How to write a CV for jobs in Lebanon

Recruiters in Lebanon read fast

A single opening in Beirut can pull in hundreds of CVs, many from people who applied to everything that week. The first screen takes seconds. Your CV has to show your current title, your field, and where you are based before they scroll.

The format below is what most local employers are used to. Follow it, then spend your effort on the lines that describe your work.

One page early on, two at most

Under five years of experience, keep it to one page. With more, two pages is normal. Three pages reads as a document nobody edited.

Put your name, phone with the +961 code, email, and city at the top. Add a LinkedIn link if your profile matches the CV. Skip your full street address; the area is enough.

• Name, phone, email, city.
• Current or last job title, in the same words the posting uses if it fits.
• Two or three lines on what you do and the result you are known for.

The photo, the date of birth, and marital status

Many Lebanese employers still expect a photo, and plenty of candidates include one. If you add it, use a plain, recent headshot, not a cropped event picture. If you apply to international companies or NGOs, leave it off; their HR teams often screen without photos.

Date of birth and marital status are common on local CVs, but no employer needs them to judge your work. Add them only if the posting asks.

Write the degree and the university in full

Local recruiters know the universities and often filter on them. Write the full name, not only the initials, and the degree title as it appears on your diploma: BS in Computer Science, Lebanese American University, 2022.

If you are a recent graduate, education goes above experience. Add the final-year project, an internship, or a club role with a result. After two or three years of work, move education below experience.

Languages are a real filter here

Most roles ask for Arabic and English, and many ask for French too. List each language with an honest level: native, fluent, professional, or basic. “Trilingual” alone does not tell them whether you can write a client email in French.

If the posting is written in French, send your CV in French. The same goes for English.

Each job gets results, not duties

Under each role, write three to five lines that start with what you did and end with what changed. “Handled customer complaints” is a duty. “Cut repeat complaints by a third by rewriting our refund replies” is a result.

If you worked through the crisis years at a company that kept going, say what you kept running. Employers here respect people who delivered with power cuts, bank limits, and half a team.

What to leave off

Leave salary off the CV. It comes up in the interview, and many offers in Lebanon are now quoted in US dollars, so be ready to say a monthly number and the currency when they ask.

Leave off references (“available on request” is assumed), an objective statement about “a challenging position in a reputable company,” and a hobbies line unless it relates to the job.

Save it right and send it

Send a PDF named with your name and the role: Rana-Haddad-Accountant.pdf. A file called CV_final_v3.docx tells them you send the same file everywhere.

Then apply to postings that match your title. Browse jobs in Beirut and across Lebanon, and change the top two lines of the CV for each one.