mandatory, and many modern and international firms omit it. Follow the job ad and company style.

Should I include my date of birth or NIF on a Portuguese CV?

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

How long should a Portuguese CV be?

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

Can international applicants work in Portugal and how do I show it on my CV?

EU/EEA citizens work freely in Portugal. Non-EU applicants need a work permit, usually sponsored by the employer, or a digital nomad visa for remote work. Show your status clearly on the CV, for example "EU Blue Card holder", so employers can screen eligibility early.

What does a software engineer CV look like in Portugal?

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

Lisbon tech salaries run roughly €28k–€35k at entry, €35k–€45k mid, and €45k–€90k+ for senior roles, so tailor your examples to the level you are applying for.

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

Sources

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

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