You can’t translate a CV word for word. The German version and the English version are two different documents.

I’ve been working through a mentee’s CV. She’s an experienced language trainer, sharp, thoughtful and clearly good at her work. Her German CV was strong.

The English version had spelling mistakes, inconsistent formatting and phrases that no English-speaking reader would use naturally. Her language level was fine. She had translated from German rather than written it in English.

German CVs are usually organised by date and focus on facts. English CVs often focus more on what you achieved and the effect you had.

Once she saw it as a rewrite rather than a translation, the whole thing became easier.

If you have an English CV, a LinkedIn profile or a website, read it as if you’d written it from scratch in English.

Would it still say the same things, in the same way?

PS: By the way – I built a small free tool this week for language trainers who want to write on LinkedIn but don’t know where to start. If you know one, you might like to pass it on: https://postbuilder-for-trainers.netlify.app