Presenting Your English Level On Your CV

What does the language section of your resumé or CV say?

If it’s

“read, written, spoken”, or

“school level”,

or

“fluent”,

you’ve got a problem.

So many job offers ask about your English level.

And it seems every job requires English.

So how exactly should you present your English level on your CV?

I’m Christina and you’re watching Speak Better, Feel Great TV.

The place to boost your English and boost your career.

In this video, I’m gonna show you exactly

what descriptions to put on your CV

to describe your English level.

Ya ready?

First, avoid

vague, imprecise terms.

Some examples?

The classic “lu, écrit, parlé”,

which is often horribly translated

as “read, written, spoken.”

That doesn’t mean anything!

Even “fluent” is not very specific.

Fluent in what situations?

You need to be

precise.

But how do you do that?

It’s a good idea to adapt your description to the job you’re applying for

and to describe the activities that you’re capable of doing in English,

for example,

If your level is truly good, you can indicate “fluent spoken English”.

If your level is ok,

but you can do the job in English, indicate

For precision, list in parentheses

the activities that you can do in English.

For example,

Written English is different from spoken English,

but you know that already.

On your CV, separate them.

After “fluent spoken English”, you can write

or

Again, list the activities that you most often do in English:

In this context,

“fluent” doesn’t mean you speak English

like an American.

It means that you’re capable of clearly and easily communicating in English

in the situation listed.

Of course, if you’ve participated in any language stays,

indicate that.

And I mean real language stays, not your family vacation in Ireland!

even though it is nice.

You want another really effective technique?

in your past jobs.

How?

List the most important aspects of your past jobs

that you did in English.

If you were a project manager,

include

If you were a human resources manager,

include

Put these directly in the “Professional experience” part of your CV.

It tells the recruter exactly what you did,

and it provides the context too.

What about a TOEIC score?

The problem is

that most people only take the reading and listening parts of the TOEIC.

That doesn’t measure your speaking ability.

And what do you do most often in English?

Speak

and probably write emails

include it,

but remember it’s more important to show how operational you are in English, on the job.

The BULATS is another business English test, which is recognized in France

and many other countries.

There’s a link to below the video to get information on both the TOEIC

and the BULATS

That’s all for today.

Now, it’s up to you to make the changes to your CV

so that it clearly communicates just how good you are in English.

And before you go, tell us:

How do you present your English level on your CV?

and share your tips and get advice from other members of the Speak Better, Feel Great Community.

Do you need to boost your English to get a great new job?

Then go to christinarebuffet.com and sign up for the newsletter,

where I share exclusive resources and tools

to help you improve your English and get better job.

I’m Christina from Speak Better, Feel Great TV.

See ya next time!