The need for interpreters and translators will grow at a rate of 19% between 2018 and 2028. So, your language skills in a resume matter a lot in defining your chances of getting hired.
But it is not limited to translator and interpreter jobs. The requirement of additional languages is expanding in a lot of other jobs as well. In the hospitality industry, the candidates are preferred to be fluent in more than one language.
In this guide, we will help you showcase your language proficiency in a resume and clear doubts in terms of where you can add these skills.
Relevance to the target profile
It is likely that the position you are applying for does not require you to possess skills in more than one language. So, you need to determine the relevance of your language skills to the profile you are targeting and update your resume accordingly. But there are jobs where you need more than one language to get hired.
To do this, we advise you to go through the job description of your target job and understand the requirements. Based on the insights, you can highlight your language skills accordingly and tailor your resume to a specific job.
For instance, if the post requires candidates to have expertise in Spanish to assist customers. You can highlight your proficiency in Spanish in the professional experience section.
For example, you can include a point displaying the skills in a manner highlighted below:
“Assisted English speaking customers in the hotel and handled reservations from guests of French origin.”
You can follow this approach to highlight your language skills throughout the professional experience section.
Add it in the summary
As the resume summary is written right below the name, recruiters are inclined to go through this section first.
For this aspect only, the summary is reserved for skills and achievements that candidates want the recruiters to notice first.
When you are trying to showcase your linguistic skills, a summary is a great place to include them. In the career summary, you can include pointers about how you utilized these skills in your professional career and why you hold them in such high regard.
For example, check the example written below:
“Trilingual hotel manager with 5 years of experience in the hospitality industry and conversing with guests from major European countries. Proficient in Spanish, English, and French to handle customers with ease.“
Make a language skills section
After determining the relevance of your language skills in the target profile, your resume is meant to showcase your linguistic skills.
Apart from adding them to your summary, you can create a separate section to write them for the recruiter’s perusal.
Having these skills listed in a separate section will enable the recruiter to locate them easily. You can place this section near the “key skills section” that showcases your core competencies.
Include the proficiency level
The proficiency level of your language skills is highly critical to have recruiters understand your fluency with the language. Hence, you must write the proficiency level as per your understanding of the language. You can think of it in terms of reading, listening, and speaking comprehension.
Further, you can create a better impact by taking a self-assessment test called ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable). It was established by the U.S. government to assess the language proficiency standards of candidates. This test divides the candidates into 5 categories:
Apart from the ILR assessment test, if you need to showcase the credibility of the mentioned language skills. Add all your language certifications.
For example, here is how you can write certifications in your resume:
“English for Professionals | ESL.com | Pasadena, California | Dec ‘19”
Key takeaways
Here are a few key takeaways from the article:
Aditya Sharma is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Hiration — an AI solution to help job-seekers find their way in the treacherous job market across the world.
But it is not limited to translator and interpreter jobs. The requirement of additional languages is expanding in a lot of other jobs as well. In the hospitality industry, the candidates are preferred to be fluent in more than one language.
In this guide, we will help you showcase your language proficiency in a resume and clear doubts in terms of where you can add these skills.
Relevance to the target profile
It is likely that the position you are applying for does not require you to possess skills in more than one language. So, you need to determine the relevance of your language skills to the profile you are targeting and update your resume accordingly. But there are jobs where you need more than one language to get hired.
To do this, we advise you to go through the job description of your target job and understand the requirements. Based on the insights, you can highlight your language skills accordingly and tailor your resume to a specific job.
For instance, if the post requires candidates to have expertise in Spanish to assist customers. You can highlight your proficiency in Spanish in the professional experience section.
For example, you can include a point displaying the skills in a manner highlighted below:
“Assisted English speaking customers in the hotel and handled reservations from guests of French origin.”
You can follow this approach to highlight your language skills throughout the professional experience section.
Add it in the summary
As the resume summary is written right below the name, recruiters are inclined to go through this section first.
For this aspect only, the summary is reserved for skills and achievements that candidates want the recruiters to notice first.
When you are trying to showcase your linguistic skills, a summary is a great place to include them. In the career summary, you can include pointers about how you utilized these skills in your professional career and why you hold them in such high regard.
For example, check the example written below:
“Trilingual hotel manager with 5 years of experience in the hospitality industry and conversing with guests from major European countries. Proficient in Spanish, English, and French to handle customers with ease.“
Make a language skills section
After determining the relevance of your language skills in the target profile, your resume is meant to showcase your linguistic skills.
Apart from adding them to your summary, you can create a separate section to write them for the recruiter’s perusal.
Having these skills listed in a separate section will enable the recruiter to locate them easily. You can place this section near the “key skills section” that showcases your core competencies.
Include the proficiency level
The proficiency level of your language skills is highly critical to have recruiters understand your fluency with the language. Hence, you must write the proficiency level as per your understanding of the language. You can think of it in terms of reading, listening, and speaking comprehension.
Further, you can create a better impact by taking a self-assessment test called ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable). It was established by the U.S. government to assess the language proficiency standards of candidates. This test divides the candidates into 5 categories:
- Beginner: This level just covers professionals who have just begun learning a new language.
- Intermediate: The intermediate skill level is for professionals who can carry a basic conversation and understand basic grammar rules of the language.
- Proficient: Proficient professionals possess the ability to talk, write, and read the language with little difficulty.
- Fluent: This level is reserved for professionals who have covered almost all aspects of the language and can hold the conversation without any error.
- Native: Native proficiency level is for professionals who have mastered the language and most likely grew up speaking it.
Apart from the ILR assessment test, if you need to showcase the credibility of the mentioned language skills. Add all your language certifications.
For example, here is how you can write certifications in your resume:
“English for Professionals | ESL.com | Pasadena, California | Dec ‘19”
Key takeaways
Here are a few key takeaways from the article:
- Determine the relevance of your target skills to the target profile and modify your resume accordingly.
- Add your language skills in the summary to make it a highlight of your resume.
- Create a separate language section for the recruiter’s perusal.
- Add the proficiency level for each language.
- Include all your language certifications to create a better impact.
Aditya Sharma is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Hiration — an AI solution to help job-seekers find their way in the treacherous job market across the world.
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