Certifications and languages on a CV (with CEFR levels explained)
List certifications with issuer and date, and describe languages with a recognised scale such as CEFR rather than 'fluent' or 'conversational'.
Certifications and languages are short sections, but they are often checked against hard requirements: “must hold a current CSCS card”, “German at C1 level”. Writing them precisely means you pass those checks and the reader does not have to guess.
Certifications and licences
What to include
List certifications that are:
- required or mentioned in the job ad,
- standard in your field (professional accounting qualifications, nursing registration, cloud provider certifications for infrastructure roles, safety cards on construction sites), or
- recent and relevant evidence of new skills, especially for career changers.
Leave out short completion certificates from online courses unless they are directly relevant and you have little other evidence. A list of fifteen one-hour courses can read as filler.
What each entry needs
- Name of the certification, written in full the first time, with the common abbreviation.
- Issuing body.
- Date obtained, and expiry or renewal date if it lapses.
- Credential or registration number only where employers routinely check it (professional registrations, some cloud certifications). Never include anything that works like a password.
Before: AWS cert, PRINCE2, first aid
After: AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, Amazon Web Services, 2025 (valid to 2028). PRINCE2 Foundation, 2023. First Aid at Work, 3-day course, valid to 2026.
The exact names above are illustrations; copy the official title of your own certificate from the certificate itself.
In-progress certifications
Say exactly where you are: “ACCA: 9 of 13 exams passed, expected completion 2027”. Do not list a certification you are only planning to start.
Licences and registrations
Regulated professions (nursing, medicine, law, teaching, engineering, social work, some trades) usually require a registration that employers must verify. Put it near the top, often in the header or the summary, because it answers a pass/fail question:
After: Registered Nurse (Adult), NMC registered, PIN available on request.
A driving licence is worth listing only if the job involves driving or the ad mentions it (“Full UK driving licence, clean”).
Languages
Why “fluent” is not enough
“Fluent”, “conversational” and “basic” mean different things to different people. One applicant’s “fluent” is another’s “can order in a restaurant”. Recruiters hiring for language-dependent roles increasingly ask for a level on a recognised scale, and in Europe that scale is usually the CEFR.
The CEFR levels
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), published by the Council of Europe, describes language ability in six levels grouped into three bands. It is widely used across Europe and beyond, by employers, universities and language exams. The descriptions below are summaries in our own words; the official descriptors and self-assessment grid are on the Council of Europe CEFR page.
| Level | Band | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | Basic user | Can handle very simple, familiar exchanges: introducing yourself, simple questions, everyday phrases, if the other person speaks slowly. |
| A2 | Basic user | Can manage routine tasks and short exchanges about familiar topics such as shopping, work routine and directions. |
| B1 | Independent user | Can deal with most situations while travelling, describe experiences and plans, and follow the main points of clear, standard speech on familiar matters. |
| B2 | Independent user | Can discuss a wide range of topics, including technical discussion in your own field, with reasonable fluency, and interact with native speakers without strain on either side. |
| C1 | Proficient user | Can use the language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes, understand demanding texts, and express yourself without obviously searching for words. |
| C2 | Proficient user | Can understand virtually everything heard or read and express yourself spontaneously and precisely, distinguishing fine shades of meaning. |
As a rough working guide for job applications: B2 is often the minimum for working in a language day to day, and C1 is commonly requested for roles where the language is used for writing, negotiation or client contact. These are common patterns in job ads, not fixed rules; check what the ad asks for.
How to self-assess honestly
- Use the Council of Europe’s self-assessment grid and read the descriptors for listening, reading, speaking and writing separately. Your skills may differ: reading at C1 and speaking at B1 is common.
- If they differ a lot, say so: “French: reading C1, speaking B1”.
- If you hold a certificate that reports a CEFR level, use it and name the exam. Many recognised exams report results against the CEFR, such as Cambridge English exams, DELF and DALF for French, the Goethe-Zertifikat for German and DELE for Spanish.
- Expect to be tested. Some interviews switch language without warning.
How to write the section
Before: Languages: English (fluent), Spanish (conversational), German (basic)
After: English: native. Spanish: C1 (DELE C1, 2024). German: A2.
Keep it to one line per language. Use “native” or “mother tongue” for your first language(s); bilingual applicants can state both as native.
US scales
If you are applying for US government or defence-related roles, you may meet the ILR scale (Interagency Language Roundtable), which rates ability from 0 to 5, with “plus” levels in between. US education and some employers use the ACTFL proficiency guidelines, with the major levels Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior and Distinguished. For most private-sector US résumés a short plain description is fine (“Spanish: professional working proficiency”), but if the ad names a scale, use that scale. Do not convert between ILR, ACTFL and CEFR yourself; the scales were designed separately and do not map one-to-one.
Where to put these sections
- Required licences and registrations: near the top, in the header or summary.
- Certifications: after education, or in a side column.
- Languages: after skills, or in a side column. For roles where a language is central, mention it in the summary as well.
In the Sidebar template, certifications and languages sit together in the narrow column, which keeps them visible without taking space from your experience.
Next: the skills section and European CV conventions.