You can find work in Prague without Czech — but not everywhere, and not with the approach that worked back home. This is where the English-speaking roles actually sit, why most CVs never reach a person, and what to do about it.
The first thing worth admitting: work that doesn't require Czech is not spread evenly across the market. There are sectors where English is the normal working language and Czech never comes up, and sectors where you won't get a junior role without it. Ignore that split and you'll send fifty applications and hear nothing — not because of your qualifications, but because you sent them into the wrong half of the market.
| Realistic | Unlikely |
|---|---|
| IT and software development | Public administration and government |
| Shared service centres (SSC/BPO) | Healthcare and social services |
| Customer support for foreign markets | Education outside international schools |
| Tourism and hospitality | Sales aimed at Czech customers |
| International companies running on English | Roles dealing with Czech authorities daily |
Because of its concentration of shared service centres, Prague has an unusually high number of roles conducted in English, German or French where Czech isn't a condition. That is specific to this city — in smaller Czech towns the picture is considerably tighter.
What to do with this: before you start sending anything, read ten postings in your target field and count how many list Czech as a requirement. If most of them do, your problem isn't your CV — it's your choice of sector.
This is the most common and least understood part of the process. When you apply to a larger company, your CV doesn't land in a recruiter's hands. It first passes through an applicant tracking system — an ATS. The system parses the document, extracts the data and ranks it against the posting.
Two consequences follow. First, formatting matters more than it should. Second, not because of design, but because of machine readability.
What to avoid: stuffing keywords in white text or in the footer. Current systems detect this and it's grounds for rejection. It's also obvious the moment a human opens the file.
The fundamentals are the same as anywhere, but a few conventions differ from what you may be used to in the anglophone world.
Common on the Czech market and unremarkable — unlike the UK or US, where it was dropped over bias concerns. It isn't required, and it makes no difference to passing an automated filter. Applying to an international company, leave it out.
One page for junior roles, two for senior ones. Three pages belong to academic or research CVs; anywhere else it reads as an inability to choose what matters.
Write in the language of the posting. It's the simplest signal that you understood the role. An English posting means an English CV — translating it into Czech adds nothing.
You don't need to give a national ID number, marital status or full street address. City and contact details are enough. An employer doesn't need the rest to run a selection process, and you have no reason to circulate it.
Three or four lines saying who you are, what you can do and what you're looking for. It's the most-read part of the document and the part most people waste on generic phrases. "Responsible team player" says nothing. "Data analyst with six years in e-commerce, focused on reporting for commercial teams" does.
Not always. If the posting doesn't ask for one and you're applying to a large company with automated screening, often nobody opens it. It genuinely matters in three situations:
When you do write one, don't restate the CV. Pick one concrete thing you did and show why it's relevant to this particular role. One paragraph with substance beats a full page of courtesies.
Most people search one or two portals and narrow the market more than they realise. The same role is often advertised in several places, but plenty appear on only one — and the earlier you reach it, the better.
Pick ten to fifteen companies you'd actually want to work for and watch their career pages directly, and you'll reach roles before most other applicants do.
Yes, but not in every sector — see the table above. In IT, shared service centres, support for foreign markets and tourism it's routine. In anything involving Czech customers or authorities, effectively not.
Not for getting hired, yes for going further. Plenty of people find after a year or two that the ceiling inside the English-speaking bubble is lower than they expected. You don't need fluency — even a basic level changes how people around you read you.
Usually because the CV never reaches a person: either it dropped out of an automated filter on formatting, or it lacks the wording the role is matched against. The other common cause is sending the same CV everywhere — one generic document can't fit fifteen different postings well.
More than most people expect, even with a good CV. But the ratio matters more than the count: ten applications adapted to the posting usually produce more invitations than fifty sent blind.
Direxa searches Czech and international sources at once, including company ATS boards, and writes a CV and cover letter shaped to each role — without inventing things you never did. You read it, edit it and send it yourself. Nothing goes out without your click.
Free during early access, interface and documents in nine languages.
Try Direxa →