Laura Garbers, CraftResumes

Good levels of language proficiency are a real bonus for those looking to produce an impressive resume in search of a position in a number of different career sectors. A resume skills list is something that catches the eye of artificial intelligence (AI) that many companies use these days to create a shortlist of job applicants. The skills and achievements that you can point to in your resume are important elements in the process of getting beyond the initial stages in an application. That stage is filtering out applications that do not appear suitable for the position and reaching an idea of who should be considered for a shortlist.

The list of languages that you might have will help you stand out and perhaps you even have a resume in Spanish that can be used in very specialist job applications? That will definitely demonstrate your language proficiency. The world has become smaller in the digital age and many companies buy and sell from other continents and need good language skills as well as products and services that will result in a successful business.

You need to be aware of what the company you wish to join requires beyond what a standard resume will tell them. That should not be a problem for anyone regularly writing for clients who want to impress enough to pass the initial filtering service, as already mentioned, regularly done by AI. 

If you want to know how to list languages on resume you can get more info here. Your levels of proficiency will be important if you are applying for a job where there may be the need to correspond in a foreign language. That is especially the case if you find yourself in live video conferencing or having to travel abroad without a translator to somewhere where English skills are not widely developed. Limited working proficiency may not be enough.

Language Proficiency Levels

Basic

Your resume such be objective and if you only have a very basic knowledge of a language, you should say so. There are occasions when that is quite sufficient because of the support that others with better proficiency levels can provide in the office. Where you are uncertain about how to describe your skills, read more here.

Working

If the role involves travel and regular communication with overseas clients, good working knowledge will usually be important. In most instances, the levels of fluency required are likely to be to non-technical conversational standard.

Fluent

Those whose language levels involve complete fluency are valuable people. Achieving fluency will usually mean extensive study, or it may be a secondary family language. The level of proficiency may not be the deciding factor in getting a job where language is just one element of what a company is looking for. However, you will certainly have ticked an important box in the application process that looks at skill levels.

Summary

A language skills resume must be objective but also laid out in a clear and concise way. If you are looking for help to create that, professional writers whose everyday jobs are based upon their command of English can be very useful. You are perfectly entitled to use such services because it is your own level of proficiency and your own skills that go into the resume that is finally prepared. It may need to be personalized to a specific application, depending upon how the vacancy has been advertised.  That should be a minor issue if it is well written in the first place.

About the Author: Laura Garbers specializes in careers’ advice and coaching at CraftResumes. She holds one-on-one sessions, interviews, and coaching sessions as well as writing extensively on the subject. The insight she provides gives her readership important information on any aspect of their careers.