A CV that works in London or Toronto needs a few changes before it goes to an employer in Antwerp, Liège or Brussels. Belgium has three official languages, a strong habit of listing language skills in detail, and a real fondness for the motivation letter. Get those right and your CV reads as if you understand the place. Miss them and it reads like a copy sent everywhere.
This CV BE guide is for anyone applying to Belgian employers: Belgians returning from abroad, EU citizens moving for work, international graduates, and people already in Belgium switching jobs. It covers language choice, layout, personal details, the photo question, how to show language levels, diplomas, the motivation letter and where to send it all.
Hiring habits vary between sectors and companies, so treat this as a practical starting point and always follow what an individual advert asks for.
Quick picks: templates for a Belgian application
| Product | Best for | Price | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quillmark Cover Letter Kit | Motivation letters with worked examples | $2.38 | View |
| Sloane Resume Kit | A4 CV with a neat photo frame | $4.49 | View |
| Alder Resume Kit | Keeping several language versions organised | $4.79 | View |
Language comes first in Belgium
Before you think about layout, decide which language your CV will be in. In Belgium this is not a small detail. It is the first thing a reader notices.
- Flanders (Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven, Bruges): Dutch is the working language for most local employers.
- Wallonia (Liège, Namur, Charleroi, Mons): French is the working language for most local employers.
- Brussels: officially bilingual French and Dutch, with English very common in international companies, associations and EU-related organisations.
- The German-speaking Community in the east, around Eupen: German is used locally.
The simple rule: write your CV in the language of the job advert. An advert in Dutch gets a Dutch CV. An advert in English from a Brussels firm gets an English CV, even if the company’s office language is French. If the advert itself is bilingual, pick the one you write best in and show the other clearly in your languages section.
If your Dutch or French is not strong enough to write a CV yourself, have a fluent speaker check it. A CV full of small grammar slips in the reader’s own language does more harm than a clean one in English.
Length, paper and layout
Belgian CVs are usually short and orderly. One page suits graduates and early career applicants. Two pages is normal with more experience. Three is rarely needed outside academic and senior roles.
- Paper: A4, never US Letter.
- Order: reverse chronological, newest job first.
- Dates: European style, such as 09/2021 to present, or month names written out.
- File: PDF, named clearly, such as “CV-Lotte-Peeters.pdf”.
You may see the Europass CV mentioned. It is a standard European format with a free online editor. Some public bodies and EU-related employers are used to it, and it is handy for showing language levels in a standard way. Many private employers are happy with any clear, well-designed CV instead, and a Europass CV can look much like everyone else’s. Use it when an advert asks for it, and a designed CV otherwise.
Personal details and the photo question
This is where Belgian CVs often differ from UK and US ones.
Photo
A photo is common on Belgian CVs, though not required. If you include one, make it a recent, simple headshot with a plain background, the kind you would be happy to see on a work badge. If you leave it out, nobody will reject you for that alone. Our guide on a resume with a photo or without explains how the choice plays out in different countries.
Contact and personal details
Include your name, phone number with country code (+32 for a Belgian number), email, town and a LinkedIn link. Some Belgian CVs still list date of birth, nationality and marital status out of habit. You are not obliged to share these, and many applicants now leave them out. Nationality or work authorisation can be useful if you are applying from outside the EU, because it answers the employer’s first practical question.
Driving licence
Many Belgian CVs mention a driving licence, such as “Driving licence B”, especially for roles that involve travel to clients or sites. Add it if you have one and the job could involve driving.
Sloane Resume Kit
Price: $4.49 | Best for: A4 CVs with a tidy photo
Sloane comes in both A4 and US Letter, with a 1 page CV with a round photo frame, a 1 page no-photo version, a 2 page resume, a 3 page CV and a single-column ATS version. A slim left column holds education, skills and languages, which suits a Belgian CV with a detailed language section. A matching cover letter and references page are included, in three colours. Open the A4 photo version, add your headshot, and use the left column for your languages.
Showing your language levels properly
In Belgium, “French, Dutch, English” on its own is not enough. Employers want to know how well. The clearest way is to use the Common European Framework levels, which most Belgian recruiters recognise.
| Level | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| A1 to A2 | Basic: simple conversations, everyday phrases |
| B1 | Independent: handle routine work talk and emails |
| B2 | Comfortable: meetings, phone calls and most written work |
| C1 | Fluent: negotiate, present and write reports with ease |
| C2 | Near-native or native level |
A languages line might read: Dutch: native. French: C1. English: C1. German: A2. Be honest. A Brussels customer service manager who lists French at C1 will likely be tested on it in the interview, sometimes without warning, and switching languages mid-interview is a common Belgian move. If you have a certificate, add it in brackets.
Education and diplomas
List your highest qualification first, with the degree name, institution, city and year. Belgian degrees follow the bachelor and master structure, so readers will understand those terms easily.
If your degree is from another country, give its local name and a short plain explanation, for example “Licence en droit (three-year law degree, France)”. For regulated professions such as nursing, teaching or some engineering roles, a foreign diploma may need formal recognition through the relevant Belgian community’s recognition service. Check this early, because it can take time, and mention on your CV if recognition is underway or complete.
