What Maltese employers expect
Two pages in English, reverse chronological, with a short profile at the top. Europass is accepted everywhere but not expected; a clean, well-spaced document reads better. A photo is common in Malta but optional, and omitting it never counts against you. Dates in month and year, locations for each role, and a line about your work authorisation: "EU citizen", "holds a Maltese residence permit" or "requires a work permit" saves everyone a round of email.
Recruiters in iGaming, finance and tech are used to international CVs and skim fast. Agencies and smaller local employers read more conventionally and expect a tidy structure with clear headings.
A structure that works
Lead with a three-line profile: who you are, the two or three things you are best at, and what you are looking for in Malta. Follow with experience, each role as a title, company, dates and location, then three to five bullet points that start with a verb and include a number where you can. Education and certifications next, with ACCA, ICA, AWS, ITIL or MGA-related credentials spelled out. Languages last, with honest levels: Maltese employers hire for specific languages and will test them in the interview.
- Contact block: phone with country code, email, LinkedIn, city you are in now and your availability date.
- Work authorisation line directly under the contact block.
- Skills section as plain keywords, not rating bars: the tools and skills exactly as a job listing would name them.
Write for the tags, not just the reader
Listings on myjob.mt and most larger employers' systems are tagged by skill, department, seniority, language and perk. Your CV gets matched against those words. Mirror the vocabulary of the listing you apply to: if it says "KYC" write KYC, not "customer verification"; if it says "Kubernetes" do not hide it under "container orchestration". The same applies to seniority: "senior" and "lead" are filters people use.
Keep the file as a PDF with a sensible name (first-last-cv.pdf), avoid two-column layouts and text in images, and never paste the whole CV into a cover letter field.
Cover letters, applying and following up
A cover letter is optional for most roles and expected for senior, compliance and public-sector positions. Keep it to four short paragraphs: why this company, why this role, the two most relevant things you have done, and your availability and location. Apply through the listing rather than cold email: it lands in the recruiter's system with the right tags attached.
A short follow-up after a week is normal in Malta. Hiring loops here are quick, so if you have not heard back in two weeks the role has usually moved on.
Mistakes that get applications dropped
Unexplained gaps, a CV that does not say where you are or whether you can work, language levels that do not survive a phone call, bullet points with no outcomes, five pages, and applying for every role at a company in one afternoon. Fix those and you are ahead of most of the pile.