Help me avoid an International Incident!

February 19, 2009 11:04 PM

When sending resumes overseas, what does your contact info look like?

Do you include the country-code with your phone number? Sending a resume from US to UK, should my contact number be +001-510-432-XXXX? Or since it pretty obvious that Im applying from the US does it just go without saying that there's a 001 before my number? (Im overthinking, I know. Humor me.)

posted by ElmerFishpaw to grab bag (14 comments total)

Yes, I include country code (it's not their job to know or look up the country code of every country that applicants come from).
I also try to lay it out so they can tell which numbers are what, eg. I think this format helps people denote country code, area code, and phone number.
+001 [phone]
It's not typographically pretty, but I think worthwhile for clarity.

I also include instant message, email, etc. These are easy international ways to get in touch, and they more easy options they have, the better.
posted by -harlequin- at 11:17 PM on February 19

US and Canada is +1. The 00 is for them to dial to get an international line etc, you don't put that on your number. Just like a number in Australia is +61, UK is +44 etc. So your number is [phone]
posted by defcom1 at 11:21 PM on February 19 [2 favorites]

I'm with defcom1, that's how I present it as well.
posted by jacalata at 11:44 PM on February 19

If you haven't, I would also alter your dates to DD/MM/YY from MM/DD/YY to avoid any confusion on their part.
posted by palionex at 11:45 PM on February 19

That's a good point about dates, but when aiming to avoid confusion internationally I would always go for a more explicit format - otherwise they may try and read them as American dates if they know where you are from. So go with 7 Feb 2009, not 7/2/09 or 2/7/09.
posted by jacalata at 12:09 AM on February 20 [2 favorites]

Yes, +1 will suffice.
posted by mateuslee at 12:17 AM on February 20

Get a UK Skype In number and forward it to your regular phone. No reason to make it harder than necessary to get in touch with you.
posted by Ookseer at 12:18 AM on February 20

When applying for non-U.S. jobs from the U.S., I always wrote my number as +1 xxx xxxx xxxx and wrote dates as jacalata described. Worked perfectly.
posted by transporter accident amy at 12:21 AM on February 20

If it's totally standard to put the area code in brackets, by all means do so, but this Brit thinks it's a little bit strange. It doesn't matter to me which part of your telephone number is the area code, if I'm phoning from the UK.

Seconding jacalata's method of making dates explicit - don't make it harder for the reader than it needs to be.
posted by altolinguistic at 12:26 AM on February 20

Don't forget when laying out your resume the size of paper that the recipient will be printing it out on. Number and date layout has been already pointed out but also consider the spelling rules of the reader's. What is considered correct spelling in American English is not necessarily the same for British English.
posted by jadepearl at 5:44 AM on February 20

Oh, and I don't think you're overthinking this, and I think you should definitely include the country code. Not everyone immediately knows the country codes for all other countries, even those as big and important as the US. This also falls under 'making things as easy as possible for your reader'.

I shouldn't worry about completely localising your text for the UK - they know you're American after all - just don't make things needlessly difficult for your reader.
posted by altolinguistic at 6:26 AM on February 20

Yeah the + stands for "whatever you guys put in front of the country code for international calls," so don't put it in front of the whole number with all the zeros. The country code "1" would be your first number as defcom1 says.

Re. date format, different countries have different standards even over here. In Sweden, for example, they use year-month-day, (which still confuses me after 18 years. Rant rant. Why would eight-and-a-half million people need to be so quote special unquote). Most of the time, a reader will be able to guess the right thing, so there's no reason to sweat it. But for safety reasons, like jacalata says, I'd always be explicit. Use one of the following: xx January '0x, or January xx, 200x.
Re. letter format I've never seen this as a problem. American letter and A4 are pretty close to each other. Sometimes the printer alerts you that it is about to re-size on printout, most of the time there's no issue. If you send your resume as a PDF there's likely no problem at all.

My experience with international applications is that search committees are much more gentle about such formal things than they would be towards fellow citizens at home. Consistency and neatness, of course, are important.
posted by Namlit at 6:36 AM on February 20

What is considered correct spelling in American English is not necessarily the same for British English.

But I wouldn't advise an American to switch to British spellings/grammar unless specifically prompted (i.e., the employer is a publisher with a recognized "house style"). Each is an internally consistent system and it's better to use the one you know confidently than to attempt the other and (unintentionally) half-arse it. See what I did there?
posted by kittyprecious at 6:45 AM on February 20

Regarding dates, I have got in the habit of using the name of the month (or abbreviation) instead of the number. Rules out any possibility of confusion on their part (or your part in the future). If you are entering data on a form or something on the web, they will typically tell you what format they want it in.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 6:51 AM on February 20