Stunning interpreter CV examples for this year

Interpreters are crucial to so many industries, from international diplomacy to education. TO show that you’re ready to fill such an important role, you’ll need to highlight the right things in your CV to impress the hiring manager or recruiter. 

Here are some things you should highlight in your CV: 

• The language you speak 
• The type of interpretation services you provide 
• Industry such as medical interpretation in healthcare or education 
• Core competencies

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Interpreters are crucial to so many industries, from international diplomacy to education. TO show that you’re ready to fill such an important role, you’ll need to highlight the right things in your CV to impress the hiring manager or recruiter. 

The structure of your interpreter CV will depend on the type of CV format you choose. Here’s a guide to the three kinds of CVs you can choose:

• Chronological: Chronological CVs focus on employment history.
• Functional: Functional CVs focus on skills. 
• Combination: Combination CVs showcase both skills and experience. 

Header

Once you have chosen your CV format, you should include a CV header. Your CV header contains all of your contact information, helping the hiring manager contact you with application updates. In this section, you should include: 

• Full name 
• Email address
• Phone number 
• Location 

If you have lots of experience as an interpreter, then you can also provide a link to a professional networking site. This is a good opportunity to provide the hiring manager with more information about your career and the types of clients or industries you worked with. 

Professional summary or career objective

A professional summary is your opportunity to introduce yourself to the hiring manager. This two to three-sentence section summarises your overall CV. This section is designed to hook the hiring manager or recruiter. 

To do this, you can include striking information such as specialist skills or qualifications. You can also include your total years of experience in this section. For inspiration, you can refer to our Professional Summary CV Examples page. 

If you don’t have any experience in an interpreter position, then you can use a career objective. A career objective is similar in length but instead explains your career goals. You can explain how this role aligns with your career targets and why you’re the ideal candidate. 

Skills

If you choose a functional CV format, then your skills section is essential. Regardless of the type of CV you choose, you should ensure you include the right skills. 

This section should contain a mixture of both hard and soft skills. Hard skills are role-specific, whereas soft skills are transferable across multiple industries. 

If you can’t think of the right interpreter skills that align with your job application, then consider using some of these bullet points: 

• Interpersonal skills 
• Cultural differences and understanding 
• Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
• Social media 
• Diverse language services 
• French 
• Spanish 
• Portuguese 
• English
• Written and verbal communication skills
• Arabic 
• Translation services
• Proofreading

Work history

Depending on the role and the type of CV you choose, the work experience section might be the most important part. You should try to only include experience where you’ve translated or interpreted foreign languages to avoid information redundancies. 

If you’ve previously had interpreter jobs, then you should list your experience in reverse chronological order, starting from the most recent example. You should also include brief bullet points that summarise your primary responsibilities while working. 

If you have many years of relevant experience as a professional interpreter, then try and keep to the most recent five years of experience to avoid your CV becoming too long. 

Education

To become an interpreter, you’ll need to prove you’re bilingual and fluent in your target language. You can also study for a bachelor’s degree in the same language and build up your experience as a freelance translator. 

In this section, you should include the following information: 

• The title of your qualification or degree
• University or training facility name 
• Year you graduated 
• Special achievements such as graduating with honours

Here are some things you should highlight in your CV: 

• The language you speak 
• The type of interpretation services you provide 
• Industry such as medical interpretation in healthcare or education 
• Core competencies

Build My CV

Do:

• Use a CV template and CV builder to provide structure to your CV.
• Use the job description for keywords to navigate applicant tracking systems. 
• Proofread your CV before you submit it.

Don’t:

• Forget to use an interpreter CV sample to inspire your CV.
• Make your CV sections too long as this may bore the hiring manager.

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