Creating an internationally acceptable resume: Part I

In The Global Resume and CV Guide: Advice from the Experts in Executive Search and Recruitment, Mary Anne Thompson offers invaluable advice on creating an internationally acceptable resume. Some of her tips can even be found online at Job Web, yet another excellent resource.

Thompson recommends that when job hunting abroad, you “find out what is appropriate vis-a-vis the corporate culture, the country culture, and the culture of the person making the hiring decision.”

In my case, I’ll be applying for jobs in a number of countries. That begs the question: What do I do when what is culturally acceptable in Costa Rica, for example, is not acceptable in Argentina? That, Thompson writes, is the challenge. I must come up with a resume that is simultaneously acceptable to a variety of cultures.

While creating a great global resume requires research on the norms of a specific region, Thompson offers broader advice on cultural variations that applies in any case. I highly recommend that you check it out. I already found a number of things I did incorrectly when drafting my own global resume, and I assume many other North Americans make the same mistakes.

Because “education requirements differ from country to country...stating the title of your degree will not be an adequate description.” Oops...in my increasingly apparent, ethnocentric way, I just assumed that everyone knew what Journalism and Spanish degrees from the University of Oregon entail.

While the U.S. and other countries prefer work experience listed in reverse-chronological order, some countries may prefer chronological listings (i.e. “’oldest’ work experience” to most recent). I found a way to figure out this particular by visiting Yahoo Answers, which has an array of country links listed at the bottom of every page. I selected Argentina, for an example, and then searched “resume” to come up with the following advice:

“Un resume, no difiere mucho de un curriculum en español, solo tienes que poner tus datos generales, luego tu experiencia profesional empezando por el trabajo mas reciente, la experiencia academica, algunos cursos, idiomas y paquetes de computo que manejes y referencias personales.”

For those who don’t speak Spanish, this essentially tells me the elements that my Argentinian resume should include and that I should start with my most recent job—”el trabajo mas reciente”—and work my way down.

Obviously, speaking the language of my intended destination helped in this instance, but don’t distress if you’re English-only. By simply Googling “international resume (insert country name here),” you’re sure to come up with tips written in English but tailored to your destination. Just to show how easy the Internet makes this task, I’ve included links to a few articles on country-specific resume requirements:

• Japan: Resume and Rirekisho
  
• Spain: Find a “Real” Job in Spain
  
• Australia: Guide to writing a great Australian resume/cv
  
• France: French Résumés—Le CV français

Print Sources

Thompson, Mary Anne. The Global Resume and CV Guide: Advice from the Experts in Executive Search and Recruitment. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2000.

To be continued . . .