Translating your CV isn't enough
The most common mistake when applying abroad: taking your French CV, running it through a translator and sending it as is. The result immediately gives away a candidate who doesn't know the local norms, and many ATS outside France penalise a document that doesn't follow their conventions.
An English-language CV for the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada or Australia follows different rules from a French CV, well beyond the language itself. What matters is producing a document that looks like what a local recruiter is used to reading.
"CV" or "CV"? It depends on the country
The vocabulary itself changes depending on where you apply.
In the United States and Canada, people say *CV*: a short document (ideally one page), focused on results. The term *CV* refers to a long academic document reserved for research and universities.
In the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, *CV* is the usual term and a two-page document is acceptable.
This detail of vocabulary matters: titling your document "Curriculum Vitae" at the top of an American application already signals that you don't know the conventions.
What really changes (beyond translation)
The photo
In English-speaking countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland), leave the photo off. Anti-discrimination laws push recruiters to set aside CVs with photos to avoid any bias. A CV with a photo looks amateurish there, even suspicious. In Germany and Austria, on the other hand, a professional photo is still expected. We go country by country in our guide Should you put a photo on your CV?.
Personal information
Date of birth, age, nationality, marital status: these details, still sometimes found on French CVs, should be removed for English-speaking countries. Including them exposes the recruiter to legal risk and hurts your application. In Germany, by contrast, date of birth is common.
Action verbs and results
The English-language CV is impact-driven. Each experience starts with a strong past-tense action verb (*Led*, *Managed*, *Increased*, *Delivered*) and highlights a quantified result. "Responsible for marketing campaigns" becomes "Managed marketing campaigns that increased qualified leads by 48%." At its core, it's the same logic as optimising a French CV for ATS software: facts, numbers and keywords from the job posting.
Length
One page is the norm in the US, even for experienced candidates. The UK and Australia accept two pages. A two-page French CV will often need to be condensed for the American market.
Date format
Formats vary (MMM YYYY in English-speaking countries, MM/YYYY in Germany). And the French word "présent" for a current job needs translating too: *Present* in English, *Heute* in German.
Quick reference table
| Country | Term | Photo | Personal info | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | CV | No | No | 1 page |
| United Kingdom | CV | No | No | 2 pages |
| Canada | CV | No | No | 1-2 pages |
| Australia | CV/CV | No | No | 2-3 pages |
| Germany | Lebenslauf | Yes | Yes | 2 pages |
| Spain | CV | Often | Often | 1-2 pages |
Mistakes that give away a poorly adapted CV
- Keeping the photo on an American or British application.
- Leaving "Born on…", nationality or "single" at the top of the document.
- Translating French terms that have no equivalent ("BTS," "Bac+5") word for word without context.
- Keeping a two-page document where one page is expected.
- Using shaky English: simple, correct sentences beat ambitious phrasing full of errors.
How CVpass adapts your CV automatically
On CVpass, after uploading your CV, you choose the country you're applying to. The tool then adapts the document to local norms: translation into the expected language, removal of the photo and personal information where the country requires it, the right ATS vocabulary, date format and target length. Your ATS score is also recalculated against that country's criteria: the same CV won't get the same score for France and for the United States.
You get a CV ready to send that meets a local recruiter's expectations, without having to memorize every country's conventions.
Further reading
- Applying abroad: the country-by-country CV guide
- Should you put a photo on your CV? The country guide
- How to optimise your CV for ATS software in France
- The keywords ATS software really looks for
Apply abroad with a CV that meets local standards. Adapt my CV by country on CVpass