| User | Thread poster: Srta Sara Make a translation-specific resume? |
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Srta Sara
United States
 Member (May 2008)
Spanish to English
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I just thought of something. Would I look better to potential clients if I used a translation-specific resume? (CV, for those of you outside the USA) I'm using my general one, which focuses on my basic work skills and experience. There's very little translation-related information on it.
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Tina Vonhof 
Canada
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
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That's what I did. I had a resumé that had little to do with translation and would not be of interest to potential clients, so I made a separate translation resumé. However I did list my other experience briefly in point form at the bottom because it does show where my areas of specialization came from.
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Steven Capsuto
United States
Member (2004)
French to English
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| | Same information, different order | Jul 11 |
Mine includes all of my previous lines of work, since they show areas of knowledge and expertise. My current resume is translation-specific only in that my translation-related information is on page 1 and everything else is on page 2.
I also have a modified version that I submit when applying for literary translation projects. It's the same information as on the main CV, but in a slightly different order.
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Henry Hinds
United States
English to Spanish
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You just place emphasis where it is due.
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Heidi C
United States
English to Spanish
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Steven Capsuto wrote:
Mine includes all of my previous lines of work, since they show areas of knowledge and expertise. My current resume is translation-specific only in that my translation-related information is on page 1 and everything else is on page 2.
I also have a modified version that I submit when applying for literary translation projects. It's the same information as on the main CV, but in a slightly different order. |
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I do this also. I have different versions of my resume: just as I have one in English and one in Spanish, I also have them arranged in different order: stressing education, job experience, area of expertise... They all have the same information, but arranged in a different order, and including more information in the relevant area.
I also have a long version, a short version, a version that includes published translations and published writings, training, ...
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GoodWords
Mexico
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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MODERATOR | | Translator-specific resumé example | Jul 11 |
See an example of a resumé makeover for a translator here.
This article at the same site also provides some relevant information for freelancers considering how to tailor their resumé or CV.
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Trudy Peters
United States
Member
German to English
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| | Also have a look at the related thread below | Jul 12 |
Translation - art & business » Getting established »
Maternity leave in the CV, posted July 11
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Astrid Elke Johnson
Germany
Member (2002)
German to English
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| | Yes, you do need a special translation CV | Jul 12 |
Hi Sara,
Yes, you need to create a special CV, because it should have different information on it. In my opinion, your translation CV contains the following information:
1. Personal details (but not as many as on a normal CV, and you can leave out certain ones -for security reasons - if you are making your CV publicly available for download from your profile page)
2. Your educational background
3. Brief details of any main professions you have pursued in the past (which is relevant to the fields in which you now specalise)
4. Details of your experience as a translator
5. Details of your office equipment. This is a section that does not appear on a normal CV. You should state here what CAT tools you use, and possibly what operating system, which version of MS Office, details of any other software you use (e.g. OCR software, any software for doing DTP, etc.), whether you have a permanent DSL Internet connection, and that sort of thing.
Astrid
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Sheila Wilson
France
Member (2007)
French to English
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| | The days of one person, one CV are long gone | Jul 12 |
The CV you send is not your potted life history - it's a very focussed document, focussed in such a way as to give the reader the very best impression of you as a candidate for the job.
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LoyalTrans
China
Member (2007)
English to Chinese
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Customized CV targetting different clients is definitely a must. Depending on which fields you specialise in, you might need more than one version "translator" CV.
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The translation workplace 
