10 Most Common Mistakes by Translators When Writing a CV

Grammar mistakes, typos

When it comes to professional translation, accuracy is the main pillar of quality. If you are looking for a job as a translator sending your CV with typos almost guarantees you a failure.

 

Formatting and layout that do not look professional.

As an LSP who caters to some of the world’s biggest brands who expect nothing less than perfection in every aspect of a professional translation job, we therefore also look for professionalism in every aspect of the collab with our linguists. If your CV or email looks too messy, with lots of different fonts & colors, HR might see your attempt to make the CV stand out from the boring mass, as a lack of document presentation skills..

 

Sending the CV with an empty email.

A cover letter is something recruiters expect from applicants for highly popular jobs. At LingvoHouse we get hundreds of applications per day for translator jobs, and emails that contain only the CV itself will often be left alone… Taking an effort to write at least a paragraph in the body of the email, shows that you have taken an effort to apply for this specific job.

 

Unprofessional email address

As simple as it seems, using an email with a weird name that you created back in your teenagehood might also backfire. Seems as simple as that, why not use a specific personal email that will identify you better, including for a database search once you get the job?

 

 

Contact Sara Lyons @sara.lyons@lingvohouse.com

Providing unnecessary information, or sending a generic application.

LSPs want to see that you are applying for a specific job. Emails sent to a mass mailing list, or applications that have just been copied from the translator’s Proz profile will unlikely bring much success. What translation companies are looking for is a specific, job-related cover letter.

 

Not mentioning your native language.

Our HR team processes over 100 freelance translators’ applications a day. The recruiter has to be able to scan through the applicants easily & quickly to shortlist the candidates matching the project spec. If we cannot easily see from the email or a CV what the native language of the person is, we’d more likely to skip the application than surf the web for the missing data.

 

Not mentioning your formal qualifications.

Most projects are subject to a certain minimal linguist qualification requirement. Again, in a busy translation company, the HR team will most likely skip the applicant who had not listed the required info, rather than take an effort to research or ask.

 

Not stating your areas of expertise.

Most translation jobs are subject-matter specific. We recommend that linguists choose what areas they’d be focusing on and develop in-depth expertise. Stating those on the CV, and SSM profiles will help the translation companies choose you over hundreds of other applicants.

 

Not stating dates.

We normally look not only for qualifications & experience but also for dates. Notably to help up identify scammers who put fake dates and sometimes a CV can state that the person has graduated at the age of 6!

 

Mass-emailing the CV and copying everyone.

Not only this will look like you’ve put in zero effort to apply for this job, but also sharing everyone’s email addresses without consent is a big no-no in the business practice. The HR would question if you’d be respectful of the confidentiality of the client’s documents too.

 

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