WIREDGOV

More than 10 million people are now using a 'Europass' online CV (curriculum vitae) to help them find a job, according to latest figures compiled by the European Commission. By offering a standardised CV template, available in 26 languages, Europass helps job-seekers to market their knowledge and skills in a user-friendly way to employers all over Europe and beyond. Almost half of Europass users are under the age of 25.

Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, said: "The Europass CV is practical, popular and effective. I am particularly pleased that it has been embraced by young people; it is an important tool in our Youth on the Move campaign, which encourages study and work abroad. I doubt it will be too long before we see 20 million Europass users."

The Europass was launched in 2005 and was originally targeted at young people looking for jobs and opportunities abroad; these users are still its main customers. Almost half of Europass users are under 25; one third has no previous work experience and only a minority has more than 5 years' experience.

However, it is clear from the feedback that, as well as using Europass to seek posts abroad, a lot of people are increasingly using the CV to apply for jobs in their own country too.

Europass has proved popular with business and employment agencies. Marc Vandeleene, PR & Communication Manager for Manpower Belgium, said: "In a constantly changing labour market, which is becoming more and more international, the Europass CV facilitates recruitment processes for companies and improves worker mobility. The way a candidate puts together their CV is often influenced by their local country culture. Standard practice in one country is not necessarily the accepted way in another. The Europass CV solves this problem."

The Europass scheme was developed for the Commission by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), which manages it in partnership with national Europass centres. The national centres play a crucial role in raising awareness of Europass among the public. They also liaise with career guidance and employment services, employers and trade unions.

The Hungarian and the Finnish Europass centres, for instance, have signed agreements with recruitment agencies to adopt the Europass CV format. Other countries are expected to follow suit. More than 200 German companies have approached the German Europass centre for information about the CV. In 2009, more than 600 000 CV templates were downloaded from the UK's Europass centre and 200 000 from the Italian centre.

The Commission is exploring synergies with the research career portal Euraxess and job mobility portal EURES to build on this success.

Together with the national Europass centres, the Commission and Cedefop are also considering options to upgrade the Europass portal and the CV itself. For example, a new version of the CV aimed at mid-career professionals is under consideration.

The Europass CV is a first step towards developing the new 'European Skills Passport', which will allow citizens to better record skills acquired through experiences such as traineeships or volunteering at home or abroad. Like the Europass CV, the skills passport will help job-seekers to present their abilities and experience more clearly.

The Europass is available in 22 official EU languages, plus Turkish, Croatian, Norwegian and Icelandic.

To find out more:

Europass portal, including links to the National Europass Centres

Europass page on EUROPA, including link to the 2008 evaluation report

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop)