How to tailor your CV for a Werkstudent role

By Sourav Sarker · 22 October 2026

A Werkstudent CV is read differently from a full time CV. The person hiring wants to know three things fast: are you enrolled, how many hours can you work, and can you do the tasks in the ad. Answer all three on the first half page, before your work history.

What a Werkstudent role actually is

A Werkstudent works for a company while enrolled at a university. During the lecture period this usually means up to 20 hours a week, so studying stays your main activity. In the semester break you can often work more. Because of this, employers plan around your timetable, and your CV has to make that planning easy.

If you are an international student from outside the EU, your residence permit also limits how much you can work. Since March 2024 the general rule is 140 full days or 280 half days per year. Check the exact conditions on your own permit with your university's international office or the Ausländerbehörde before you sign anything.

Put these at the very top

Your degree, university, current semester and expected graduation. Example: M.Sc. Business Informatics, Universität zu Köln, 3rd semester, graduating September 2027.
Hours per week and start date, for example 20 hours a week from 1 December, full time in the semester break.
Your city, and whether you can come to the office, work remote, or both.

Follow the German format

A clean table style Lebenslauf, newest first, with month and year for every entry.
One page is ideal for a student, two at most.
A photo is not required by law and many international applicants leave it out. If you add one, use a professional photo, not a selfie.
Explain longer gaps in one short line, for example language course or moving to Germany.
Send a PDF, named clearly: Lebenslauf_Firstname_Lastname.pdf.

Tailor it to each ad, honestly

Copy the ad into a note and split it into two lists: what it requires and what is only nice to have. Then go through your CV:

Move the experience and projects that match the required list to the top of each section.
Use their words. If the ad says "data pipelines with Airflow", write Airflow, not "workflow tools". Applicant tracking systems and tired recruiters both search for the exact word.
As a student your course projects and GitHub repositories count. One line each: what you built, with which tools, and one result.
Shorten what does not help. A café job can stay as one line, since it shows you are reliable, but it should not push a relevant project to page two.

Never add a tool you have only watched a tutorial about. If you are learning it, say so: "currently learning dbt". Interviewers often pick a tool from your CV and ask how you used it.

Languages: use real levels

Write your languages with CEFR levels (A1 to C2) and name any certificate, for example German B1 (telc), English C1. Words like "good" or "fluent" leave the reader guessing. If you are taking a course, add when it ends.

The cover letter can be short

For Werkstudent roles a short letter usually works best: why this company, which two or three things you bring that match the ad, and your availability again. Half a page is enough. Some ads say a cover letter is optional. If so, a short one still helps when it is specific to them.

Checklist before you send

Studies, semester and graduation date at the top
Hours per week and start date stated clearly
The ad's required skills appear in your own words where you really have them
Languages with CEFR levels
One page, PDF, clear file name
Nothing on it that you cannot talk about for two minutes