Writing a CV in English when Spanish is your first language is not a translation job. A recruiter in London, Toronto or a multinational's Madrid office reads for a different structure, different personal details and different vocabulary, and a line-by-line translation of your Spanish CV fails on all three.
This guide is for Spanish speakers from Spain and Latin America applying to a role in English. It covers which document to send, how each section changes, the false friends that give away a translated CV, and how to handle job titles and degrees that have no exact English equivalent.
CV or Resume: Which One Does the Job Ask For?
Decide the document before you write anything, because the length and the level of detail depend on it. In English, "CV" and "resume" are not synonyms: which one the reader expects depends on the country of the job, not on your country.
| Where the job is | Document they expect | Typical length | Spelling to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States, Canada | Resume | 1 page, 2 for senior profiles | American (organized, program) |
| United Kingdom, Ireland | CV | 2 pages | British (organised, programme) |
| Australia, New Zealand | Resume or CV (used interchangeably) | 2-3 pages | British-leaning |
| Multinational in Spain or Latin America | CV in English, same format as the local one | 1-2 pages | Follow the company's own site |
Academic and research roles are the exception: there, a "CV" is a long record of publications and teaching, even in the US. For everything else, match the country and keep the same spelling from top to bottom.
How to Structure a CV in English, Section by Section
The sections of a Spanish CV all have an English counterpart, but several change content, not just name. The biggest change is at the top: the personal data block that is standard in Spain and much of Latin America mostly disappears.
| Spanish section | English heading | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Datos personales | (no heading) contact line under your name | Name, city and country, phone with country code, email, LinkedIn. Nothing else |
| Perfil profesional | Professional Summary | 2-3 lines, no "I", written for this specific role |
| Experiencia profesional | Work Experience | Reverse chronological order; achievements, not duties |
| Formación académica | Education | Official degree name plus a short English explanation |
| Formación complementaria / Cursos | Certifications or Training | Only what is relevant to the role |
| Idiomas | Languages | Spanish as "Native", English with a level the reader understands |
| Informática | Skills (or Technical Skills) | Merge with other hard skills; drop Word and email |
| Referencias | (omit) | Leave them out; they are requested later in the process |
What leaves the CV matters as much as what goes in. The UK's National Careers Service says a CV should not include your age, date of birth, marital status or nationality, and US university career offices add photos to that list. So remove the photo, the ID number (DNI, cédula, CURP), your full home address and your date of birth.
Education can go above experience if you are a recent graduate. Once you have a few years of work behind you, experience goes first.
False Friends That Give Away a Translated CV
A false friend is a Spanish word that looks like an English one but means something else. Machine translation catches some of them and misses others, and each one that slips through tells the reader the CV was translated rather than written in English.
| Spanish | Literal mistake | What to write |
|---|---|---|
| Actualmente | Actually | Currently |
| Carrera (universitaria) | Career | Degree |
| Formación | Formation | Education, training |
| Prácticas | Practices | Internship |
| Becario/a | Scholar | Intern |
| Realizar un proyecto | Realise a project | Deliver, carry out, complete |
| Asistir a un curso | Assist a course | Attend a course |
| Idiomas | Idioms | Languages |
| Bachillerato | Bachelor | High school diploma (upper secondary) |
| Licenciado en… | Licensed in… | Degree in… (with the official name kept) |
| Responsable de… | Responsible of… | Led, managed, owned |
| Sensible (datos sensibles) | Sensible data | Sensitive data |
Bachillerato is the most expensive one. In Spain and most of Latin America it is secondary school, while a "bachelor's" in English is a university degree, so the literal version turns into a qualification you do not hold.
How Do You Translate Job Titles and Degrees Without Inflating Them?
Translate the function, not the words. Look up the job title that companies in the target country use for the same work, use that title, and let the bullets underneath show the real scope. A few common cases:
- Jefe/a de proyecto → Project Manager
- Técnico/a de marketing → Marketing Specialist or Marketing Executive (UK), not "Marketing Technician"
- Auxiliar administrativo/a → Administrative Assistant
- Responsable comercial / Director comercial → Sales Manager or Head of Sales, depending on whether you had a team
- Analista programador/a → Software Developer
Degrees work the other way round: keep the official name and add a short English gloss in brackets. For example, Grado en Ingeniería Informática (4-year bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering), or Licenciatura en Contaduría Pública (5-year undergraduate degree in Public Accounting). The official name is what a background check can verify; the gloss is what the recruiter needs to place it.
Do not decide the equivalence yourself if it could be disputed. In the UK, UK ENIC is the official body for comparing international qualifications and issues a statement of comparability that you can cite on the CV. For vocational qualifications such as Técnico Superior (Spain) or Tecnólogo (Colombia), describe the length and the field rather than forcing a UK or US label onto them.
