CV: How to Highlight International Experience?
Returning home after being an expat: Highlight your experience abroad!
Learning a language, a culture, or new working methods… Professional experiences abroad are rich in lessons. But how do you talk about them and show that these experiences add value to your application? If you are looking for a new professional opportunity, discover our tips for highlighting them on your CV!
A stay abroad: A real plus for your CV
A professional experience abroad is formative: for months or even years, you have been immersed in another culture, developed technical and behavioural skills, learned new working methods, and faced rules that were sometimes completely different from those you knew in the job market in Luxembourg or France.
You may have improved your language skills (or even learned a new language) and used technical vocabulary specific to your field. This is a useful skill if you want to continue working in an international context. What you learned abroad can add real value to your CV and set you apart from other candidates. So don't hesitate to highlight these hard and soft skills when applying.
For example, the behavioural skills you developed during your stay abroad, which are highly sought after by recruiters, can include:
- Adaptability
- Good communication
- Organisational skills
- Ability to achieve goals
- Open-mindedness
- Ability to take risks and step out of your comfort zone
- Autonomy
- Curiosity
These are all soft skills that you can elaborate on in your cover letter or during a job interview.
Which experiences to highlight on your CV?
Your expatriation is part of your journey and should be included in your CV. Note that whether the experience is abroad or not, you need to follow a consistent thread in your CV to keep the recruiter's attention.
While all experiences can be enriching, those listed on the CV should remain relevant and related to the position you are applying for. Your job as a waiter in Australia ten years ago may not be relevant if you are now looking for an accounting position…
Recruiters are looking for applications that match a job description. The entirety of your CV, whether it is the title, summary, experiences, and behavioural and technical skills, must remain aligned with the position you are looking for.
How to talk about your experiences abroad?
Returning from being an expat is far from a smooth journey, both organisationally and psychologically: many expats feel lost and some no longer find themselves in what they did before. The goal is to reassure the recruiter with a solid CV while highlighting your expatriation.
When updating your CV, refer to the job description of your position abroad. Think about the tasks you did and skills you developed: how can you talk about them on your CV? What is the value of these skills (or training) in Luxembourg? Are they recognised and identifiable by recruiters? Consider your position in the Luxembourg job market before writing your CV.
Personal statement
Located under the CV title, the personal statement (or summary) allows you to present your professional background and main skills in a few lines. This is the time to mention your international experience!
Also, include your career goals and the type of position and responsibilities you are aiming for, while specifying that your return to the country is permanent if that is the case. Make it clear to the recruiter from the start that you are here to stay.
Work experience
In the "Work Experience" section, list your experience in reverse chronological order. Put yourself in the shoes of Luxembourg recruiters who may not be familiar with the foreign companies you worked for: specify your activity, performance, results, and achievements.
Education
Did you do an internship abroad or spend one or more years studying at a university in a foreign country? Mention it in this section. Again, put yourself in the recruiter's shoes who may not know this foreign education. If the title is in another language, don't forget to translate it if possible, or explain what the training entails and what you learned.
Technical and behavioural skills
The recruiter is looking for specific skills and a precise profile. With the dozens (or even hundreds) of applications they can receive for a single job posting, they will go straight to the point and quickly scan your CV to see if you have the essential skills for the position.
Moreover, today, most recruiters conduct their searches by entering keywords through CV databases: to stand out from other candidates and boost your chances of being contacted, keep this in mind and list your skills precisely.
Volunteering
Did you do one or more humanitarian volunteer missions abroad? You can add this experience in the "Work experience" or "Miscellaneous" section, especially if you have little professional experience. If you have done multiple volunteer missions, create a separate "Volunteering" section to highlight them.
Mention the start and end dates of the experience, your role, the name of the organisation or company, and briefly detail the tasks and skills you acquired. As usual, be concise; you can elaborate more during the job interview.
Language level: how to indicate it on your CV?
After months or even years abroad, your language level is likely better than before your stay. So remember to update this skill on your CV, and why not take a test to know your level more precisely?
Once your level is defined, in the "Languages" section, add the language(s) you speak and their levels, specifying the number of years spent in the host country and, of course, any certifications.
After a long professional experience abroad, you often come back changed, with a fresh perspective and a new vision. What you learned there is valuable and represents a real asset for your career. It's up to you to leverage these experiences to advance your career!