Best practices for finding a job in the US without US work experience

September 10, 2009 11:06 AM

I'm a US citizen, but all of my work experience since I graduated a few years ago has been in francophone countries. I've been thinking about returning to the US, and am uncertain about how best to update my English language resume and, more broadly, how to navigate the job market without US work experience.

I'm not sure if it makes any difference, but I'm a woman in my mid-twenties with a BA from a university in the US. For the past few years, I've been working in France and Senegal with non-governmental organizations involved in social service provision and advocacy work, and I would be applying for positions at similar organizations in the US.

(1) When I list an organization on my resume, should I provide a translation of the organization's name? Should I provide some sort of summary of the organization's work? All of the organizations I have worked with have French names and are unlikely to be recognized in the US. That said, all of them are easy to find on the internet.

(2) How should I deal with the fact that most of my potential references are non-native speakers of English with varying degrees of English language competence? I've heard of grad school applicants having letters of recommendation from non-anglophone professors professionally translated--is this something that I should consider, and would translated references be acceptable to US employers?

I would be happy to hear any other advice or personal anecdotes relevant to my situation, and would love to be directed to resources (both online and off) that might be useful.

posted by cimton to Work & Money (3 answers total)

Best answer: (1) When I list an organization on my resume, should I provide a translation of the organization's name? Should I provide some sort of summary of the organization's work? All of the organizations I have worked with have French names and are unlikely to be recognized in the US. That said, all of them are easy to find on the internet.

I'm not sure exactly what a standard resume looks like today, but I should think you can do this easily without cluttering it up too much

Organization name (English Translation)
* worked full time towards organization's main goal of providing peoples X, Y & Z with services A, B & C
* specific duty #1
* specific duty #2
posted by K.P. at 3:49 PM on September 10, 2009

Best answer: As far as letters of recommendation, my employers have told me to write them in English for their signature, in part since they didn't know any English. As long as they know what you're saying, I don't consider it cheating, since you most likely have a better idea of what the letter should look like than somebody not in your situation and it's probably what they would have said, had they been able, to boot.
posted by trouserlouse at 4:21 PM on September 10, 2009

You want books from the 5 o'clock club.
posted by xammerboy at 6:25 PM on September 10, 2009