Feedback on my CV - applying for an internship in London
Thread poster: Nerea Freire (X)
Nerea Freire (X)
Nerea Freire (X)
Spain
Local time: 06:43
English to Spanish
+ ...
Aug 10, 2015

Hello everyone,

I would appreciate it if someone could give me feedback on my CV, as I am applying for my first internship. It is a great opportunity and I want to make sure I don't sabotage myself!

I tried to include all the information from the second template recommended
... See more
Hello everyone,

I would appreciate it if someone could give me feedback on my CV, as I am applying for my first internship. It is a great opportunity and I want to make sure I don't sabotage myself!

I tried to include all the information from the second template recommended on this article: http://wiki.proz.com/wiki/index.php/Creating_an_effective_CV_/_resume

Link to my CV: http://cdn1.proz.com/profile_resources/2099497_r55c904872d910.pdf

Thanks in advance.

[Edited at 2015-08-10 20:08 GMT]

[Edited at 2015-08-10 20:10 GMT]
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GHANIA Khalifa
GHANIA Khalifa  Identity Verified
Algeria
Local time: 06:43
Arabic to English
+ ...
Here some steps Aug 11, 2015

First thing change the name of the your cv.
Secondly, in your Education part. There is something not clear which is:
Jun 2015: Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language.
Is it degree, so what's the level of this degree for instance bachelor, master ..and so on.
If it is not degree, so it might be a job experience. So you you to include it in Experience.
Best Regards,
G Khalifa


 
Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:43
Dutch to English
+ ...
Like it Aug 11, 2015

Hi Nerea,

I like your CV, it is clear and well laid out. On its own though, it doesn't really makes you stand out from other candidates with the same qualifications, so you will need to write a persuasive covering letter to make sure you really catch the reader's attention. Do you have anything else that will give you an edge? Voluntary work? Hobbies that demonstrate that you are a team player? (Not so relevant for a translator, but possibly more so for an intern).

I wo
... See more
Hi Nerea,

I like your CV, it is clear and well laid out. On its own though, it doesn't really makes you stand out from other candidates with the same qualifications, so you will need to write a persuasive covering letter to make sure you really catch the reader's attention. Do you have anything else that will give you an edge? Voluntary work? Hobbies that demonstrate that you are a team player? (Not so relevant for a translator, but possibly more so for an intern).

I would change the photo for one where you are smiling too - I think that would make a better impression.

Hope that is helpful,

Rachel
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Platary (X)
Platary (X)
Local time: 06:43
German to French
+ ...
Technical skills Aug 11, 2015

Hello!

I'm not a Resume specialist, but I'm afraid that the presentation of your Technical skills (the blue and maybe grey bullets) is not the best readable? Also is it really necessary to make a difference between Word, Excel, PowerPoint? MS Office could be sufficient, I think. By the way you could add OpenOffice or LibreOffice (even if you are not using them at time (just download and install them... and use without moderation)).

Good luck!


 
Jane Nizi
Jane Nizi
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:43
Italian to English
Language Pairs Aug 11, 2015

Hi Nerea,
Good job with your CV. The layout is great, it's clear and professional-looking. I agree with Rachel about the photo and finding some some information to make you stand out, any other relevant experiences.
One piece of information which isn't 100% clear is what language pairs you work in. You mention the languages, but not the direction, i.e. EN>ES. I think this would be useful.
If you're sending a cover letter with it explaining how fantastic, motivated, reliable etc
... See more
Hi Nerea,
Good job with your CV. The layout is great, it's clear and professional-looking. I agree with Rachel about the photo and finding some some information to make you stand out, any other relevant experiences.
One piece of information which isn't 100% clear is what language pairs you work in. You mention the languages, but not the direction, i.e. EN>ES. I think this would be useful.
If you're sending a cover letter with it explaining how fantastic, motivated, reliable etc you are, then that's great. If you want to add this information to the CV, you would have to make it into a 2-page cv, which is fine. In which case, I would include an introductory paragraph about yourself to communicate your most important skills, i.e. interest and passion for translation, reliability, etc etc. If you then needed to bulk out the rest a bit to fill a second page, I would add any other relevant experience you can think of, and perhaps add a line or 2 to the information in Education and Experience, i.e. to give some information about what you learnt from each experience, or what the focus of your studies was.
Anyway, well done!
Good luck!
Jane
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 05:43
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
It looks very professional Aug 11, 2015

The overall impression is very favourable, I think. The only suggestions I have are all minor, and some duplicate those already offered here.

