How to write an English CV
Most English CVs that fail are not badly translated. They are translated at all — which is why they read as foreign even when every word is correct.
- Write natively in English; a translated CV keeps the shape of the original and loses the local job title.
- Verb, action, result — with a real number wherever one exists.
- Drop the photo, birth date, marital status and ID number for anglophone markets.
Write it in English, do not translate it
Translation keeps the sentence shapes of the original language, and those shapes are what make a document read as imported. English CVs are blunter and shorter than Turkish or German ones: verb first, result attached, no preamble.
Job titles are the other reason. The literal translation of your title is often not what the local market calls the role, and the local title is what a recruiter searches for. Find the title the target market uses and use that.
The structure recruiters expect
Contact details, then a three to four line professional summary, then experience in reverse-chronological order, then skills, then education. Certifications, languages and projects follow if they are relevant.
A summary is not an objective. Nobody needs to read what you are looking for; they need the two sentences that say what you do, at what level, with what evidence.
Bullets that carry a result
Each bullet: strong verb, what you did, what changed. "Led", "built", "cut", "grew", "shipped" — then a number wherever one honestly exists.
"Responsible for the social media accounts" is a duty. "Grew Instagram from 4k to 26k followers in eleven months, at a 12% lower cost per click" is the same job, described in a way another person can assess. Three to five bullets per role is enough; the oldest roles can be one line.
What to leave out
For UK, US, Canadian, Irish and Australian applications, leave out the photo, date of birth, marital status, gender, national ID number and military service status. They are normal on a Turkish CV and read as a liability in those markets, where employers avoid seeing them before a decision.
Also leave out references and "references available on request": the line is assumed, and the space is better spent.
The small conventions that give you away
Pick one spelling and keep it: "organised" and "programme" for the UK, "organized" and "program" for the US. Write dates as "Mar 2021 – Aug 2024" rather than 03.2021, and give your phone number with the country code.
Say where you are and whether you can work there. "Istanbul, Türkiye · open to relocation" or "Berlin, Germany · EU work permit" answers, in four words, the question that otherwise stops a recruiter reading.
Questions
How long should an English CV be?
One page for roughly the first five years, two pages after that. In the US, one to two pages for an industry role; the long multi-page CV is academic only.
Should I keep my Turkish CV as well?
Yes. They are two documents for two markets, not two versions of one file. The facts are the same; the photo, personal details, section order and the words themselves are not.
Do I need a cover letter?
Send one when the posting asks, when you apply by email, and when something needs explaining — a career change, a relocation, a gap. One page, addressed to a person where you can find a name, and never a restatement of the CV.
Letterin writes the English CV natively rather than translating it, and keeps your Turkish document intact beside it.
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