How to Write an Irish CV in 2026
Ireland's CV conventions share a foundation with UK practice — two pages, a personal profile, named references — but the Irish job market has its own character shaped by a thriving tech sector, a large multinational presence, and a strong startup ecosystem centred on Dublin. Understanding those nuances helps you write a CV that reads as locally fluent rather than a generic British template transposed.
The Irish CV Format
Length: Two pages for most experienced professionals. Dublin's tech and financial services sectors have grown comfortable with one-page CVs for mid-level roles, particularly in startups and scale-ups where conciseness is valued. For roles in the Civil Service, semi-state bodies, or professional services firms, two pages remains the expectation.
Photo: Not included. Irish CVs do not include photographs — this aligns with employment equality legislation under the Employment Equality Acts 1998–2015.
Personal details: Name, phone (include the +353 international prefix if sending internationally), email, LinkedIn URL, and location (city or county). You do not include date of birth, PPS (Personal Public Service) number, or marital status.
Right to work: If you are not an EU/EEA citizen, a brief note on your visa status is helpful: "Stamp 4 — no work permit required" or "Eligible to work in Ireland under a Critical Skills Employment Permit." Ireland's Central Statistics Office classifies right-to-work status separately from personal data, so including it is practical rather than intrusive.
Structure of an Irish CV
Personal profile: Essential. Three to five sentences tailored to the specific role. Irish employers — particularly in tech, fintech, and professional services — can tell immediately whether a profile is genuinely written for their posting or copied unchanged. Mention the company's known values or business challenge if you can do it naturally.
Work experience: Reverse chronological with bullet points. Use past tense for previous roles, present continuous for current. Irish culture values both individual achievement and team contribution — a bullet that shows personal initiative and cross-functional collaboration lands better than one that reads as a solo heroic act. Month/Year date format (e.g., "Feb 2021 – Present") is standard.
Education: Reverse chronological. Irish qualification references include QQI (Quality and Qualifications Ireland) NFQ levels. A Level 8 is a standard honours degree; Level 9 is a taught master's. If you graduated from a recognised Irish institution (UCD, TCD, UCC, DCU, University of Limerick, NUI Galway), the name itself signals prestige to local employers. Include your grade if it was a 2.1 or First Class Honours equivalent.
Irish language (Gaeilge): Include Gaeilge proficiency in your Languages section if it applies. For public sector roles (Civil Service Commission competitions), Irish language ability can be specifically required at Ceangaltán or Ardchéim grades. For the private sector, Gaeilge is an asset in tourism, education, and public affairs.
The Dublin Tech Ecosystem
Ireland hosts European headquarters for Google, Meta, LinkedIn, Stripe, Workday, Apple, and many others, alongside a large indigenous tech community. Hiring for these multinationals is often centralised through Dublin but conducted by US or UK-trained managers. The result is a hybrid standard: European CV length and format with American-style achievement quantification. Your bullet points should be metrics-rich, and your LinkedIn profile will almost certainly be viewed before your interview.
Civil Service Competitions
The Civil Service Commission (www.publicjobs.ie) uses competency-based application forms rather than free-format CVs. Applications ask you to provide specific written evidence for each competency at each grade level. The CV format on the site is a structured template. If you are applying for a Grade III to EO level role, prepare to write STAR-format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) responses — not simply paste your CV.
Key Mistakes to Avoid
- A profile lifted directly from a UK template without any reference to the specific Irish company or role
- Not noting right-to-work status when it is not immediately obvious (particularly important in a post-Brexit context for UK citizens working in Ireland)
- Missing the Gaeilge field for public sector applications where it is assessed
- Over-formal language in startup or tech applications — Irish workplace culture is relatively informal and collaborative; a stiff tone can read as a poor cultural fit
- Omitting LinkedIn — it is universally checked in Dublin's knowledge economy