Hello Manager Tools Team (should have probably called first to find out who to address this to),
I am looking for help on writing accomplishments in my German resume (I am German).
I am simply unable to boil my accomplishments down to one line. For practice I have even tried to translate a few accomplishments you have mentioned in your podcasts or I have seen in some posted sample resumes, but they always end up spilling over the line. German is such a convoluted language.
Can you advise me on writing effective resumes in German?
Cheers,
Christine
Hi Christine, You probably
Hi Christine,
You probably don’t have to stick to the Manager Tools guidance letter by letter.
I have reworked my German resume and rewritten or added almost all of my accomplishments – and faced the same issue. On the one hand side the commonly used format in Germany differs. It includes a picture, has a more tabular layout and most of the time longer that one page. One the other hand side in German it often takes more words and longer words compared to English.
Having been invited to interviews using both the one-page-no-table layout and the more traditional German layout I have not seen any differences in the results. Both have been very successful – probably because of the quantified accomplishments. One way to shorten your accomplishments would be to use abbreviations. For example I have shortend “Rückstandsbearbeitung” to “Rückst.bearbeit.”. The reader understands because of the context.
Photo in German resume
Hi Celing,
Thanks for your answer, I will take this on. I guess you just have exceptional accomplishments no matter the form.
So, what is with the picture thing? I really dislike adding a picture. There is nothing wrong with my face or my photos, I just think it is inherently wrong that a part of the judgement for a job is based on a photo. Do I HAVE to add a picture to my application? Will it hamper my chances for an interview if do not include a picture?
Cheers,
Christine
I would add a picture (face shot) to your resume
Hi Christine,
I would add a picture (face shot) to your resume.
Almost all German resumes include a picture. Even though you cannot be forced to add a picture because of privacy laws not including one will decrease your chances. Same can be said about your date/place of birth and your citizenship.
My resume includes a picture as well a date/place of birth. It does not include in my (German) citizenship. It is formatted as a two-columned table with the dates in the left column and the corresponding employment in the right column, listed in reverse chronological order.
Please feel free to write a private message if you want to discuss any specifics etc.
you need the photo and tons
you need the photo and tons of other information which would be unnecessary in the U.S., like birth date and marital status and kids ...