Resume rules in Finland

What employers in Finland expect on a Curriculum Vitae / Ansioluettelo, what the law lets them ask for, and where the two disagree.

Call it a CV for Finland or a resume for Finland: it's the same document. Employers there usually want it written in Finnish or English.

This is research, not legal advice. Employment and data protection law changes, state and provincial rules matter in federal countries, and practice varies by industry and seniority. Each entry shows when it was looked up and how confident we are. Where nothing reliable was published it says Not found rather than a guess.

Law and practice, side by side

The label on the right is what local hiring expects. The two lines under it are the law and the habit, which often disagree.

Photo: Optional

Optional; include only if job advertisement allows or requests it

What the law says: Act on the Protection of Privacy in Working Life 759/2004: employers can only process personal data directly necessary for employment. Biometric data (photo) triggers data protection scrutiny.

Date of birth: Optional

Optional; not required despite being common default

What the law says: Act 759/2004: employers can only collect data directly necessary for the role; age/birth year not necessary to collect

Marital status: Avoid

Avoid; not necessary to provide

What the law says: Act 759/2004: employers cannot require family status information

Sex or gender: Avoid

Avoid; not necessary to provide

What the law says: Act 759/2004: employers cannot act on gender information

Nationality: Optional

Optional; include only if relevant

What the law says: Act 759/2004: employers can collect citizenship if directly relevant to role

National ID number: Avoid

Avoid

The rest of the entry

Local name of the document
Curriculum Vitae / Ansioluettelo
Language to submit in
Finnish or English
Typical length
1-2 pages
Address detail expected
Contact information (email, phone) sufficient; full address not required
Signature and date
Not mentioned
Officially prescribed form
None; some use Europass format
Religion, ethnicity or caste
Act 759/2004 + GDPR: employers cannot request or process except with explicit consent
Health, disability or pregnancy
Act 759/2004 + GDPR: employers cannot request health data
Other customary attachments
References typically included with contact information
Employer may not ask for
Family status, religion, political activity, age (Act 759/2004)
Named statutes
Act on the Protection of Privacy in Working Life 759/2004; General Data Protection Regulation (EU 2016/679)
Data protection regime
GDPR (EU 2016/679) + Act 759/2004 on the Protection of Privacy in Working Life
Anti-discrimination statutes
Not found by name, but anti-discrimination principles embedded in Act 759/2004
Local language source
Finnish

Where this came from

Looked up 2026-08-15. Independently checked 2026-08-15. High confidence. Result of that check: Confirmed.

Notes: Finland's Act 759/2004 is exceptionally strict: employers may collect ONLY data directly necessary for the role. Anonymous recruitment processes exist. Act 759/2004 requires that no exceptions to necessity can be made even with employee consent.

Researched with AI assistants working from a written checklist, then independently checked. How we researched this

4 sources we opened