Writing a CV in English for a foreign university

What should your English CV contain?

If you wish to be admitted at a foreign university, a CV or resume (at United States) in English! What are the main requirements for your English CV?

Format

Our recommendation : keep it simple. In other words, unless you’re applying for a career in the arts, a CV isn’t usually the place to explore your creativity.A sobering document on one page that lists your career path section by section will generally be easier to read and more appreciated than a colorful, packed CV!

Personal information

As the name suggests, this first point concerns your personal data and information, i.e.: surname, first name, e-mail address, postal address, telephone number…

Ne pas inclure : date of birth, nationality, photo (this information can be the basis for discrimination. On the other hand, they will be requested by other means, such as your passport).

Education (training)

Here, you’ll need to specify the school and university courses you’ve taken, giving the names of the establishments attended and their locations. Give details of the major courses you have taken, specifying the duration of each course.

List your diplomas in anti-chronological order (from most recent to oldest), noting your honors or grades if they are honorable. Be careful not to write down any abbreviations such as DUT, BTS or DEUG, as these acronyms are not universal.

Work experience

In addition to basic information about the company you worked for, be sure to specify the role you played, using key figures and tangible, measurable elements to demonstrate the impact of your work, the skills required by the job, the abilities developed… In other words, make the most of your professional experience, even if it’s just a summer job or a few days’ internship (in which case you can simply specify the month in which you did the internship), as this will give a favorable impression to admissions officers!

Use action verbs and precise figureswhere possible:

  • Launched a deal with X for 10,000 reusable straws ;
  • Raised €1.5K for charity X ;
  • Tutored 9 students in English, French, and History for 4 years.

Skills

In this section, you can enter your skills and since this is a CV intended for Anglo-Saxon establishments, start by specifying your level of English: Professional working proficiency, Full professional proficiency orNative or bilingual proficiency. You can also use the abbreviations of the Common European Framework (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) and specify your English test score (IELTS or TOEFL).

If you are fluent in one or more other foreign languages, please note this too.

Also mention your skills in IT or in any other field, taking care to maintain a certain coherence with your career goals. Try to put more than “Microsoft Word” or “Office Suite” in the section on your computer skills. Are there any software such as Photoshop, InDesign, Canva, Buffer and many others that you could start learning to use?

Other (Interests and extracurricular activities)

In view of your professional experience limited, theadmissions will pay particular attention to this section. It is therefore important to list all your cultural and sporting activities, as well as your responsibilities in associations.

You can find a wide range of English CV. You can consult them for inspiration, but be careful not to be misled. Trust yourself, and ideally, ask a competent person to help you or proofread your text to avoid spelling, syntax or grammatical errors! Make sure your overall consistency of your CV: for example, if you put a period at the end of each sentence or a capital letter at the beginning of each line, make sure that’s the case everywhere! If it isn’t already the case, don’t hesitate to create your account on LinkedIn using all the content of your CV!

Resume templates

Bachelor CV template

First name Last name

street – postal code – city – country

Date of birth : [month/day/year] in [city, country]

+ 33 6 12 34 56 78 – address@e-mail-com – skype name & skype email

Education

Aug. 20XX – June 20XX

Name of secondary school/s, City, Country

French baccalaureate (name) (overall grade X/X or predicted grades)

Specialization/Track (if applicable) : X

Work Experience

March – June 20XX

Company name (add professional sector if needed)

City, Country

Internship

Elaborated a plan for X

Drafted emails about X

Attended meetings with X

Sept. 20XX – June 20XX

Company name (add professional sector if needed)

City, Country

Drafted emails about X

Attended meetings with X

Skills

Languages : French (C2)

Computer Skills : Microsoft Office, Buffer,

English (C1, IELTS score : 7)

Adwords, WordPress, Canva

Spanish / German / Chinese (C1)

Other

Awards/ Scholarships : (if applicable)

Name of association – Elected to student government ; represented 360 bachelor students ; headed academic committee

Name of political organisation – Organized District chairman of [Name of district] ; National delegate

Name of sports club – [type of sport] Coached a team of 10-12 year olds in beginner basketball

Name of secondary school – Coordinated student intramural sports tournaments twice yearlyInterests : (examples of sports, instruments, literature, travels)

Would you like to study abroad? Don’t hesitate to Contact us to discuss your project together! Retrouvez aussi toutes les informations les meilleures exemples de personal statement sur le UCAS !