If your target is a European employer that asks specifically for the Europass format, the rules for that form are slightly different; the guide to the Europass CV in English covers them field by field.
What a Work Experience Entry Looks Like in English
The experience block is where a translated CV is most visible, because Spanish entries tend to list duties in the first person or with nouns ("Gestión de…", "Realización de…"). An English entry is built from a fixed set of parts:
Five parts, in this order:
Sales Manager1 · Grupo Norte Distribución — Monterrey, Mexico2 · Mar 2022 – Present3 · Grew B2B revenue in the northern region by 18% in 12 months4 by rebuilding the key-account plan for 40 distributors.5
- 1The title used in the target market, not a literal translation.
- 2Company name untranslated, plus city and country.
- 3Month abbreviated in English and the year; never 03/2022.
- 4Past-tense verb, no pronoun, a result the reader can check.
- 5How you did it, with the scope in numbers.
Two details that trip people up: write dates with the month in letters, because 03/04/2025 is 3 April in London and 4 March in New York; and write your phone number with the country code (+34, +52, +57) so it works from abroad.
Start every bullet with a verb and drop "I": Harvard's career office lists personal pronouns, photos and age among the things a resume should not include. If you run out of verbs, the list of action words for a resume is grouped by the kind of work you are describing.
"Hoja de Vida" in English: Notes for Colombia and Latin America
"Hoja de vida en inglés" is the same search as "CV en inglés", with the word used in Colombia and other Andean countries. In English there is no separate document: a hoja de vida becomes a CV or a resume, following the country table above.
The Latin American format needs more trimming than the Spanish one, because it usually carries more personal data. Before you send it in English:
- Remove the photo, the cédula or ID number, date and place of birth, marital status and number of children.
- Remove the page of personal and family references with phone numbers; English-speaking employers ask for referees near the offer stage.
- Replace local grading scales with a plain statement ("graduated with honours") unless the employer asks for a GPA; a 4.2/5 means nothing without the scale.
- Describe local institutions once: SENA (Colombia's national public training service).
How to Adapt Your Spanish CV to English in Five Steps
Work from your Spanish CV, but do not translate it line by line. The order below saves you rewriting the same line twice:
- 1
Pick the document
Resume for the US and Canada, CV for the UK and Ireland. That sets the length and the spelling.
5 min
- 2
Cut the personal data
Keep name, city, phone with country code, email and LinkedIn. Remove photo, ID number, date of birth.
5 min
- 3
Rename the sections
Use the English headings and drop References.
5 min
- 4
Rewrite the bullets in English
Write each achievement directly in English: verb, result, scope. Do not translate the Spanish sentence.
45-60 min
- 5
Check false friends and titles
Run the table above over the draft and read it once aloud, or ask a fluent speaker to read it.
15 min
Step four is where most of the time goes, and where tailoring to the specific job pays off; the same principles apply as when you tailor a CV to a job offer. Once the English version exists, keep it as a master copy and adapt it for each application instead of starting from Spanish again.
If writing achievements in English is the slow part for you, the AI resume builder translates your existing CV between Spanish and English and suggests where each line can be stronger, so you edit a draft instead of translating from scratch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should a CV in English have a photo?
No, for the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland. Hiring there is meant to be blind to appearance, age and origin, so a photo adds nothing and can work against you. Multinationals in Spain or Latin America are more flexible, but an English CV without a photo is never a problem.
Can I use Google Translate or DeepL to translate my CV into English?
As a first draft for checking vocabulary, yes; as the final version, no. Machine translation keeps the Spanish sentence structure and misses context-dependent false friends such as "carrera" or "bachillerato". Rewrite each line in English and use the translation only to confirm terms.
How do I write my language level on an English CV?
Put Spanish as "Native" and give English a level the reader can place: a CEFR level (B2, C1) works in Europe, while "Professional working proficiency" or "Fluent" is clearer for US employers. If you have a certificate such as IELTS or Cambridge C1, add its name and score.
Is "hoja de vida" the same as a CV in English?
Yes. "Hoja de vida" is the Colombian and Andean term for a CV, and in English it becomes a CV or a resume depending on the country of the job. The content changes the same way: less personal data, achievement-based experience and no references page.
Should I use British or American English?
Use the variety of the country where the job is, and follow the company's own website if it is a multinational. What matters most is consistency: mixing "organised" and "organized" in the same CV looks careless.
How long should a CV in English be?
One page for a US or Canadian resume unless you have many years of relevant experience, and up to two pages for a UK or Irish CV. If your Spanish CV is longer, cut courses and older roles that do not support the application.