Month: December 2020

Curriculum Vitae in English: Example, Template, English CV

If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. That’s what you’re here for. To build a resume that will have all kinds of companies knocking on your door.

Whether in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, or almost anywhere in the world having a CV in English is essential to find a job in an increasingly global market in which you will have to adapt if you want to achieve your professional goals.

Needless to say, yes, when looking for work in English-speaking countries, you limit yourself to making a CV in Spanish or without taking into account the rules of the country you are going to, your application will end up with words: “Thank you, next.”

In this guide you will see:

• An example of a CV for England or the United States.
• How to make an English CV part by part.
• The best templates to find a job abroad.

Example of Curriculum Vitae in English

Personal Info

Sara Torres Rosas

Address

79 Bouverie Road

Phone

078 6907 0850

E-mail

[email protected]

Personal Statement

However, your profile may not be the same as the example and is not even related to the hostelry. Therefore, we are going to see a series of general guidelines so that you can make your CV regardless of the profile you have.

If you want to start your CV in English now, you can consult the following lists of templates fully adaptable to the language of Shakespeare:

What is a Curriculum in English?

Let’s start with the most essential: what is a CV in English? To begin with, CVs in English are called “resumes” and, as in Spanish, they consist of a document that clearly summarizes your professional experience and skills. However, there are a few differences with the Spanish CVs, which we will see below.

How to make a CV in English

Now that we have the basic concepts clear, let’s move on to practice.

Use the best format for your CV/Resume

• Use a font size between 10 and 12 points, depending on the font.
• Spacing must be 1.5 points.
• Margins must be tight a 2,5 cm
• Try to make your CV no longer than a face. You can add a second face. But only if you have broad and relevant work experience for the position you are applying for.
• Use the PDF format, as this will ensure that the structure of your CV is not broken and can be read by the ATS (applicant tracking system) that more and more companies use in the preselection of candidates.
• When naming your PDF file, avoid generic names such as CVs. Use your name instead, as this will make it easier for the recruiter to locate.

In the last example, putting in a number can imply that you have made different CVs and that the company you are contacting has not been your first choice.

Personal Info

When starting your CV, avoid the obvious title of “Resume”. Instead, it is best to start with your full name. That is the brand with which you will have to sell your profile.

• Avoid starting with surnames. First, the name to avoid confusion.
• Follow with your address, email, and telephone number (Do not forget to put the prefix if you are looking for work from outside the country).
• Do not forget your profile from LinkedIn. This social network is increasingly used internationally within the world of work.

Pro Tip: If you are introducing yourself to a job offer with many candidates, it is recommended that, within the contact information, you can put an address or a local telephone number that will show human resources that you can have an interview in person and join immediately.

Unless you are applying for a highly specialized job and are confident that your profile is much higher than that of other candidates, indicating a place of residence outside the country where you are seeking employment may end up being a handicap.

If you are looking for work abroad, and you still have the number for your country, don’t forget to add the prefix.

Personal Statement

Also known as an extract in Spanish, it consists of an introductory paragraph of no more than 5 lines in which you have to catch the recruiter’s attention and invite him to continue reading.

So, what is the difference between an extract in Spanish and one in English?

In Spain, it has traditionally been something optional within the curriculum. Depending on the profile and the needs of the position, it could be put or not. When writing a curriculum vitae in English, this section is mandatory as an introduction to your profile.

When writing your Personal Statement you must answer 2 questions:

• What are your greatest achievements and aptitudes about the position you are seeking?
• What are your professional goals within this sector and the company?

Pro Tip: Make sure that, within your excerpt, you use keywords for the position you are applying for. If, for example, you apply for a Manager offer, you could use words like “leadership”, “analytical skills”, “effective communication”, etc.

Work Experience

The information of your work experience should follow the following order:

• Job Name: With your technical name, each work experience that you are going to include in the CV.
• Company and city: Add the name of the company and the city in which you worked. If you have experience outside the country where you are looking for work, add the country as well.
• Dates: Limit yourself to the month and year of the start and end.
• Responsibilities and achievements: add a list of between 5 and 6 points, summarizing your work experience in a way adapted to the position you are looking for. Try to provide results in numbers whenever you can.
• Keywords: Read the description of the offer, look for the requirements for the job and adapt your work experience to them, trying to use the same or similar words.

Pro Tip: If you do not have work experience in the country where you are looking for work, try to add responsibilities that involve the language with which you are going to work or communicate within the company. In this way, the recruiter will see that you know the language, not just in a theoretical way.

In addition to showing relevant responsibilities for the position you are looking for, try to add related experience with the use of languages.

Don’t let forgetfulness play a trick on you. Try to show a little of your skills and responsibilities in each job that you are going to include.

Education

If your professional career is not closely related to the position you are looking for, or you do not directly have the experience, you can place this section above work experience. If, on the other hand, you have a work experience as solid as Sherlock Holmes, you can place it right after the professional career.

For each title that you are going to put, include:

• Name of the degree
• University or educational center
• City
• Date of graduation

Pro Tip: Are you still studying? If you have not finished your studies, you can continue to include them. Add the expected year of completion.

If you don’t know how to name your studies in English, you’re in luck. Here is a table with the most relevant translations.

