Advice for doing a resumé
Thread poster: SS AH
SS AH
SS AH
English to Spanish
+ ...
Oct 21, 2014

Warm greetings.

I am in the last semester of my Master Degree in Translation, I was asked to do a resumé but the problem is that I do not have any professional experience.What do I have to include on it since I do not have employment history?
My target language is spanish so in language pair is it demandatory to write language pair english -spanish or I can do it in the other way around too?
Please help me!


 
ATIL KAYHAN
ATIL KAYHAN  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 12:59
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
+ ...
Some Tips Oct 22, 2014

Congratulations on your education. After all, not everybody gets a graduate degree in translations. First of all, if you do not have any experience, you should emphasize your education (rather than your experience). That means putting the education section ahead of the experience section. You should try to put everything that is positive concerning your education. Remember, this is a sales document.

After the education section, I believe you should still have an experience sect
... See more
Congratulations on your education. After all, not everybody gets a graduate degree in translations. First of all, if you do not have any experience, you should emphasize your education (rather than your experience). That means putting the education section ahead of the experience section. You should try to put everything that is positive concerning your education. Remember, this is a sales document.

After the education section, I believe you should still have an experience section (which will probably be short). If you do not have any formal experience, I would try to get some voluntary positions to put on my resume. It is relatively easy to get voluntary positions because people love to have someone who works for them free of charge. Needless to say, your resume should not exceed one page. When it comes to resumes, short is always better.
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Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz
Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 10:59
English to Polish
+ ...
... Oct 22, 2014

To add a little to the excellent advice given by the previous poster: Everybody with a degree was a last-year student or freshly minted graduate at some point. You should not be ashamed of that, there is nothing you should want to hide about that, but on the other hand you should keep things in perspective and just be modest about the non-profit/volunteering experience and any student jobs you list. In short, don't try to dress it up, rather present an honest graduate profile. You'll be compared... See more
To add a little to the excellent advice given by the previous poster: Everybody with a degree was a last-year student or freshly minted graduate at some point. You should not be ashamed of that, there is nothing you should want to hide about that, but on the other hand you should keep things in perspective and just be modest about the non-profit/volunteering experience and any student jobs you list. In short, don't try to dress it up, rather present an honest graduate profile. You'll be compared against other graduates, not against seasoned veterans in your field — a comparison which you would almost inevitably lose but which would have been unfair from start to begin with.

Don't dwell on details too much, either. Employers and HR people probably generally enjoy seeing enthusiasm in applicants, but do keep in mind that they see more such applications from more people. They do want to get to know you, so give them a reason to stop and smell the roses, but don't presume too much initially and don't have them read detailed stories when you aren't sure you have their interest. Don't take things out of proportion, don't exaggerate their importance, or they could think you have an attitude of entitlement and focus on yourself and your importance too much.

If you do the opposite, i.e. — again — present an honest, modest but still interesting student/graduate profile, you may likely hold their attention and get an interview.

(They do want to see some promise in you, some achievements etc., but it's okay you don't have experience and your skills haven't been tested in real life yet. You don't need to pretend to be someone you're not — nor will you succeed if you try that.)
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 10:59
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Write about your skills Oct 22, 2014

SS AH wrote:
I was asked to do a resumé, but the problem is that I do not have any professional experience. What do I have to include on it, since I do not have employment history?


Write about your skills. Since you've about to finish your studies, you can also write a little something about your major subjects, to make them seem relevant to translation work.

My target language is Spanish, so in "language pair" is it mandatory to write "English -Spanish", or I can do it in the other way around too?


If you offer only translation from English into Spanish, then you have to write "English to Spanish" or "English > Spanish" or something similar that makes the direction clear. However, if you are confident that you can produce good translations into English, then you can write the opposite direction as well. Whether you translate only into your strong language is up to you.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:59
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Job-seeking or freelancing CV/resume? Oct 22, 2014

SS AH wrote:
My target language is spanish so in language pair is it demandatory to write language pair english -spanish or I can do it in the other way around too?

Let's take that question first. Your languages are obviously the most important thing in your CV so it follows that they are at the top, maybe centred, bold, underlines, big - don't let the client miss them. And certainly don't follow some job-seeker's template for a CV and put them right at the bottom!

I think your choice of languages would depend on who's going to be reading the CV. If it is for a salaried position as an in-house translator, then your employer is going to be investing a lot in you as a person and s/he'll want to get as much value as possible from you. You'll no doubt be expected to translate both ways. OTOH, as a freelancer, your prospective client will only be investing in one translation at a time. Who would be the best translator for reverse pair translations? Probably not you, in all honesty. It makes sense as a freelancer to only market yourself as doing what you do best of all. Of course, that doesn't stop you doing something else if both parties are happy and informed.

I was asked to do a resumé but the problem is that I do not have any professional experience.What do I have to include on it since I do not have employment history?

Assuming you're wanting a job-seeker's CV then you can follow Atil's advice and re-order the sections so the best comes highest. But there's no way you have to have those headings on a freelancer's CV. You are totally free to present your skills, abilities, education, experience, etc in any way you choose. There's some advice given here: http://wiki.proz.com/wiki/index.php/Creating_an_effective_CV_/_resume though I wouldn't advise you to use any of the templates as they are - just use them as a basis for constructing your very own CV.

You don't say who it is that's asked for this CV. It would be nice to think that your tutors are actually including such pragmatic education in your course. But of course it would also be nice to hear that you've already got a queue of potential employers or clients waiting for you to graduate. Good luck with the transition, either way!


 
SS AH
SS AH
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks a million Oct 22, 2014

I just want to thank to you skillfull professionals for giving me some advice, I have always gotten support in this forums swiftly.Blessings and sucess in your job.

 


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Advice for doing a resumé







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