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Resumes: source or target language?
Thread poster: Karen Tkaczyk
Karen Tkaczyk
Karen Tkaczyk  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:20
French to English
+ ...
Nov 2, 2005

I am getting started as a professional tranlator: French to English, scientific specialist. As I send my resume/CV out to agencies I am wondering about language. When I send to agencies in France should I send my French CV? Do they want to see that I can communicate in French or find it easier that way? Or should I stick with the English version, to show them what my target language looks like? At the moment I am leaning towards putting the email in French and the CV in English. Any experience o... See more
I am getting started as a professional tranlator: French to English, scientific specialist. As I send my resume/CV out to agencies I am wondering about language. When I send to agencies in France should I send my French CV? Do they want to see that I can communicate in French or find it easier that way? Or should I stick with the English version, to show them what my target language looks like? At the moment I am leaning towards putting the email in French and the CV in English. Any experience or ideas will be welcome. Thank you. ▲ Collapse
 
italia
italia  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:20
Italian to German
+ ...
according to the target country Nov 2, 2005

Karen Tkaczyk wrote:

I am getting started as a professional tranlator: French to English, scientific specialist. As I send my resume/CV out to agencies I am wondering about language. When I send to agencies in France should I send my French CV? Do they want to see that I can communicate in French or find it easier that way? Or should I stick with the English version, to show them what my target language looks like? At the moment I am leaning towards putting the email in French and the CV in English. Any experience or ideas will be welcome. Thank you.



Hi Karen
If I were you I would always adapt the language in which I write my resume to the target country, i.e. if you wish to apply with French companies/agencies in French and in English if you address to an English target group.
At least I alwways to it like this, because I hold that people do appreciate it to be adressed to in their native tongue:)))
My 2 cents worth...
Good luck & welcome to Proz!!!

[Edited at 2005-11-02 09:54]
 
Peter Bouillon
Peter Bouillon  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:20
French to German
+ ...
When in Rome, ... Nov 2, 2005

Karen Tkaczyk wrote:
I am wondering about language. When I send to agencies in France should I send my French CV?


For selling a customer, you'd naturally want to use his/her own language. If you can't write the customer's language without making mistakes, then your next option is English as the lingua franca. What languages you translate from/to is completely irrelevant to this.

Imagine what will happen to the profile you send. The recipient will (hopefully) file it and look through it when they have a specific project and are looking for a translator to assign it to. When they are busy looking through profiles, your customers will want the information to be as easy to understand as possible. They won't want to spend their time translating from a language they don't speak naturally.

This is even more important if the agency employs some sort of electronic filing system (which most will do nowadays). Then they will sift through their profiles mechanically using key words. Only those profiles will come up that contain these key words exactly. Yours won't if it is written in an uncommon language.

So, stick to the customer's language or English.

P.

[Edited at 2005-11-02 11:05]
 
Özden Arıkan
Özden Arıkan  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:20
Member
English to Turkish
+ ...
Why not both? Nov 2, 2005

You can prepare a bilingual CV, even put internal links on the cover page, so that readers can choose between French and English.
 
Elena Pavan
Elena Pavan  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:20
Member (2005)
French to Italian
+ ...
Target language Nov 2, 2005

I would say definitely in the targer language.
A good example: I have been working for a good translation agency here in France but the contacts I have in the agency are not necessarily translators.
It might be the same in many other agencies: They probably speak English, but I think they prefer reading in their mothertongue. Then, if they really want to test your English, they can still send you a test or ask you for more information.
Good luck
 
Karen Tkaczyk
Karen Tkaczyk  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:20
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you all for your comments Nov 5, 2005

This has been useful. I have a plan now!
 


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Resumes: source or target language?







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