Working in Europe

CV for a Stage de Fin d'Études: The French Internship CV

How a CV for a stage de fin d'études differs from a standard French CV: convention de stage, gratification, and how it reads next to a CDI application.

A stage de fin d'études, the final internship most French students complete at the end of a grande école, master's or licence professionnelle, sits in an unusual spot: substantial enough that employers expect a real, focused CV, but still an internship rather than a first job, which changes what the document needs to emphasise.

The base format is the standard French CV

If you have already read our guide to the French CV format, the mechanics carry over directly: one page, a photo is optional rather than expected (French convention has moved away from it more than Germany's or Switzerland's has), reverse chronological order, and a short, focused personal statement (accroche) at the top rather than a long objective paragraph.

What a stage de fin d'études CV needs to emphasise

Academic trajectory, clearly stated. Since you are still a student, your school, your specialisation (spécialité or filière) and your expected graduation date belong prominently near the top. A grande école CV in particular benefits from naming the specific track or major, since French employers reading grande école CVs are used to that level of specificity and its absence reads as vague.

Availability dates, precisely. A stage de fin d'études runs for a defined period, commonly four to six months, ending your degree. State your available start date and duration clearly, either in the personal details block or in your accroche, since this is often the first filter an employer applies before reading further.

Prior internships (stages) and projects, described with real specificity. French internship culture, more than some neighbouring countries, treats a sequence of earlier, shorter internships as a genuine, buildable career narrative rather than filler. List each prior stage with the same verb-scope-outcome discipline a full job entry would use: what you actually did, at what scale, and what the outcome was, rather than just the company name and dates.

Relevant coursework and any specific technical or language skill the role needs. Because a stage de fin d'études often sits closer to a specialised, technical role than an earlier internship did, naming the specific coursework, software or method relevant to the posting (a particular modelling technique, a language, a certification) does real work in a CV competing against classmates from the same programme with a very similar academic background.

What does not belong on the CV

The convention de stage, the tripartite agreement between you, your school and the host company that formalises the internship, is arranged separately once you have an offer; it is administrative paperwork, not something to describe on the CV itself. Similarly, the gratification, France's legally required minimum stipend for internships over two months, is a fact about the internship's terms, negotiated or confirmed once you are further into the process, not a line item on your own CV.

Stage vs CDI: the wording difference

A stage de fin d'études and a full-time role advertised as a CDI (contrat à durée indéterminée, a permanent contract) are different legal categories in France, and a CV aimed at each should say so plainly rather than leaving the reader to guess which you are seeking. If you are specifically hoping the stage converts into a permanent role, that is a conversation for the interview and the accompanying cover letter, not a claim to make on the CV itself; stating you are open to a CDI at the end of the internship, if genuinely true, belongs in your lettre de motivation rather than implied on the CV.

Many French companies, particularly larger ones, do use the stage de fin d'études as an extended evaluation for junior hires, and a strong internship performance is a real, common route to an offer. There is no guarantee built into the arrangement, and treating it as automatic in how you present yourself risks looking presumptuous rather than confident.

The lettre de motivation

A stage de fin d'études application in France almost always expects a lettre de motivation alongside the CV, and French recruiters generally read it more closely than a UK or Irish employer would read an equivalent cover letter. The expected structure is fairly formal: a short opening naming the role and where you saw it, a middle section connecting your academic background and prior stages directly to what this specific internship needs, and a closing line confirming your availability and interest, typically ending with a formal closing phrase appropriate to French business correspondence. Avoid a letter that could be sent to any company in the sector unchanged; French recruiters reading dozens of similar grande école CVs use the lettre de motivation specifically to judge whether you have actually thought about why this company, not just this type of role.

Applying to a stage while abroad on exchange

If you are completing part of your studies abroad and applying for a stage de fin d'études back in France, or applying to a French company from outside France, state your current location and your availability dates clearly and early in the CV or covering email. French employers recruiting stagiaires are generally comfortable with candidates applying from abroad, particularly from within the EU, but they need the practical timeline (when you can start, whether a visa or accommodation logistics apply) settled early rather than assumed.

Putting it together

The practical adjustments, starting from a standard French CV:

1. State your school, specialisation and expected graduation date clearly near the top.
2. Add your specific availability dates and internship duration.
3. Describe prior stages with real detail: what you did, at what scale, with what outcome.
4. Name the specific coursework or technical skill most relevant to this particular posting.
5. Keep the convention de stage and gratification out of the CV; they belong to a later stage of the process.

Involve Resume applies these emphases to your existing CV when you tailor it to a specific internship posting, reordering what you have already written rather than inventing new detail, with every change shown as a diff before you approve it. Search current internship listings on the job board to start from a real posting.