Creating a PDF application as a working student (Werkstudent)

Working-student positions are assessed differently from full-time junior roles. Recruiters scan three things in the first 8 seconds: field of study + semester (does it fit the task?), available weekly hours (max. 20 during term time) and earliest possible start date.

Place these three pieces of information prominently in the CV header or in the first paragraph of the cover letter. Don't hide them between hobbies and language skills.

In addition: recruiters are used to typical student clichés from thousands of CVs. “Quick to grasp things”, “team player”, “resilient”, such empty phrases don't work. More effective are concrete proofs: “Tutor for Mathematics 1, 30 students per exercise group” says more than three adjectives.

As a working student you may work a maximum of 20 hours per week during term time, otherwise you lose working-student status and your job becomes subject to social insurance. During the lecture-free period (semester break), full-time activities are allowed.

Important exceptions:

• Evening and night work from 8:00 p.m.: does not count towards the 20-hour limit if it can be shown that studies are not impaired
• Weekend: Saturday/Sunday work is favoured
• A maximum of 26 weeks per year with more than 20 hours

Mention your availability discreetly in the cover letter: “Available from 1 April, 18 hours per week during term time, happy to do more during semester breaks.” That saves the recruiter a follow-up question and signals that you have understood the rule.

The cover letter for working-student applications is shorter than for permanent positions, one page is enough, often half a page. Focus on:

1. Reference to the specific role (max. 2 sentences): why exactly this role, this team, this company?
2. Professional suitability (3 sentences): which courses, projects, prior experience fit?
3. Practical proof (2-3 sentences): one concrete example, project, tutorial, internship.
4. Availability (1 sentence): start date + weekly hours

What you can leave out: a lengthy self-presentation, a CV summary (it's in the CV), general clichés.

Tip: have the cover letter proofread by someone from your target field before you export it as a PDF. The most frequent mistake is jargon that sounds industry-standard but comes across as too specific in a recruitment context.

Gaps in the CV are more normal for students than for working professionals, nobody expects a seamless career. Still, the rule holds: gaps of three months or more should be explained.

Frequent working-student gaps and how to phrase them:

• Semester abroad: its own line in the CV, don't hide it in the cover letter
• Illness: phrase it objectively (“health-related break”), no details, recruiters are not allowed to ask anyway
• Caring for relatives: mention it openly, it is often seen as a soft-skill plus
• Orientation phase after school: “orientation phase with working-student activities” is enough

Don't whitewash gaps by falsifying dates. Recruiters check certificates, and anyone who has manipulated data is exposed at the latest during the probation period.

Recruiters hate having to open three attachments. Combine your application into one PDF file, sorted in this order:

1. Cover letter (page 1)
2. CV (1-2 pages)
3. Current certificate / transcript of records (page 3+)
4. Optional: internship references, letters of recommendation

The fastest way is this: create the CV as a PDF, write the cover letter separately and combine everything with the Merge PDF tool. Certificate scan too large? Squeeze it under 5 MB with the Compress PDF tool, many application portals accept no more.

File name: Application_LastnameFirstname.pdf. No spaces, no special characters, otherwise something occasionally goes wrong during upload.