Errors to Avoid on Your American Resumé

What’s the difference between a CV and a resumé,

and more importantly are you making big mistakes on yours?

A lot of people say a CV is British,

and a resumé is American.

That’s partially true, but there’s more.

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 how to avoid making big mistakes

when creating your American resumé,

because it is nothing like a French CV.

Ya ready?

Resumé or CV?

First, let’s get the vocabulary right.

Americans use both resumés and CVs,

but for different situations.

Here are the basic differences.

CV is for teaching and research jobs.

You list presentations, publications, your classes taught, etc.

And a CV grows in length with your career.

A resumé lists business jobs.

It includes your past companies and it really sells your accomplishments and results.

A resumé is one page,

two pages maximum if you have a lot of experience.

Since the majority of SBFG members work in companies,

we’ll just look at the American resumé in this video.

Before you even think about just translating your French CV into English,

let’s get the format right.

Here’s what NOT to include in your American resumé.

You put this in your French CV but

not in your American resumé:

No photo

No age

No sex

No marital status

and No nationality.

Basically DO NOT include anything that could even

possibly allow the recruter to discriminate against you.

Some people even suggest not including a language section

if it’s not relevant to the job you’re applying for.

Basically, if the job doesn’t include working in a French-speaking market,

don’t include “French” in the languages section on your CV.

Or don’t include a languages section at all,

because we imagine if you’re applying for a job in the United States,

of course you speak English.

And your langauge gives a clue to your nationality!

Remember, we Americans are super PC (that’s politically correct)

and we are super worried about discrimination problems.

Make your results and your accomplishments shine but

hide your personal information.

Now, what do you include in your resumé?

The US is a very explicit, results-oriented culture.

Explicit cultures are

direct.

In contrast,

France has an implicit culture.

Communication depends a lot on context

and on non-verbal communication.

As a consequence of this direct, explicit culture,

your resumé should cut to the chase

do you remember that idiom?

It should be very direct. Your resumé should directly show how you will bring added value

to the company, based on your past.

Show your strengths, and your accomplishments,

your results. Don’t just list your responsibilities.

Because the resumé is

one page,

you’re forced to choose the best examples.

Also, try to quantify your results.

Numbers can be really powerful

in showing your value to a company

in a very concrete way.

For example,

f you work as a manager or director,

highlight your leadership qualities and the results of your actions on specific projects.

For example:

It’s very specific, and it’s quantified.

If you’re an engineer, list your accomplishments perhaps as bullet points,

with quantified results.

For example:

Again, very specific.

Quantified.

What about education?

News flash:

No one in the United States knows what a BTS, a DEUG , or an IUT is.

Forget those Franco-français acronyms

and replace them with American equivalents.

And language in all of this?

In French, it’s common to use nouns

to describe your accomplishments, such as

“création d’un processus”,

“coordination des équipes”

or “mise en place d’un système”.

In English, and especially American English,

we prefer actions to nouns:

“Created a process”,

“coordinating teams”, or “putting systems into place”.

And even better

“Created a process that saved our department 20K per month.”

Remember, results are what recruiters want to see.

So there you go.

On your American resumé remember,

no personal information,

no photo.

Show your strengths

and your results, with numbers if possible.

No French acronyms.

Use action verbs, not nouns to describe what you did.

And of course, ask an American or an English trainer to check your resumé if possible.

They can give you personalized help to make your resumé shine.

Do you have another question about creating your resumé in English that I didn’t talk about today?

Post your question in the comments section below

and I’ll have a look at it and try to help you!

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

See ya next time!