Graduates can add relevant courses, a thesis title or an internship here. Once you have a few years of work, keep education short and let experience lead.
Work experience the Belgian way
The structure is the same as elsewhere: job title, employer, town, dates, then a few bullets. What Belgian readers tend to like is clarity and modesty. Concrete results, plainly stated, rather than bold claims.
Compare these two bullets for a logistics planner:
- “Exceptional planner who transformed the warehouse.”
- “Planned daily routes for 14 delivery vans across Flanders and reduced late deliveries from around 8% to 3% in six months.”
The second one wins. It is specific, checkable and calm. If your job titles come from another country, add a short explanation where the title would not mean much locally. And if you worked through a temporary employment agency, which is common in Belgium, list the client company you actually worked at, with the agency in brackets.
The motivation letter still matters
In some countries the cover letter is fading. In Belgium, the motivation letter (lettre de motivation in French, motivatiebrief in Dutch) is still read, and many employers expect one even when an advert does not insist. It is your chance to explain why this company and why you, in a way a CV cannot.
Keep it to one A4 page. Open with the role and how you found it. In the middle, give two pieces of evidence that match the advert. Close by saying when you are available for an interview and in which languages. Write it in the same language as your CV, and make it look like part of the same set, same font, same header. Our guide on writing a cover letter that matches your resume shows how to line the two up.
Quillmark Cover Letter Kit
Price: $2.38 | Best for: motivation letters for European applications
Quillmark gives you a cover letter in two designs, Classic and Modern, with a matching references page and interview thank-you letter, in A4 and US Letter. The 26-page Cover Letter Playbook includes a fill-in-the-blank letter, ready-to-use phrases and 12 complete example letters. It is built from real text and named styles, so a long letter flows neatly onto a second page. Use the A4 Classic design and write the middle paragraph first, with your two strongest matches to the advert.
Keeping several language versions in step
Many people applying in Belgium end up with two or three versions of the same CV: Dutch, French and English. Keeping them in step is fiddly. Change a date in one and forget the others, and a recruiter who reads both will notice.
Set up a simple system. Keep the English version as your master and update it first. Then copy each change into the Dutch and French versions straight away. Name the files clearly, such as “CV-NL-2026.pdf”, “CV-FR-2026.pdf” and “CV-EN-2026.pdf”. Use the same template for all three so they look identical apart from the words. Track which version went to which employer, because a call from a Ghent recruiter may arrive two weeks after you sent it.
Alder Resume Kit
Price: $4.79 | Best for: multi-language applications with tracking
Alder includes 1, 2 and 3 page CVs with a round photo, a no-photo version and an ATS version, plus a cover letter, references page and thank-you letter, in Mocha, Sage and Slate and both A4 and US Letter. It comes with a Job Application Tracker for Excel, so you can log which language version went where, and a Round Photo Maker that crops your headshot in your browser. Save one copy of the template per language before you start typing.
Where and how to apply
Belgian job searches often run through a mix of channels:
- Public employment services: VDAB in Flanders, Le Forem in Wallonia and Actiris in Brussels all list vacancies.
- Company career pages, especially for larger employers.
- LinkedIn, widely used, particularly in Brussels and for international roles.
- Temporary employment and recruitment agencies, which handle many roles in logistics, admin, industry and hospitality.
Applying from outside Belgium? Say so plainly in your motivation letter, along with your planned move date and your right to work. EU citizens can generally work in Belgium freely. Non-EU applicants usually need a permit, so check the current rules with the official regional authorities before you apply, and be upfront with the employer.
Mistakes that stand out to Belgian readers
- US Letter paper. It prints oddly on A4 and looks out of place.
- Vague languages. “Fluent in French” with no level, then struggling in a French interview.
- The wrong language. A French CV for a Dutch advert in Flanders signals you did not read it closely.
- No motivation letter when the advert or the sector expects one.
- Overselling. Big claims without numbers tend to go down less well than calm, specific results.
Frequently asked questions
Should a Belgian CV be in French, Dutch or English?
Write it in the language of the job advert. In Flanders that is usually Dutch, in Wallonia usually French, and in Brussels it can be French, Dutch or English depending on the employer.
Do Belgian employers expect a photo on a CV?
A photo is common in Belgium but not required. If you add one, use a recent, plain headshot. Leaving it out will not count against you on its own.
How long should a CV be in Belgium?
One page for graduates and early career applicants, two pages for most experienced candidates. Use A4 paper and save it as a PDF.
How do I show language skills on a Belgian CV?
List each language with a Common European Framework level, such as French C1 or Dutch B2. Add any certificates in brackets and be ready to speak each language at interview.
Is a motivation letter necessary in Belgium?
Many Belgian employers expect one even when the advert does not insist. Keep it to one A4 page, in the same language and style as your CV.
Is the Europass CV good for Belgium?
It is accepted and useful for public bodies and EU-related roles, especially for showing language levels. For most private employers, a clear, well-designed CV works just as well.
Your next step
Find one Belgian advert you want to apply for, note its language, and rewrite your languages section with proper levels tonight. Then draft the motivation letter in the same language, using the worked examples in the Quillmark Cover Letter Kit as your guide.