Job Application Abroad

USA, France, Germany or China: most people imagine a professional future out of their country. First potential obstacle: This job application should be written in the country's language or at least should be in English and perfect. Second difficulty is to create features that are country specific.  Job application requires many different formal requirements depending on the country. It is not over with a simple translation of a CV written in your own language.

Application for countries where English is spoken

Job application files are prominently thinner in USA, Great Britain and Australia. There are only two documents for a full-fledged job application in these places: Cover letter and Curriculum Vitae. Cover letter of a job application should be maximum one page. In spite of this, there are no restrictions about CV. But this trend gradually declines there.

Application cover letter:

Especially in the USA, cover letter is a document used for introducing yourself. Mention briefly why you are the correct candidate for the job and position. Which qualifications do you have for that profession?

CV

While you write your name and surname as the title on your chronological CV, in the USA and Canada, in Great Britain and Australia, you write "Curriculum Vitae" as the title. Essentials and sections of the CV share similarity with the CVs in general. But, a short listing that includes your knowledge and skills, and experiences follow your personal information. "Work experience", "Education", "Skills" and "Hobbies" follow this. You can mention your professional experience in a chronological or functional order in your CV. Functional means you should start with your most appropriate professional experience for the position you applied for. In chronological sorting, CV starts with the current experience.

Letter of Recommendation

It is not common for the job applications abroad where English is spoken. Instead of this you should list your references with contact information in the end of your CV: Your references can be two or three employers or professors from college that are ready to give information about you.

Photograph

Due to equality rights, adding photograph to the CV is seen rarely.  American companies concur this regulation strictly. UK companies demand application photograph on job advertisements under exceptional circumstances. Add a photograph on your job application only if it is specified clearly. Otherwise, your job application can be put away without being read.

Other features:

You should remove your information about your date of birth and marital status if you apply for a job in the USA.

Job applications in Europe or Asia

In most European countries and Asia, no additional documents are sent except the cover letter and the CV. Application essay and CV are not different from the application essay and CV in general in terms of content and form. But in France, company may require you to write your cover letter with your own handwriting. Depending on the conditions, company may present your cover letter to an expert to analyse.

For job applications abroad, you should prepare your CV in the country's language, especially in France, Italy and Spain. In most Scandinavian and Asian countries, job application letters and CVs in English are accepted.

You need to add your photograph to your CV only in Southern Europe (Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy) and Asia. For detailed information...

As it’s in the case in countries where English is spoken, in Europe, diplomas and letters of recommendations are not common. Instead of this, there is a references section on CV’s just as it is in foreign countries where English is spoken. You can add your diplomas to a job application in Asia, but if they are directly related with the position.

Hint

Make sure to specify your level of foreign language on your CV for sure. It suits for knowledge and skills section best.

Get your job application documents read by someone who is native on the relevant language. But, make sure that corrected version still presents your level of the language. Otherwise, this situation creates wrong expectations on your potential employer, and would harm your interview.

If the employer requires a translation of your diploma or letter of recommendations, it would be a good idea to get it done earlier enough to spare some time for comparing the translations of various agencies. Translations are either priced as a fixed price or they can be priced by the time, or for per line. Translation costs differ accordingly.

If you hesitate over which documents or files are necessary for your job application, better ask it to the employer.

You can get more information about job application procedures in t European countries from European Employment Service (EURES) online, or you can contact labour exchanges.