Swati SrivastavaWe all look for a gr
eat career, growth and learning opportunities. Working abroad offers a great platform to achieve all this. However, the approach required to search a job overseas requires a different strategy.
There are several things to watch out for when writing an international resume. Undoubtedly, it requires highlighting several things in detail, such as skills, language, traveling descriptions, etc. Here is what an international recruiter wants to see in your resume:
1. Career Objective
A career objective is a vital and most powerful option to convey the recruiter about your area of interest and about what you are looking for in a job. Rest everything mentioned in the resume should follow and define this career objective.
2. Education
Mentioning your qualification and education details helps a recruiter to gauge your knowledge in a particular field. However, in case of an international job, the hiring manager may not find a relevant link between the job vacancy and your education; hence, it is advisable to address your knowledge and skills with relevant examples such as projects, internship, study abroad (if any), and the knowledge of a foreign language.
3. Work Experience
Global employers emphasize on a candidate’s transferable skills and work experience. They seek for examples on how you can contribute to the growth of their organization. The best way to sell your skills is by stating some examples to demonstrate your achievements in a particular project, volunteering, or significant contribution in your previous role, for instance, “You crossed the sales figure by 640% of your annual target in your previous job”. In case of new graduates, recruiters prefer candidates with at least some work experience during college years. Hence, if you have anything to mention, even an entry-level, part-time job at a coffee house, this acts as brownie points for you. In short, employers look for people who are self-starters, independent and have managerial skills.
4. Professional and Personality Traits
Any international recruiter hiring you would anytime be more interested to know that how efficiently you can adjust to the cultural difference and new challenges. Here it is important to mention your awareness about the global affairs that support your professional traits, while list any volunteer experience to highlight your personality traits. This helps the hiring manager to understand how you can prove to be a potential employee for the company.
5. Resume Length
While the length of a resume mainly depends on factors such as number of years of work experience, level of job or number of employers, any resume must include only the relevant information. Usually, the length of a resume for a recent graduate remains one page, whereas, a candidate with several years of work experience, achievements and number of employers have more information to share, hence the ideal length becomes a two-page resume. In case of an international resume, the candidate requires to mention all the above points in detail. Hence, the length can go up to 3 or 4 pages. However, as said, the focus should always be on providing only the relevant information. Remember, every hiring manager has numerous resume waiting for his attention and he is not going to give it more than a few seconds!
For a professional and effective resume, it is vital to create it by keeping your target reader in mind, i.e., a global recruiter. When you search a job abroad, it becomes more challenging to pitch your skills to an employer on the other side of the world. Hence, the more clearly you understand the cultural, professional and social expectations of the employer, the higher are the chances of your selection.
So, all you need is the little “extra” work and time to prepare an international resume and stay ahead of the stiff competition in the global employment market.
Good luck!
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