- The photo is a little severe (passport/ID card one?), but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Up to you.
- If the reader doesn't recognise the format of a telephone number and an email address then the letters 't' and 'e' aren't going to help them. I'm sure they'll do fi
... See more
The overall impression is very favourable, I think. The only suggestions I have are all minor, and some duplicate those already offered here.

- The photo is a little severe (passport/ID card one?), but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Up to you.
- If the reader doesn't recognise the format of a telephone number and an email address then the letters 't' and 'e' aren't going to help them. I'm sure they'll do fine without.
- 'put into practice' is more common, and I personally would avoid 'what', replacing it with 'all that'.
- There's inconsistency in the display of institutions and countries in the Education section (and 'The UK' should either be 'the UK' or simply 'UK').
- Is there any more detail that would be useful there, such as majors etc? That sort of info is useful early on and can be removed when you have more experience.
- I agree that the teaching would better be described as a diploma or certificate or whatever.
- You can't specify a company with freelancer - it defeats the whole idea of the word. So leave the 'Elance' to the next line i.e. as one (maybe the only one so far) client/platform. Some more information about the content of the projects would be useful e.g. links if not confidential, some details.
- I would give a little more space and detail about your languages. They are, after all, what it's all about! It's Spain-type Spanish rather than Chilean or other? You were brought up with a national and a regional language? You spent a year in the UK rather than just sitting in a classroom...? Give less emphasis to the Portuguese. The German I see as optional.
- I have reservations about the amount of room taken up by the tech skills, although they are undoubtedly very important, especially to a beginner. Also, if the CV is printed on a B+W printer, or viewed in a bad light, those colours really don't work.
- I think at this stage in your life it would be useful to include your interests (don't use the word 'hobbies' though).
- Do the symbols add anything useful? They seem to range from unnecessary to odd. Is the tech skills one meaningful in some way?
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Nerea Freire (X)
Nerea Freire (X)
Spain
Local time: 06:43
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you! Aug 11, 2015

Thanks everyone for your feedback, it was extremely helpful. I realised I was giving too much emphasis to my technical skills but very little to my language skills. I also added a short description to my Education and Experience. It's a bit less clear because there is more text but hopefully it will work in my favour. I think the only thing left to add is the smiling picture!

Again, thank you so much for your help
... See more
Thanks everyone for your feedback, it was extremely helpful. I realised I was giving too much emphasis to my technical skills but very little to my language skills. I also added a short description to my Education and Experience. It's a bit less clear because there is more text but hopefully it will work in my favour. I think the only thing left to add is the smiling picture!

Again, thank you so much for your help

-Nerea

[Edited at 2015-08-11 21:21 GMT]
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 05:43
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Congratulations Aug 12, 2015

Nerea Freire wrote:
I realised I was giving too much emphasis to my technical skills but very little to my language skills. I also added a short description to my Education and Experience. It's a bit less clear because there is more text but hopefully it will work in my favour. I think the only thing left to add is the smiling picture!

It's an enormous improvement to what wasn't a poor CV to start with. I'd just advise you to change "makeup" to "cosmetics" and you really must get rid of those two mentions of "do not" - they're like a red rag to an HR bull.


 
Nerea Freire (X)
Nerea Freire (X)
Spain
Local time: 06:43
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks! Aug 12, 2015

Sheila Wilson wrote:

Nerea Freire wrote:
I realised I was giving too much emphasis to my technical skills but very little to my language skills. I also added a short description to my Education and Experience. It's a bit less clear because there is more text but hopefully it will work in my favour. I think the only thing left to add is the smiling picture!

It's an enormous improvement to what wasn't a poor CV to start with. I'd just advise you to change "makeup" to "cosmetics" and you really must get rid of those two mentions of "do not" - they're like a red rag to an HR bull.


Thank you for your kind words I've already changed it.


 


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Feedback on my CV - applying for an internship in London







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