Israel Resume Formats, Templates, and Writing Tips

Searching for a job in Israel? If you want to be successful, your Israel resume needs to have the right details and layout. This article will guide you through the steps to creating a resume that will land you an interview in Israel.

Israel resume layout

It’s important to know what to include in an Israel resume if you’re looking for a job in Israel. Every country has a particular work culture, with specific requirements for what to include in an application.

The main sections of an Israel resume are:

• Personal details
• Summary
• Work Experience
• Education
• Skills

For many job-seekers, these sections will be enough. For others, you might have other experiences that you would like to showcase. If so, you may also want to include additional sections, such as:

• Certifications
• Languages
• Volunteering experience
• Awards and honours
• Tools
• Interests

With all these sections, you should have more than enough details to fill out your resume.

With those items in mind, here’s how to lay out your Israel resume.

1. Personal information

Your Israel resume must include your contact information. This is how employers will contact you once they have read your resume. At or near the top of your resume, make sure to include:

• Name
• Phone number
• Email address
• City
• Personal website (optional)

It is not necessary to include your full address. The city should be enough.

If you have a personal website, online portfolio, or professional social media account (such as a Linkedin profile), you can also include these in your contact information section.

You should not list your age or marital status.

Some applications may ask for your city of birth or the date of your aliyah. If this is requested by the job posting, you can include it. Otherwise, you do not need to include it in your resume.

2. Resume summary

A summary statement is a brief paragraph or bulleted list that highlights some of your key skills, experiences, or achievements. This can be a great way to introduce yourself to an employer in your Israel resume.

Your summary should be customized to suit the job you are applying for. The specific skills you foreground in your summary must be directly relevant to the position if you want to catch the employer’s attention. For example, if you are applying for a job in the information technology field, you could write a summary like this:

Your resume should not include an objective statement. Objective statements were once common, but have fallen out of favour in most countries. Your summary is a better introduction than an objective.

3. Work experience

Your work experience is the most important section of your resume. This is where you list your previous positions, with key highlights and achievements.

When you write your work experience, list previous jobs in reverse-chronological order, beginning with the most recent and working backwards. Offer more detail when describing your most relevant positions. It is acceptable to write in the first person.

If you have several years of experience in many different positions, you can split your Work Experience into multiple sections. For example, you can list and describe your most recent jobs in your Work Experience section, then list older job titles in a shorter Previous Experience section.

When describing each role, make sure to use active language to really sell your achievements. Words like led, coordinated, and improved all position you as an active employee with leadership qualities.

Further, focus on your accomplishments over your duties. A description of your achievements will be more impressive than a boring list of responsibilities.

Israel work experience example

4. Education

For most job-seekers, your education is less important than your work experience. If you have several years of work experience, your education section can be short and to the point.

List your degree, as well as the college or university you attended. You don’t have to list the date you graduated, as this could give an indication of your age.

If you are a student or recent graduate, your education section is more important. If this is the case, you can include a more detailed description of your education. For example, you may want to list your GPA (if it’s high), relevant coursework or workshops, or research projects that you were a part of. When you have no experience, a more detailed Education section can be an important asset to your Israel resume.

5. Skills

A Skills section is a great way to highlight your most important competencies in a simple, readable format. While your work experience and education will demonstrate your skills, collecting them in a section of their own makes your resume easy to navigate and skim, and lets the employer know exactly what you are best at.

When listing skills in your Skills section, most job-seekers use a simple bulleted list for all of their skills. This is a great way to present your Skills in a compact, readable format that employers can quickly scan.

If you would prefer to give your skills more emphasis, however, you may want to list each skill by itself, with a description for each skill in a description, similar to an item in your Work Experience section.

With VisualCV, you can even add a strength rating to each skill for some visual flair.

7. Other resume sections

While the above sections are all mandatory, or at least highly recommended, there are some other optional sections you may want to consider in your Israel resume.

Languages

Israel is a very multicultural country, with many languages represented. If you are fluent in multiple languages, you should note them in your resume. The ability to speak in many different languages is an asset in many jobs.

Be sure to list the language, as well as your level of fluency. Be sure not to exaggerate your level of comfort with a language–if you can’t speak it, you will definitely be found out.

Certifications

Many jobs require specific certifications. This might include a specific driver’s licence, forklift certification, a ticket in a skilled trade, and more. If you have certifications you would like to show, be sure to list them in your resume. Irrelevant certifications likely aren’t necessary, but if there are certifications needed in order to work in your field, be sure to include them.

Army service

If you served in the IDF, which is common in Israel, you can include this in your resume in a separate section. Include your corps and rank, but further details aren’t needed.

Volunteering experience

Experience in volunteer positions can look very good on your resume, especially when you don’t have much work experience. Volunteering can be a great way to gain skills, whether you are interacting with customers, doing data entry, or keeping an office running. While not paid work, volunteer positions still teach important work skills.

Further, volunteering experience can show that you are involved in your community. A well-rounded life and participation in local organizations are great attributes in an employee.

Tools

If you are, for example, a software developer, you may want to include a Tools section distinct from your Skills section that lists the tools and platforms that you are familiar with. This lets the employer know exactly what type of experience you have and the environment you usually work in.

Israel resume tips and rules

Once you have an understanding of all the resume sections you’ll need for your Israel resume, there are still some important things to consider.

How long should my Israel resume be?

When you apply for a job in Israel, your resume should be no longer than one page. If you are an experienced professional with years in the field, you can consider adding a second page, but only if you are very confident in your experience. Anyone with less than a decade of experience, and even most people with more, should be able to effectively fit all experience on one page.

Should I include a photo in my Israel resume?

You should not include a photo in your Israel resume.

Photos are expected in some countries, and required in others, but they are not expected in Israel. Including one would be odd, and would likely work against you. Besides, it is better to use that valuable resume space for detailing skills and experience.

Should I include references in my Israel resume?

You do not have to include references in your Israel resume.

If you have space on your one-page resume, you may want to include a line indicating that references are available on request. A full list of references, however, is a waste of space.

Not only would a References section take up space on your resume, it would be unnecessary. Employers won’t call references until after the interview, so including them on a resume would be pointless. When they are ready to reach out to your references, they will ask.

Instead, prepare a separate list of references that you can take to the interview. This way, you will be able to hand the list over at the end of the interview, showing that you are well-prepared and well-regarded by your references, without using up sections on your resume.

What resume template should I use?

A great resume template is integral to a successful application. When you are applying for a job in Israel, the specific template you choose will depend on the industry.

For more formal industries, like law or finance, a traditional resume template is your best bet. A traditional Israel resume template is simple, single-column, and only uses black text. The font on a traditional resume template should be common and easy to read, like PT Serif or Open Sans. VisualCV templates that suit more formal industries include Monte or Monaco.

For more modern industries, like graphic design or marketing, you may want to add a little more personality to your resume. Flourishes like colour, borders, and columns will look great on a resume that you want to draw the eye. VisualCV templates for creatives include Rainier and Denali.

Should I customize my resume?

Customizing your resume for every application is very important if you want to land an interview.

When you apply for a job, your resume has to be perfect for that specific role. Every job posting requires specific skills and experience, and if your resume doesn’t have those exact things, it won’t be selected.

When you apply for a job, read the job description closely in order to understand what the company is looking for. Find the job duties and educational requirements, and make sure you highlight those areas in your resume. Use the exact keywords and phrases from the posting so that your resume matches as closely as possible. When you customize your resume to suit the position, you are much more likely to be selected for an interview.