working employment
Culturally correct CVs 28/07/2003 00:00
When you're looking for work in another country, it's vital to have a CV that crosses borders. We find out more.
Interest among seasoned professionals in pursuing international careers has skyrocketed in recent years. Such interest has been enhanced by chronic personnel shortages in home markets that are causing foreign companies to search beyond their borders for talent.
These candidates aren't passively waiting to be hired by just any employer. They're targeting specific destinations first and then choosing employers who can take them there.
A recent survey of the chief executive officers of many of the world's largest companies lists working abroad as the most important employment experience for professionals who will succeed them.
The first impression you make on a prospective employer will be your resume or curriculum vitae. It's important that this document shows that you possess the necessary professional and cultural knowledge.
Putting your best foot forward
Resume and CV guidelines are in a constant state of change. There are no hard-and-fast rules that are 100 percent appropriate in every case.
For example, letters that accompany a resume or CV, known as "cover letters" in the US, are called "letters of interest" in some countries and "motivation letters" in others.
The best advice is to do your homework — find out what's appropriate according to the corporate culture, the country culture and the culture of the person making the hiring decision. The challenge will be to incorporate these different cultures in one document.
The safest way to ensure that your document is culturally correct is to review as many examples as possible. Ask employers or recruiters for examples of resumes or CVs that they think are particularly good.
Here's some general advice on how to create a resume or CV that will help you land international job offers.
Length
A CV typically is a lengthier version of a resume, complete with numerous attachments.
An average length for a resume or CV is two pages, regardless of the country or position.
Don't try to get around this rule by shrinking your font size to an unreadable level or printing your resume on both sides of a piece of paper.
If you have limited work experience, one page is adequate. Never stretch your resume to two pages, and don't sell yourself short by limiting yourself to one page.
Format
Most countries have definite preferences about whether a resume or CV should be in a chronological or reverse-chronological format. Chronological order means that your first work experience is listed first; reverse-chronological order means that your current or most recent experience is listed first. If no specific guidelines are given, generally a reverse-chronological format is preferred.
In many European countries, resumes come with photos attached, but this simply isn't done in the US. If one is attached, the employer is required to dispose of it.
In my lectures, I'm constantly confronted by job seekers who are insistent about attaching their photos to US applications anyway. But why would you want to highlight to an employer that, although you'd like to work in that culture, you haven't taken the time to find out what's appropriate, or for some reason wish to ignore the rules?
Education
Education terms differ from country to country. In almost every case of cross-border job hunting, merely stating the title of your degree isn't an adequate description. The reader still might not have a clear understanding of what topics you studied or for how many years. In some countries, a university degree can be earned in three years and in other countries it takes five years.
If you're counting on your educational background to get a job, it's important to provide the reader with details about your studies and any related projects and experience.
However, for experienced professionals, educational background should rarely be more than a line item on your resume. Computer and language skills are always important, no matter the job or the country. Take care to describe your skill levels in detail.
Language
Most multinational companies will expect you to speak both the language of their country and English, which is widely accepted as the universal language of business.
