Advice for Chinese Job Hunters And Recent Graduates - How To Improve Your English Language Resume
By George Baily
The word "resumé" is mainly used in American
English. Originally, it is a French word meaning
"summarised". It is not the same word as the
English verb "resume" (/’rezju:m/). As such,
you should write it with the acute accent
on the final letter: "é" and you should pronounce
it /’rez-ju:-mei/.
In British English we normally use the letters
"CV" to mean a resumé. CV stands for 'curriculum
vitae', which are words from the ancient language
Latin, meaning "outline of my life". People
usually say the letters CV rather than saying
the Latin words.
**************************************
8 Tips That Are Guaranteed
To Help You Make A Better Impression
In Your English Language Resumé:
**************************************
1. Why are you writing a version of your
resumé in English? Because you want to
show that you can use English, right?
The number one thing that is going to
make a poor impression is bad English.
Here are the main areas to think about:
a) Capitalisation.
b) Punctuation.
c) Spacing.
d) Grammar and tenses.
e) Subject-verb agreement.
f) Word choice and word forms.
g) Spelling.
If you don’t know what the above mean,
it’s quite likely you’re making a lot
of mistakes already!
2. This simple piece of advice deserves
a number all to itself:
Do NOT rely on a computer, Kingsoft dictionary,
or software of any kind to "translate"
Chinese into English.
The result is a horrible, horrible abomination
of English that will send your resumé
flying straight into the company recycling
bin.
3. Even if you are a very advanced English
user, you are going to make mistakes,
because English isn’t your first language.
Make sure you ask a native English speaker
to check your resume.
I guarantee the proof-reader will make
changes, even if you have checked it a
hundred times, and they will be able to
suggest some improvements of wording to
make your language "sound" more smooth
or impressive.
4. When you are composing your English
version resumé, don’t simply translate
your Chinese version.
Here’s one basic example: in your Chinese
resumé you might write a date period as
"2002/09-2004/07" but to an English language
reader that looks weird. You should write:
"September 2002 - July 2004".
Another example: in your Chinese resumé,
you may list your family name separately
from your given names (e.g. "Family Name:
Li;... Given Name: George"), and you probably
also list your gender ("male" / "female").
That’s not necessary in English, because
your first name will tell us whether you’re
a boy or girl (how many boys do you know
called Susan?). And there’s no sense in
separating your family name from your
given names: just put them side by side:
George Li.
There are a lot of more complicated ways
that translation will lead to problems,
so let me repeat: get a native speaker
to proof-read your resumé.
5. Be careful about choosing an English
name when applying for jobs. This is especially
important if your potential employer is
from a western country.
Don’t choose ‘cute’ names like "Bobo",
"Fifi", or "Lala" unless you think that
is the sort of image you want to project.
Similarly, don’t invent names, e.g. "Gindrom"
or "Brinty" - in English you are supposed
to use names that already exist. And don’t
choose things as your name, e.g. "Mountain",
"Pencil", "Apple", or "Email" - that just
sounds stupid in English. I
would also recommend avoiding animal
names such as "Tiger" and "Eagle" unless
you are particularly confident about that.
Finally, make sure you have one, consistent
spelling for your name, and make sure
you know the correct English way to pronounce
your name, e.g. "Lily" has a short ‘i’
(not /i:/ as in "Lisa") and if your name’s
"Vivian" or "Jonathan" make sure you know
how to pronounce ‘v’ and ‘th’.
As with all my points of advice - you’d
do best to ask for honest advice from
a native English speaker.
6. On an English language resumé, you’re
probably going to say something about
your English level.
Beware: "fluent" is a very vague word,
and probably suggests to an employer that
you are close to perfect... unlikely!
It’s better to use an actual qualification
to show your language ability, or at least
statement of your English level using
one of the following words:
a) Elementary (- means you can understand
a little but can’t really use English
effectively)
b) Lower Intermediate (- means you can
undersand a wide range of simple English
and express yourself in simple ways) Most
high school graduates in China are at
either elementary or lower intermediate
level in their oral English.
c) Mid Intermediate (- means you can follow
a native speaker’s speech in normal situations,
and can express yourself in some quite
full ways)
d) Upper Intermediate (- means you can
watch English movies or listen to English
radio and follow the meaning; you can
express yourself in most situations, although
your language is still not accurate)
e) Advanced (- means you can express yourself
in a complete way in virtually every situation,
although your language often shows limitations,
especially of vocabulary)
f) Proficient (- means you can use English
to the almost same practical standard
as a normally-educated native speaker)
7. Formatting...
You must format your CV so that it looks
good, is easy to read quickly, and highlights
the most important information that you
want to communicate.
It’s impossible to explain in plain words
how to do this well. It’s like asking
what makes a famous painting impressive...
you just have to see it.
So go online to Google or wherever and
search for the words "resume formatting
examples" and look at some examples of
good and bad resumés. Remember, your resumé
is your personal advert, and you’re competing
for attention with a whole pile of other
resumés. If your resumé is hard to read
or ugly it will just get tossed in the
bin.
Not being good with computers is no longer
an excuse. It’s 2005: wake up and smell
the coffee. I doubt there are any jobs
you can apply for out there, except possibly
serving fries in McDonald’s, where IT
skills - and in particular, word processing
skills - are not a major advantage. If
you don’t know how to use Microsoft Word
to format fonts, bullets, tables, borders,
and graphics, LEARN! ASAP!
8. Writing in the English language? Think
about English culture!
In English we like our statements to
be measured and perhaps a little understated.
Do you really want to fill your resumé
with things like...:
"I feel happy!"
"I am the best!"
"I will surprise you!"
"I had a good relationship with everyone
and never received criticism!"
When applying for jobs in any culture,
it’s important to show balance and self-awareness.
To my (English) ears the above examples
simply show that you love yourself and
have no idea of what impression you make
on other people.
HOWEVER, don’t fill your English resumé
with weak words, for example:
"good"
"nice"
"useful"
"interesting" (- surely the most boring
word in the English language !)
If you don’t know what other words to
use... use a thesaurus! Did you know Microsoft
Word has a free thesaurus? Right click
on any word and select "synonyms" at the
bottom of the context menu.
--------Did You Know?--------
In most other countries outside China,
you should send your resumé with a "cover
letter". This is a formal letter introducing
yourself and explaining why you want to
get an interview for this position. Obviously,
in a letter you can include a lot more
self-description and "advertising" for
yourself than you can in the simple, factual
format of a resumé.
Since it seems to be the norm not to
include cover letters when emailing resumés
to employers in China, perhaps you can
help yourself stand out from the crowd
by providing one...?
If you choose not to, you have to put
a bit more effort into self-advertising
in the text of your resumé, especially
in your "personal statement" or "objective
statement" at the top of your page.
Author: George Baily (UK). ESL Teacher,
Shenzhen, China.
Preparing for an English language job
interview? For free articles and course
information for learners in China, visit
http://www.anytalk.com.cn/guanggao.htm
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_Baily
