How to build your resume

• Keep in mind that recruiters probably won’t know the French market or specificities of the French education system. Explain anything that could be unknown/confusing for a foreigner.

• Use data and the S.T.A.R (Situation Task Action Result) method to present your accomplishments.

• Write a “Professional objective” / “Career planning” section (3-5 lines).

• Proofread!

• Don’t add your picture, age, gender or marital status to your resume. It wouldn’t comply with applicable anti-discrimination laws in the US.

• Don’t focus on your responsibilities but, rather, on the results you achieved.

• Don’t just translate your French resume. You need to explain precisely any point that could be unknown/confusing for a foreigner: your diplomas, the rank of your school, your former company’s industry... You have to go into further detail to get the same level of comprehension from a foreign recruiter than from a French one.

Make sure you indicate the proper contact info: mail, phone number (with the French area code, +33), mailing address.

• The driving license is usually mentioned in the “miscellaneous” section. Be aware that your French driving license won’t be valid in California, though.

• You may include clickable links to your social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Skype...).

• If so, make sure nothing inappropriate appears on these profiles.

• If you mention your LinkedIn profile, make sure it links to its English version.

• If you use URL and not icons to display those links, you should consider removing the https://.

• “Professional objective” / “Career planning”: a section that doesn’t exist in a French resume. Explain, in a few words (3-5 lines), what are your objectives and main assets as a professional. If you need sponsorship, you may indicate it here.

• Add your picture,

• Mentioned your age,

• Mentioned your gender,

• Add your marital status.

→ Compliance with anti-discrimination laws.

• Both hard skills (languages, software…) and soft skills (team player, self-motivated…)!

• To precise your level in each language, don’t use C2, C1, B2, A1...: there are not in use abroad. Instead, say: native / bilingual / fluent / good skills / working knowledge / basic or conversational.

• You may use TOEIC® and TOEFL® certifications, with your score and date of the test.

• Don’t lie or be too ambitious! If you claim to be “bilingual” in English and recruiters spot typos in your resume, that will undermine your credibility.

• “Summary”: to highlight your main accomplishments and skills, you may write them down in this new section, on top of your Work Experience, in the form of bullet points.

• Use the S.T.A.R (Situation Task Action Result) method to present your accomplishments: don’t focus on responsibilities but, rather, on results you achieved.

• Use data to show your results and prove how you can be a good investment for the company.

• Write short sentences with action verbs.

• For each professional experience, you can indicate what tools you mastered, what skills you developed in the form of bullet points.

• Give some details about your former employers: field, status… Foreign recruiters may not know them.

• Keep in mind that recruiters probably won’t know the French market or specificities of the French education system. Draft each section of your resume to explain every unknown/confusing point to them.

• Did you identify ways to make operations run better, faster, cheaper, safer, or more profitable?

• Did you help reduce costs, avoid major problems or increase productivity?

• How can you quantify your role with data?

• Did you meet or exceed any goals that were set for you on a quarterly/annual basis?

• Did you complete projects ahead of schedule or under budget?

•Did you receive any awards or special recognition for your performance?

• Don’t just translate you French resume. You need to explain precisely any point that could be unknown/confusing for a foreigner: your diplomas, the rank of your school, your former company’s industry... You have to go into further detail to get the same level of comprehension from a foreign recruiter than from a French one.

• Did you take a student job to pay for your education? This is a good thing, highly valuable! Surely, it taught you a few things: hard and soft skills as well; how to manage your time and to be hard-working for instance.

• You should add more detail than in your French resume: any relevant class/essay can be an asset.

• Make sure you explained every specificity of the French school system (classe préparatoire, competitive exams...).

• Don’t assume the culture is the same in France and in the U.S. In the U.S, recruiters value more your work experience than your diplomas. Also, even if your school is quite famous in France, recruiters overseas might not know it, especially if it doesn’t have campuses abroad.

- Doctorat: Ph.D

- DEA: Postgraduate degree (1 year) following a master

- Maîtrise: Master's Degree

- Licence: Bachelor’s Degree

- DEUG de science: Two-year university degree in science

- BTS: two-year technical degree

- Grande École: Top School (do not mistake it with High School: lycée)

- Classe préparatoire: two-year intensive courses to prepare nation-wide competitive exams

- Baccalauréat : High School Diploma or A-level

- Mention très bien: with highest honors

- Mention bien: with high honors

- Mention assez bien: with honors

- Mention très bien: Summa cum Laude (for a Ph.D. or a master)

- Mention bien: Magna Cum Laude (for a Ph.D. or a master)

• American recruiters will highly appreciate it if you commit to a social cause. Are you volunteering? Did you commit to an association or take part in competitions as part of your hobbies? Say so: explain what you did, what you learned.

• Only mention relevant hobbies.

• To proofread your text, you may use a plug-in such as GRAMMARLY.

• Beware of the results you may find on LINGUEE: some come from sources written by non-native English speakers. They can make mistakes too!

• If you have a doubt on a specific expression, try Google: you’ll see how common it is and if people use those words to mean what you want to say.

• You may read similar job offers to aggregate more vocabulary.

• Make sure you always use American English and not British English!

• Make also sure you use the appropriate date format: mm/dd/yy.

• Save your resume as a PDF format and give it a proper name: YourName-YourLastName-Resume.

• Keep it simple! American resumes are much more simple than those French. To lay your resume out, you can use templates available on Canva or CV Design.

• Write a “scannable” (i.e: easy and quick to read) resume: write keywords in bold and leave space between paragraphs.

• Don’t write more than 1 page.

• Don’t use abbreviations.

• Keep it simple! American resumes are much more simple than French ones. To lay your resume out, you can use templates available on Canva or CV Design.

• Think of who will first read your resume: a recruiter or an Applicant Tracking Software (ATS)? If it’s an ATS (often used in large companies), you’ll need a resume in Word format with some specific keywords, like US version of your diplomas. Learn how to beat the ATS here.
https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/ask-amanda-resume-advice-to-beat-the-ats

• For recruiters, write a “scannable” (i.e: easy and quick to read) resume: write keywords in bold and leave space between paragraphs. On average, recruiters spend 6 seconds on each resume. Make your profile and qualifications easy to read, identify... and remember.

• Save your resume as a PDF format and give it a proper name: YourName-YourLastName-Resume.

• Pay attention to the margins: if a recruiter prints your resume in the US, the format (21.59 x 27.94 cm) he/she’ll use will be slightly different (and smaller!) from a French A4.

• Don’t write more than 1 page unless you have more than 10 years of work experience.

• Don’t use abbreviations.