Translations of Academic Degrees in English

Baccalaureate/COU

GCE (General Certificate of Education)

It is well known that both English and Americans are very given to using abbreviations in acronyms, especially for degrees. Therefore, here is another more detailed list of university degrees.

Fine arts degrees

Key Skills

Also known as skills or abilities. This section is ideal to include other skills or keywords that you have not been able to include in the work experience.

Most required skills for a CV in English

• Communication
• Conflict resolution
• Creativity
• Leadership
• Decisiveness
• Active listening
• Customer service

Languages

In an increasingly global market, speaking several languages ​​is a point in favor that, You can easily put yourself above other candidates. Besides, if you are looking for a job outside your country, it is a good time to show that you handle the local language.

When indicating your level in each language you can say:

• • • Basic, beginner
    • Conversational, intermediate
    • Advanced, proficient
    • Fluent, native

Another option if you are looking for work within Europe, is to use the Common European Framework Reference for Languages ​​(CEFR).

Additional Sections

To put the finishing touch to your CV, you can add sections additional that reinforce your profile and differentiate you from the rest of the candidates for the job offer.

Additional sections of a CV in English

• • • Software Skills
    • Certificates
    • Hobbies
    • Volunteering
    • Awards
    • References
    • Publications
    • Projects
    • Certification
    • Licenses

These should go at the end of the curriculum since in most cases, the most important sections will be the work experience and academic training.

If you want to know which of them should be added, open our guide on additional information in the CV.

Cover Letter

Last but not least, there is the cover letter.

Although in Spain, not everyone uses cover letters, in countries like the United Kingdom or the United States, it is practically mandatory if you want to have options for the position.

This must be personalized for each job offer you are going to apply for, in addition to having a design according to your CV.

Resume Templates in English

You know what to put. But the devil is in the details.

According to studies conducted by The Ladders, recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds reviewing each resume during the first selection phase. Lots of competition and little time to shine.

If you really want to attract the attention of HR and be closer to the interview and the contract, you should have a resume design that looks as professional as the information you will have written on it.

• Professional template CV in English with a double-column layout. Ideal for scientific or academic profiles with a lot of relevant information. You can edit this model for free and, later, download it in both Word and PDF.
• English curriculum vitae template with a layout visually divided into three parts to facilitate the distribution of information in it and, with a touch of branding, to help the selectors remember your name. You can edit it to your liking, by clicking on the image.
• Classic template one single column, with graphic details that, united by a linear stroke, facilitate reading development. You can directly edit this British CV template, by clicking on the image. You will be able to download the final result in PDF and Word.

Professional Objective in the Curriculum: Examples of Objectives

Know where you want to go.

The purpose of the curriculum is to explain the most relevant of our trajectory so far. However, it is also usually necessary to give a brief explanation of where our next steps are going and how we are going to get there. In other words, we have to explain our work objectives.

Although work experience and academic training are usually the main focuses of a CV, it is important to give a certain context about yourself to the recruiter and resolve all possible doubts about it before the interview.

If you still do not have a resume template that convinces you, take a look at our list of the best professional templates.

Use the following table to go directly to what you need :

• What a professional objective is
• Who should use a professional objective
• How to write a professional objective on the CV
• What not to put in the professional objective of a CV
• Examples of job objectives for the most demand professions

The professional objective is the personal description in which you show your skills, values, reasons why you want to work in that company, and what you can contribute to it. The objective should be a paragraph of about 3-5 lines that creates the appropriate context for reading your resume.

This description of your objectives will go to the beginning of the resume, just after your name and contact information. After this professional extract, the rest of the sections will go. These will have an order depending on the format you use among the different types of curriculum vitae: chronological, functional, or combined.

Who should use a professional objective

This introduction to your CV is especially useful if you do not have much experience in the professional field you are looking for, either because you are a young person without experience doing your first resume, recently graduated, or with work experience but looking to change profession.

In case you have enough work experience in professions similar to the job offer you are looking for It is best to take advantage of it and start with a description of your professional profile.

We enter the subject. Before you begin, please note that this section is an introduction to the content of your resume. Therefore, it is not necessary to explain absolutely everything related to what you offer and what you expect from the job and the company.

It is a short text of 3 to 5 lines at most. Therefore, we must focus on drawing the attention of the person who is reading it, using the most appropriate words and expressions, so that they capture the attention of the selector.

Use the following structure for the professional extract:

• Introduce yourself. The first thing the recruiter has to know is who you are. Start with something the recruiter may be interested in. If you do not have experience in the profession you are looking for, start with the level you had in your old job (executive, manager, manager) or with the name of your profession based on your professional studies.
• Describe your most relevant professional skills and values. If you do not have experience in the position you are looking for, think about other more generic (soft) skills that you have developed in your previous job or at some point in your studies and that may be related to the job offer.
• What do you want to do? Explain your work objectives within the company. Exactly what do you want to improve about yourself, what do you want to help improve the company, how are you going to do it or why you have chosen them.

When writing your introduction, you can use both the first and third person to refer to yourself. However, don’t combine them as it will look weird and inconsistent. Choose one of the two forms and use it for the entire professional extract.

Example of Professional Objective in the Curriculum