Top Tips on How to Include Language Skills on Your CV / Resume

Top Tips on How to Include Language Skills on Your CV / Resume

Creating an outstanding CV is vital, and showcasing language skills can give a significant advantage. Regardless of whether you are a native speaker or have acquired languages along your career path, focusing on your skills in this area helps to make a difference. Here’s how to write a CV with language proficiency to get a job. 

Should I Include Language Skills on My Resume?

Yes! It is good to include language skills in your resume especially if you are applying for jobs in multinational companies or positions that require interaction with diverse teams or clients. The ability to communicate well and adapt to different situations through multiple languages makes one suitable for any employer. According to a Rosetta Stone survey, up to 35% of employers said that a candidate’s or employee’s second language proficiency prompts them to:

  • Offer a job extension
  • Invite the candidate for interview 
  • Make a recommendation for promotion

How Can I Determine What Level My Language Skills Are?

Before putting down your language proficiency levels on the resume you need to understand what they actually mean. Below is what can help you assess it:

Determine Fluency in a Foreign Language

It is best to start by looking at how much knowledge there is about each of these areas according to the Common European Framework levels (CEFR). There are six CEFR prifciency levels – A1 (beginner), A2 (elementary), B1 (intermediate), B2 (upper intermediate), C1 (advanced) and C2 (proficient). Consider your reading, writing, listening and speaking capabilities.

Assess Your Abilities Using Various Aspects Of The Given Language

You should analyze all the four major skill categories of a language: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Reflecting upon such self-evaluations will help you know where you need improvement as well as areas of strength. For instance, one may be very good when it comes to reading and writing in another language but weak in oral communication skills.

Sit for a language proficiency test

For formal assessment purposes, consider sitting for a recognized examination such as TOEFL, IELTS, DELF, or DELE. These tests can give an official proof of your language proficiency to include in your CV.

Where Should I Put Language Skills on My Resume?

Skills Section

The skill section is a common place to list language skills. You can simply put down languages and their levels of proficiency in this part. This part usually comes after work experience and education sections.

Professional Experience

You might want to add your language skills into descriptions of your professional experiences if they play such a vital role for you. For example, when one says that he or she negotiated contracts with international clients using Spanish, it means that this person has some competency level in Spanish at least.

Education Section

If you studied any languages formally, include them in the education section of your resume. Significant achievements or certifications may also be mentioned together with relevant courses or degrees taken.

Summary or Objective Section

When applying for jobs where language proficiency is very crucial, mentioning them in the summary or objective section at the top of your resume will attract employers’ attention immediately.

How Do I Indicate Language Levels on My Resume?

It is important to present your expertise levels properly while listing down these abilities into resume format that will make sense to potential employers. Here’s how you can effectively present your proficiency levels:

Use Standardized Terms

To describe language ability, use well-known terms:

  • Mother-tongue/ Bilingual: A language which is spoken like a second nature
  • Fluent: For languages you use as if they were your mother tongue.
  • Proficient: For languages you can use for commercial purposes.
  • Intermediate: For languages you comprehend and speak but yet imperfectly.
  • Basic: For languages you can communicate with at basic level.

Detail Your Skills

Instead of just listing the language, provide a brief description of your proficiency in different areas. For example:

  • Spanish (Fluent): Competent in speaking, reading, and writing.
  • French (Intermediate): Able to do business conversations and understand written content.

Highlight Relevant Experience

An experience which used the language in a professional setting can be mentioned. It could be previous jobs or internships or volunteer work where you used your language skills.

Include Certifications

If you have taken any language proficiency exams, list the certifications and scores. This provides concrete evidence of your skills. For instance:

  • TOEFL (English): Scores 110/120
  • DELF B2 (French): Certified intermediate proficiency

Tips for Showcasing Language Skills

Here are some additional tips to effectively showcase your language skills on your resume:

  • Be Honest: Never exaggerate your language abilities; this may come back to haunt you later on by putting yourself in embarrassing situations or damaging your credibility.
  • Keep It Relevant: Tailor the language skills you include based on the job requirements; concentrate only on those pertinent to the position being applied for.
  • Quantify Your Experience: Where possible, quantify your experience with languages; add how many years studied or used the language and any specific achievements such as “Conducted weekly meetings in German for three years.”
  • Stay Updated: keep updating your resume with current levels of your language proficiency; reflect these changes as they occur when improving upon yourself or getting new certifications from time to time.

Conclusion

Effectively showcasing your language proficiency on your resume can significantly enhance your job prospects, particularly in an increasingly globalized job market. By accurately assessing your language skills, strategically placing them on your resume, and providing detailed descriptions, you can demonstrate your value to potential employers. You need to be honest, relevant, and clear in your presentation to make the best impression. Looking for the latest job offering in Europe? Then you should check Jobs Europe. Using it, you can stay on top of the latest job offers across Europe.