Seeking a career outside your home country proves to be an exciting venture and an excellent opportunity for variety. Working abroad provides new challenges, positions with bigger responsibilities and accountability, exposing yourself to new cultures, and the chance to accelerate your career with valuable skills that can only be gained from an international job experience. Although there are no rules set in stone for putting together a resume when job-hunting abroad, here are a few general tips to ensure your resume is overseas-friendly:
- CVs (curriculum vitae) are usually used in other countries in place of resumes. A CV is typically a longer version of a resume, with additional details about your educational and professional background. Ensure you provide plenty of details, as requirements differ from country to country. Include specific information about your educational background and related experiences; seasoned professionals who have participated in a lot of training/education courses should provide details on what you learned, the number of course hours, etc.
- Highlight valuable transferable skills in your CV to make it stand out from the pack. Experience is a lot more crucial for the overseas job hunt. When the employer is reading your resume, he or she would want to know exactly how you differ from candidates in their area. Computer skills, language skills, and cultural adaptability are some of the useful and advantageous skills to include if you have them.
- Industry-specific terminology in your description is a must. If you have specific or highly technical skills, make sure you use appropriate language and terms that employers in your field anywhere in the world would be able to understand.
- Including a photograph on your resume is a traditional procedure in many countries. Although attaching your photo is not appropriate in North America, many countries consider this to be a standard item that your resume should contain.
- View as many examples of resumes as possible in your target country to ensure that your resume is proper. Find out if your country uses British English or American English to avoid the presumption your resume contains spelling errors. If possible, get someone who is familiar with the culture to review your resume to be as culturally correct as possible.