The luxury seasonal industries are unusual in one way: your CV is often read by someone who has done the job. A crew agent was a chief stewardess. A chalet recruiter ran a resort. They are not scanning for keywords; they're scanning for someone they'd hire again. That changes what a good CV looks like.
One page. Genuinely one.
Two-page CVs are read as an inability to prioritise. If you've done five seasons, they'll want a second page — until then, one. Cut the school. Cut the hobbies unless they're skiing, sailing or cooking. Cut "references available on request" — they're assumed.
The photo
Yachting expects one, top right, head and shoulders, plain background, smiling, in a polo shirt. Chalet companies and caterers generally don't, and including one can look odd. Know which world you're writing for.
The order
- Name, phone, email, location, nationality and passport / right-to-work status. That last line is now the first thing a recruiter checks for EU seasons. Put it at the top, not the bottom.
- Certificates. STCW, ENG1, food hygiene, first aid, DBS, driving licence — each with the date. Missing dates read as expired.
- A two-line profile. Who you are and what you're looking for: "Second-season chalet host, confident cook, looking for a manager's role in a small luxury operator this winter." Not "hard-working team player."
- Experience. Most recent first, each with a line about what you actually did — "served three-course dinners for 14 nightly; managed weekly food budget of €900" beats "responsible for guest service."
- Availability. An exact date. "Available from 20 November" gets calls. "Flexible" doesn't.
Every line should answer one of two questions: can they do it, and would I want to live with them?
The things that quietly disqualify you
A Gmail address with your birth year in it. A photo cropped from a night out. Spelling "stewardess" wrong. A gap in the dates with no explanation — "travelled South America, Jan–Jun 2025" is fine; silence is not. And a CV saved as CV_final_v3.pdf. Name it with your name.
The cover note
Three sentences in the body of the email, never an attachment. Who you are, why this operator specifically, when you can start. If you can name the resort or the boat size you're aiming for, do. Nobody reads a cover letter; everybody reads three sentences.