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When do you put languages on your CV? | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Languages & Work |  | |
| bela_lugosi Hexaglot Senior Member Finland Joined 6244 days ago 272 posts - 376 votes  Speaks: English, Finnish*, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish Studies: Russian, Estonian, Sámi, Latin | Message 57 of 86 03 December 2012 at 1:31am | IP Logged | ||
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The problem with most online job application forms is that there is only a limited number of languages listed and sometimes there is not even the empty box where you can write the names of any other weird languages that the employer doesn't think any applicant would be able to speak. Typically there are only four options available. Of course, my experience is limited to only Finland and Italy, but I guess this is a European standard practice. I think it is stupid because if you speak more than four languages fluently, it is definitely an asset in most jobs. So my question is: do most employers think knowing languages is not that important?
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| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6387 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 58 of 86 03 December 2012 at 6:23am | IP Logged | ||
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They can't imagine why someone speaking 5+ languages would need to look for a job :D
LOL, one of the forms I filled in allowed you to list only TWO languages XD I picked Finnish and Portuguese... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cathrynm Senior Member United States junglevision.co Joined 5915 days ago 910 posts - 1232 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Finnish | Message 59 of 86 04 December 2012 at 5:57am | IP Logged | ||
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I put together a resume lately. I just say I have an 'interest' in Japanese Language, like it's a hobby -- which are commonly put in resumes here in the USA. I don't think it really matters much to anyone, but you never know.
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| Sumthae Diglot Newbie Poland studyinglanguages.wo Joined 4131 days ago 6 posts - 8 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: Indonesian | Message 60 of 86 09 January 2013 at 3:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, putting languages only from which I have certificates is anti-productive. First,
not everywhere you can take the certificate exam (like TOPIK) or the language just have no certificate exam. Since my major interest lies in Asia, I'm gonna put info on all my Asian languages. Only-Asian languages I know are Japanese, Korean, Indonesian (studying now) - tho the level may vary. But, at times even my basic Korean was needed. Sometimes I'm omitting Korean, as the level of it is not satisfactory, and usually Russian, which requires a major review (unless I'm listing it as basic). I don't see a reason to NOT put the basic knowledge of languages into CV. Actually, I have a problem with evaluating properly my knowledge of languages. I'm a perfectionist, so it's never satisfactory. Anybody got an idea, suggestion how to evaluate your language properly? Edited by Sumthae on 13 January 2013 at 8:49am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5322 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 61 of 86 09 January 2013 at 5:26pm | IP Logged | ||
Here's how I might list my French on a US résumé, though I would adjust the level of detail appropriately for each employer. Keep in mind that I'm a programmer.
Basically, I'm putting myself into my future client's/employer's shoes, and asking, "What good would my French skills be to them? How can I help them make more money or serve their customer's better?" That's usually what businesses care about. When I'm on the other side of the desk, I take résumés seriously. I ask myself two questions, "Is this candidate smart and hardworking?" and "Is this candidate a lying scumbag?" To answer the second question, I pick two or three things the candidate bragged about on their résumé and ask detailed questions. For example, if the résumé claimed the candidate spoke "highly fluent French", I might first (1) check with Human Resources that I'm allowed to verify this claim, and then (2) ask several basic interview questions in French. If the candidate turns out to struggle horribly with beginner French, then I'm going to assume that everything else on their résumé is equally a lie, or at least the product of fantastic self-delusion. Now, in reality, I probably wouldn't verify language skills unless they were relevant for the job. But if the résumé says, "Expert in Linux system administration", then I'm going to ask a whole bunch of basic Linux admin questions. If the candidate has no clue, then my email to the hiring team will be "No hire. Claimed X, Y and Z on his/her résumé, but couldn't answer basic questions such as A, B or C. I don't think we can trust any of this candidate's claims without a rigorous effort to verify them." Now, if the candidate is only slightly deluded about their skill, that's OK, because self-assessment is hard, and maybe they're just stressed out by the interview, or their skills aren't active right now. But if you claim to have C1-level skills and you can't respond to a slow Comment appelez-vous?, then the interview is going to be excruciatingly embarrassing for everybody. I am so tired of dishonest résumés—they're unfair to candidates who tell the truth, and they're insulting, because they assume that the employer is a gullible idiot and that it's OK to trick people just because they're gullible. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 4920 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 62 of 86 09 January 2013 at 5:46pm | IP Logged | ||
I think this can also be a vicious circle from both sides, though. Before getting into translation full time, I worked in IT as a systems administrator. In 1999 I regularly saw job postings for sys admin positions requiring 10+ years Linux experience - something not even Linus Torvalds himself would have had. As a result, I rarely take a position description at face value. I generally think it's not worthwhile to even list languages on a resume unless it's relevant to the job, but any decent interview is going to go beyond job specifics, and there is where I think mentioning languages can be beneficial. But my perspective is as an American worker, where English is expected above all others. If English weren't my native language, I'd probably include it somewhere in the resume and application. R. == Edited by hrhenry on 09 January 2013 at 5:47pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| geoffw Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4478 days ago 1134 posts - 1865 votes Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian | Message 63 of 86 09 January 2013 at 6:24pm | IP Logged | ||
Yes, that's honest and accurate...but isn't it generally a really bad idea to spend a lot of space on your resume saying what you CAN'T do? If the spatial optics of the resume are otherwise appropriate, I wouldn't see any problem with everything prior to the "but," or alternatively just the first sentence without giving examples, depending on the circumstances? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| geoffw Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4478 days ago 1134 posts - 1865 votes Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian | Message 64 of 86 09 January 2013 at 6:35pm | IP Logged | ||
Back when I was looking for a job, I saw a lot of this, where recruiters, whose jobs it is to know quite well what candidates are likely to get serious consideration for certain openings (as their income is based on their ability to deliver desirable candidates to employers), would pretty much only suggest applying for openings where the "required" experience was a year or several more than what you have, or if you were at the bottom end of the requested range. And yes, since in many professional positions in the US it's taken for granted that ALL positions must be capable of being performed well by a monolingual English speaker, language skills are often more of something that makes a candidate interesting as a person, rather than an additional job qualification. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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