Overview
Translation is a field where your output is the proof of your skill. No amount of claiming "fluent in French and Spanish" matters if you cannot demonstrate that you have translated real documents to professional standards. Agencies and in house translation teams hire based on language pairs, subject specialisation, CAT tool proficiency, and volume of work completed.
This resume belongs to Nathan, a Modern Languages BA graduate (French and Spanish) from the University of Leeds who completed a year abroad split between Lyon and Madrid, interned at a translation agency, and freelanced on small projects during his final year. His resume quantifies everything: 85,000 words translated, 40+ documents across legal and commercial domains, and proficiency in SDL Trados and MemoQ.
Year abroad and language proficiency
For translation roles, your year abroad is not just a line in the education section. It is evidence of sustained immersion. Nathan's resume specifies that he spent 6 months at Universite Lumiere Lyon 2 and 6 months at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He also mentions achieving CEFR C1 in both languages, verified by DELF C1 and DELE C1 certificates.
Do not just write "year abroad in France." Name the institution, the duration, and any work or study you did there.
Translation agency internship
If you interned at a translation agency, describe the volume and type of work you handled. Nathan translated 50,000+ words across legal, commercial, and marketing documents during his 10 week internship. He also performed quality assurance checks on 30 translated documents.
Name the subject areas you translated in. Legal, medical, technical, financial, and marketing translation are all distinct specialisations. Hiring managers want to see which domains you are familiar with.
CAT tools and technology
Computer Assisted Translation tools are mandatory for professional translation work. SDL Trados Studio, MemoQ, Memsource (now Phrase), and Wordfast are the main platforms. If you have used any of them, list them with specifics: "SDL Trados Studio 2022 (translation memory management, term base creation)."
Nathan also lists basic post-editing of machine translation output, which is an increasingly common task in the industry.
Freelance work and portfolio
If you did any freelance translation during your degree, include it. Nathan translated 35,000 words for 12 clients through a freelance platform. Even small freelance projects show initiative and prove you can deliver to deadlines outside of an academic context.
