Whether you are looking for a job or are bidding on a services contract with an international client, it is often the case that you will present them with your resume or the resumes of team members in order to show them the level of talent that you have. Of course in most cases, the resumes can be posted online and easily reviewed by clients.
What happens, however, when you need to show your qualifications to someone in a different language? As you know, the language that you use to write your resume is key to your success when you go to find a job or contract. So any translation that you do needs to be perfect or you will face the same hurdles that you do when you use less than stellar English phrasing to describe your self in your own language.
Here are some tips for getting your resume ready for international work:
Focus on your skills: In some countries, the curriculum vitae is used as a complete history of your career while the resume is specific to the job that you are applying to. It is a good idea to adopt this as an international standard and just focus on providing skills and work experience information that is germane to the job or contract that you want to obtain. You might consider creating a curriculum vitae separately in case the employer or client asks for one.
Don’t cut corners on translation: There are a lot of different ways to go about arranging the translation of your resume. The best advice is to work with expert translators through a website like translationgenie.com. The reason is that resume translation is too important to take a chance on people that are not certified as being the best in their field. The cost is still reasonable- and you will end up with both a structure and style that will appeal to potential clients and bosses. Another positive thing about using an online service is that you can send your resume off electronically, pay, and then receive the results without having to leave your office.
Be receptive to format changes: Many cultures not only have a different language, they also have a different way of presenting business documents. Your resume may be well-formatted in English, but it may be the case that even if you translate it into the language that the employer is looking for, it won’t be as visually correct as it could be. This is another reason to use a site like translationgenie.com because the translators are also formatting specialists that know what works in their native language and culture and will share that information with you when you are working with them.
