When looking for a job in France, the first thing you employer will see, along with your cover letter, is your CV, or curriculum vitae. In the United States this is known as a resume. It’s important to take special care when writing it, and to adapt it so that those reading it will understand what you’re talking about. This is particularly important when talking about your former work positions and your degrees.

There are any number of resources that will help you in translating the various bits and bobs in a CV, and I’ll list a few of these at the end of the article. You should however have a native French speaker read over your CV if possible to catch any errors.

Talk about yourself

For someone from an ‘Anglo-Saxon’ background may find it odd, or even discriminatory, but a French CV requires a bit more personal information about you. Things such as your age, nationality, and marital status are standard fare on a French CV. Normally these are listed just under your name, address, and phone number. It’s also quite common to include a small photo at the top right of your CV, although this is beginning to fall out of use due to concerns over discrimination.

Some major companies have put in place an ‘anonymous CV’, where personally identifiable information is separated from the rest of the CV. Your recruiter should then only see the parts relating to your professional experience, education, and interests.

Responsibilities are nouns, not verbs

In our CVs in English we like to show a lot of action. For example we say things like “Lead a team of five people” or “Increased product revenues by ten percent”. In French CVs your responsibilities don’t start with verbs, they start with nouns. The above phrases would therefore translate to “Encadrement d’une équipe de cinq personnes’ and “Augmentation de dix pour-cent des revenus produit”.

Education – be brief

For your education, list only those degrees you have obtained at university, and you may even only list the last degree you earned. The French place great importance on your qualifications, and these should relate to the job you are applying for. If you are looking to make a career change to a new type of position or in a new sector, you will need to be extra careful in your CV to highlight skills and achievements that can relate to the position you are seeking.

What are you interested in?

The French also llike to see your interests outside of work. It doesn’t need to be more than three lines, and should be something that will either add to or complement your professional experience and set you apart from the rest of the crowd.

If you have held a position of responsibility in a club, for example, it may be worth it to include it in your professional experience.

Further reading

http://french.about.com/library/writing/bl-cv.htm

http://www.iagora.com/iwork/resumes/cv_france.html
http://www.workinfrance.com/home.php?idRubrique=7
http://www.cadresonline.com/coaching/cv_lettre_entretien/index_cv.php (in French)

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