Country CV guide

Swedish CV Format: What Arbetsförmedlingen Actually Recommends

If you're applying for a job in Sweden, your CV needs to look different from the one you'd send a US or UK employer — not wildly different, but different in ways that matter to whoever's reading it.

This is what Arbetsförmedlingen — Sweden's public employment service — actually recommends, sourced directly rather than guessed from stereotypes about Swedish culture.

At a glance

Why, in detail

• A photo is optional. Arbetsförmedlingen's own CV templates come in both 'with photo' and 'without photo' versions, presented as equally normal choices — not a signal either way.
• Skip date of birth and marital status. Arbetsförmedlingen's list of what belongs under contact details — phone, email, postal address, optionally a LinkedIn or portfolio link — doesn't include either, and people who've hired in Sweden describe adding them as something that can work against you, not just unnecessary.
• Your personnummer (Swedish personal ID number) doesn't belong on a CV at all — it isn't part of any standard contact-details list, and it's a more sensitive identifier than date of birth.
• A brief summary near the top is one of the four headings Arbetsförmedlingen calls out as common practice — a few sentences on who you are and what you're looking for, positioned to grab attention quickly.
• Swedish applications traditionally pair the CV with a separate personligt brev (personal letter) — a fuller, one-page self-introduction sent alongside it. The in-CV summary is a short complement to that letter, not a replacement for it.
• A full postal address is standard under contact details, alongside phone and email.
• Swedish CVs aren't signed — there's no tradition of a place/date/signature line.
• Referee details don't belong on the CV itself; it isn't part of the standard structure.
• 1–2 pages is the guidance — no need to include everything you've ever done, only what's relevant to the role.