CV in English for Greek Companies: When It's Expected and How to Do It Right

The Question Nobody Tells You The Answer To

You've found the job. You're about to hit 'apply.' And then it hits you: should this CV be in Greek or English?

Nobody warns you about this decision point, but it matters more than most job seekers realize. Send an English CV to a role that expects Greek, and you look like you didn't bother reading the room. Send a Greek CV to a multinational that runs entirely in English, and you've just failed an unstated test before anyone even opens your file. Translate 'just to be safe' and you waste an evening producing a document that reads like it was run through Google Translate — because, often, it was.

This isn't really a language question. It's a research question. Here's how to answer it correctly, every time.

When an English CV Is Expected — Sometimes Required

Certain segments of the Greek job market run in English as a matter of course. If you're applying to any of the following, an English CV isn't a nice-to-have — it's the entry ticket:

• Multinational subsidiaries operating in Greece — pharma, FMCG, consulting, and tech firms (think the Athens or Piraeus offices of companies like Pfizer, Unilever, Deloitte, EY, PwC, Accenture, or Cisco) almost always recruit in English, even for locally based roles.
• Shipping and maritime — Greek shipping is one of the most international industries in the country. Piraeus-based shipping offices routinely operate in English internally, regardless of how Greek the ownership is.
• Tourism and hospitality chains with international brands — hotel groups, airlines, and cruise-adjacent businesses that report to non-Greek headquarters.
• Tech companies and scale-ups hiring for product, engineering, or roles that sit inside international teams — Athens' tech scene has grown fast, and a large share of it hires and operates in English by default.
• Any posting that explicitly requires English — phrases like 'fluent English' or 'English as working language,' or a job ad that's simply written in English. Take that literally. It's not decoration.
• Remote roles for companies based outside Greece, EU institutions, NGOs, and international recruiter platforms sourcing candidates via LinkedIn.

In these cases, sending a Greek CV doesn't read as patriotic or careful — it reads as a candidate who hasn't clocked what kind of company this is.

When Greek Is Still the Safer Default

English isn't always the smarter move. For a large share of Greek employers, a Greek CV is still what's expected, and sending English instead can come across as out of touch:

• Local SMEs and family businesses, which make up the majority of Greek employers, typically hire and operate in Greek.
• Public sector roles and ΑΣΕΠ processes — always Greek, no exceptions, and usually with strict formatting rules of their own.
• Traditional industries — retail, local manufacturing, legal (where the working language is inherently Greek law and Greek contracts), and most client-facing roles serving a Greek customer base.
• Any company whose job ad, careers page, and LinkedIn presence are entirely in Greek. If they haven't bothered writing a word of English anywhere, don't assume they want to read your CV in it.

How to Tell — When It's Genuinely Not Obvious

Most of the time, the signals are there if you look:

1. Read the job ad's own language first. If it's written in English, respond in English. This is the single strongest signal and the one most candidates ignore.
2. Check the company's careers page and LinkedIn. A Greek company that publishes its job ads and 'about us' content in English is telling you how it operates internally.
3. Look at who's recruiting. If you were sourced by an international recruiter or a platform that operates in English, respond in kind.
4. When you genuinely can't tell, it's reasonable to have both versions ready and lead with the language the ad was written in. If you're applying by email rather than a portal, a short line — 'Happy to provide this in Greek as well if useful' — costs you nothing and shows you're paying attention.

What you should never do is mix the two inside a single document, or submit a CV littered with Greeklish. Half-Greek, half-English formatting (Greek job titles next to English section headers, or vice versa) reads as careless, not bilingual.

Once You Know English Is Expected: Doing It Right

A CV in English is not your Greek CV run through a translator, and this is where most candidates lose the advantage they were trying to gain. A few things that actually matter:

• Pick one English variant and stay consistent. British spelling ('organisation,' 'programme') is the safer default in Greece given EU conventions, but if you're applying to a US-headquartered company, American spelling ('organization,' 'program') fits better. Mixing both inside one CV is the fastest way to look careless.
• Keep the +30 country code on your phone number. A local-format number on an English CV assumes the reader is also in Greece — don't assume that for an international hiring manager.
• Write dates as 'March 2024,' not 03/2024 or 3/2024. Numeric date formats are read differently in different countries and create needless ambiguity.
• Use the official English name of your university — for example, 'National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,' not a literal, home-made translation of the Greek name. Every Greek university has a standard English name; use it exactly as the institution does.
• Translate job titles by function, not literally. A title that makes perfect sense in Greek HR language can mean nothing — or something wrong — translated word for word. Describe what the role actually did if there's no clean English equivalent.
• Drop the formality reflex. Greek CVs, and Greek professional writing generally, often lean formal and dense. Carried straight into English, that reads stiff and dated rather than professional. English CVs, especially for international companies, favor direct, active, achievement-led language.

None of this is really 'translation' — it's rewriting for a different reader with different expectations. If you want a sense of how far off a literal translation typically lands, running your current CV through a check is the fastest way to see it — it's exactly the kind of gap a free CV review at Kaeros is built to catch.

The Part Candidates Forget: Your English CV Is Also a Test

Here's the uncomfortable truth: when a Greek company reads your English CV, they're not only reading your experience — they're quietly assessing your English. A CV with grammar slips, awkward phrasing, or literal Greek-to-English constructions doesn't just look unpolished; it actively undermines your claim of 'fluent English' on the same page. That's a credibility problem no amount of good experience fixes on its own.

And if you get the interview, assume it will run at least partly in English. Your CV isn't the finish line — it's the opening argument for a conversation that continues in the same language.

This is also where it's worth being honest about your own limits. If English isn't your strongest written skill, having a native or professionally fluent reviewer check the document before it goes out isn't overkill — it's the difference between a CV that reads as fluent and one that reads as translated. That's exactly what our paid CV packages add on top of the free review: a human writer who rebuilds the document for the audience it's actually going to, not just corrects the grammar.

Get a Second Opinion Before You Hit Send

If you're staring at a job posting right now trying to decide which language to send, don't guess. Check the ad, check the company's own English presence, and if you're still unsure which way to go — or whether your existing English CV actually reads like it was written for the role — get a free CV review. It's the fastest way to know exactly where your CV stands before a recruiter decides for you.