Language Skills Resume: Overview and Free Samples

The most important factor to consider when deciding whether to include language skills on your resume is relevance.

Yes, language skills distinguish and add a unique touch to your resume. Most importantly, it significantly impacts a hirer’s decision to call you in for an interview.

But when your skills are irrelevant to the position, adding them is as irrelevant and useless as anything you can think of.

That is why aside from bagging skills, you must know where to apply them. And most especially, how to include them in your resume when preparing one.

In this article, you’ll learn more about Language skills resume and how best to list them when preparing a resume for any job position. Read on!

What are Language Skills?
Why Language Skills?
Where to put language skills on a resume
How should I describe my level of language proficiency?
How to List Languages on your Resume
Within the Realm of Special Abilities or personal details.
Avoiding Mistakes When Including Your Language Skills
Conclusion
Reference
Recommendations

What are Language Skills?

Language skills are the added languages you are fluent in addition to the language on your resume.

If you are applying for a job in the United States, your resume will most likely be in English, demonstrating your command of American English.

However, any other languages in which you have intermediate, advanced, proficient, or native comprehension abilities could be listed on your resume as language skills.

Why Language Skills?

Communication is an essential part of any job. And depending on your role, you may be required to communicate with coworkers, managers, or customers.

Generally, hirers frequently seek language skills because they show your ability to communicate with diverse people.

They also show perseverance and commitment to learning something new and difficult., as well as cultural knowledge, an important tool as businesses across all industries globalize.

Additionally, knowing the language of the country where you want to work can help your resume stand out.

By so doing, you get to understand their cultural customs and interact with them culturally appropriately.

Moreso, language skills can help you advance in your career in various ways. You can establish relationships with the employer’s international contacts without a translator.

Regardless of the languages you speak or your professional industry, language skills can help you expand your professional network, gain more job opportunities, and demonstrate your soft skills.

Where to put language skills on a resume

Each job application should be tailored to a well-written resume. The skills should correspond to the job description and be prioritized based on their importance. Language skills on a resume are no exception.

With this in mind, you must select a location for listing languages on a resume. The most common option is to highlight them in your skills section. This is the best option if you only speak one or two languages and it isn’t directly related to your job.

So, unless you are applying for a job in information technology, you can include your computer skills in the same section under the general core competencies heading.

How should I describe my level of language proficiency?

When it comes to language skill levels, there are more questions than answers:

Is it possible to be proficient and fluent at the same time?
When should I write which of the two?
Will they recognize that I can read and write at an intermediate level?

We’ll begin by determining what the various language levels mean.

Choosing a Language Level

Including your language skill level in your resume makes no sense unless you describe it.

This is based on the same premise as quantifying your accomplishments under different resume headings. The recruiter requires a tangible way to assess your abilities.

Beginner

If you are learning a new language, you can use the beginner language skill ability. You may know a few basic words and phrases but need help understanding grammar.

Intermediate

Intermediate language skill is the ability to speak a language with some difficulty.

You can’t speak as quickly as a native, and your vocabulary is somewhat limited. However, you can converse in the language and have adequate reading skills.

Proficient

Proficient language skill is speaking, writing, and reading a language without difficulty.

You don’t anticipate problems using the languages listed in your role but are not fluent in any of them.

You may need native speakers to repeat things and have difficulty understanding colloquialisms.

Fluent means reading, writing, and speaking a language fluently and without hesitation.

Native

Native language skill is one that you have grown up speaking. As far as you recall, this is a language with which you have always been able to communicate.

You’ve spent your entire life speaking this language and have honed your ability to do so.

How to List Languages on your Resume

So, how do you put languages on your resume? You can incorporate your language skills in a variety of ways. Some depend on which of the three resume formats you select.

The Language Sidebar

The information on a resume sidebar catches the reader’s attention, giving the impression that it is in a special place for a reason.

If the position specifically requests language proficiency and you meet the required level, consider including your languages in the sidebar.

Many of our resume templates allow you to list skills and languages above the level of proficiency by using icons or bars.

If you speak multiple languages, you can create a full list or combine your skills and language list.

Work Experience

Within the context of work experience, Include a bullet point about your language use throughout the position as you detail your skills and responsibilities to each job title.

As always, be truthful—language use may come up if a previous employer serves as a reference.

If language is important to your job, put it near the top of your responsibility list.

Hiring managers may be looking for keywords as they scan your resume, and including these phrases demonstrates that you understand the level of language proficiency they require.

Education

Education. If learning a second or third language was an important part of your formal education, especially if it was a major or minor, include it in your education section as well.

This could also help to broaden your resume if you recently graduated and want to include unique information that speaks to your interests.

Here, include language honor societies, clubs, or trips abroad where you used your language skills in a practical setting.

Suppose you believe the hiring manager will benefit from learning more about your language studies and applications. In that case, you can include them below the school name in resume templates that strongly emphasize educational information.

Mark proficiency.

Include a note or icon indicating your proficiency in your current language understanding, regardless of where it lands.

Even if you were a natural at speaking Italian in college, there’s no way for an employer to know how well you’ve maintained your language skills since then.

This also demonstrates that you know the required level of proficiency for the job.

Make your languages section look nice.

The format of your language section will be determined by the format of the rest of your resume and the industry in which you work.

This section should be consistent with the rest of your resume and can be highlighted or bolded in various ways to stand out if it is important for the position.

Use another bullet or line in that section if you add your languages to the skills section.

When listing multiple languages, begin with the one you are most proficient in and work your way down in descending order of proficiency.

If it is consistent with your resume format, you can format your language skills as an infographic or a separate box section.

Within the Realm of Special Abilities or personal details.

As previously stated, you can incorporate language training and experience into your resume’s special skills or personal details section.

This is best when speaking the language is not the position’s primary focus, but it may still give you an advantage over other candidates.

Give a detailed view of your language skills through activities or postpositions in a special skills area.

Avoiding Mistakes When Including Your Language Skills

Here are some mistakes you must avoid when including your Language skills in your resume;

Lying

When it comes down to it, there’s no reason to exaggerate your language skills on your resume. Recruiters will not only reject your application if they suspect you are lying, but it also adds no value.

If a specific language skill is required for your role and you lie about your ability, you cannot perform. As a result, applying for this position will be a waste of time.

On the other hand, if you lie about a language skill that isn’t relevant to your role, it won’t impress the recruiter. The best policy is to be truthful.

Forgetting to update your LinkedIn profile

If you discuss your language skills on your resume, update your LinkedIn profile with your top skills.

One benefit of updating your language skill on LinkedIn is that colleagues can provide recommendations and references for your ability in this skill.

Taking up too much space for languages that aren’t important

This should go without saying, but if a language does not significantly impact your job, don’t devote too much time to it in a large section.

Of course, if you have formal training in a foreign language, you can include it in your education or experience section.

Forgetting to include your Native Tongue

Along with the foreign languages you know, including your native language.

Otherwise, you’ll be perplexing recruiters, especially if you’re applying for a job in another country.

Don’t mix and match language frameworks.

Consistency is essential. Don’t claim to be a B2 in Russian and an AH in Spanish.

Understand the company for which you are applying. Choose the ACTFL if it is based in the United States.

Conclusion