In tech, English is often the working language before it is even a skill to display: documentation, code reviews, meetings with a team spread across several countries. Scale-ups hiring internationally, subsidiaries of foreign groups and roles outside France therefore frequently ask for a resume in English. It is not a simple translation of a French CV. Sections change, some information disappears, job titles do not translate word for word and French degrees need explaining. This article details these differences and offers ready-to-use engineering vocabulary.
When to send a resume in English
Three situations clearly call for an English version.
- The job ad is written in English. This is the most reliable signal: if the ad is in English, even when published by a French company, the recruiter or manager will probably read your resume in English.
- The team or the recruiter is abroad. A company whose engineering team is spread across several countries, or whose recruitment is centralised outside France, will circulate your resume among people who do not read French.
- The role is outside France. For an application in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany or North America, the English version is expected, unless the ad specifies another language.
When in doubt, send the version matching the language of the ad and offer the other one in your message. Avoid a bilingual resume on the same page: it doubles the length without being readable in either language.
What an English resume drops from a French CV
A resume in English, especially one aimed at a British or North American recruiter, is more stripped back than a French CV. Several items that are usual in France should be removed.
- The photo. It is discouraged in English-speaking countries, where it exposes the recruiter to a risk of discrimination. Remove it systematically.
- Age, date of birth, nationality and marital status. They have no place on a resume. Only mention your right to work in the country if it is useful ("EU citizen, eligible to work in the Netherlands").
- The full address. City and country are enough.
- Generic interests. Keep them only if they add something (open source contributions, organising meetups, hackathons), or remove the section.
Conversely, a resume puts more emphasis on results: each bullet starts with an action verb in the past tense and, where possible, ends with a measurable effect. The skills section remains, with the same logic of grouping by use as in French.
Length follows the same rule as in France for a tech profile: one page for a junior and most experienced engineers, two pages at most for a senior with a dense background. The paper size sometimes changes: Letter format is used in North America, A4 in Europe.
Translating tech job titles
Tech job titles are often already in English in France, which makes things easier. The traps lie elsewhere: false friends, titles specific to the French market and seniority levels.
| French title | Common English equivalent | |---|---| | Développeur, ingénieur développement | Software Engineer, Software Developer | | Développeur backend, front-end, full-stack | Backend Engineer, Frontend Engineer, Full-Stack Engineer | | Ingénieur d’études et développement (IT services company) | Software Engineer, Consultant Software Engineer | | Lead développeur, référent technique | Tech Lead, Lead Software Engineer | | Ingénieur DevOps, ingénieur de production | DevOps Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer, Platform Engineer | | Chef de projet informatique | IT Project Manager, Technical Project Manager | | Architecte logiciel | Software Architect | | Stagiaire développeur | Software Engineering Intern | | Alternant développeur | Software Engineering Apprentice, Work-study Software Engineer |
Two points to watch. First, "engineer" is not a regulated title in the same way everywhere: "Software Engineer" is the common usage, but avoid translating your degree as just "Engineer" in the education section (see below). Second, levels often appear in the title at English-speaking companies: "Junior", "Senior", "Staff". State your real level, not the one your experience might lead you to hope for elsewhere.
To describe the employer, translate the nature of the company: "French IT services company (2,000 consultants)" for an ESN, "B2B SaaS scale-up" for a scale-up, "software vendor" for an éditeur. The acronym ESN means nothing to a foreign recruiter.
Presenting French degrees to a foreign recruiter
French degrees are not well known abroad, and the diplôme d’ingénieur in particular can be underestimated if poorly presented. The rule: keep the French name for accuracy, and add an equivalent the reader can understand.
- Diplôme d’ingénieur: "Master of Science in Engineering (Diplôme d’Ingénieur), [school name]". You can specify that the degree is accredited by the Commission des titres d’ingénieur 🔗 (CTI) and confers master’s degree status.
- University master’s: "Master’s degree in Computer Science, [university]".
- Licence: "Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (Licence), [university]".
- BUT in computer science: "Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science (BUT), [IUT]".
- RNCP qualification from a school or bootcamp: give the translated title and the corresponding European level ("Level 7 professional qualification on the French national register, equivalent to a master’s level").
- Classes préparatoires: "Two-year intensive undergraduate programme in mathematics and physics (Classes préparatoires)".
ECTS credits, common to European higher education and presented by the European Commission 🔗, also help a European recruiter place a degree. For an official procedure, especially outside Europe, the ENIC-NARIC France centre at France Éducation international 🔗 issues statements of comparability.
French honours ("mention bien") have no direct equivalent. If you want to keep them, translate them ("with honours") without trying to convert them into a foreign grade.
Action verbs for an engineer’s resume
A resume is read through its verbs. Each bullet starts with an action verb in the past tense (or present tense for the current job), followed by the object and the result. Here is vocabulary sorted by type of contribution.
- Building: built, developed, implemented, shipped, delivered, designed, prototyped.
- Improving: optimised (or optimized in American English), refactored, reduced, improved, accelerated, streamlined.
- Making reliable: automated, monitored, hardened, migrated, stabilised, tested.
- Designing: architected, modelled, defined, specified.
- Leading and passing on: led, mentored, coached, reviewed, onboarded, coordinated.
Before (literal translation): "Participation to the development of a billing module in Kotlin."
After: "Built the billing export module in Kotlin and Spring Boot, cutting batch processing time from 6 hours to 50 minutes."
Choose one variety of English (British or American) and stick to it throughout the document. The tech lead resume template shows bullets built on this verb, object, result logic, easy to transpose into English.
The English version must be as readable by recruitment software as the French one. Our article on scale-ups’ ATS details the layout pitfalls, which are the same in both languages. The TechCV editor can translate your resume and keeps the same plain layout, which international ATS read correctly; all that remains is to proofread it and adjust job titles and degrees following the advice above. You can prepare your English version from your French resume.
Frequently asked questions
Should I state my level of English on an English resume?
The resume itself proves your written level. Still, state it in the languages section in a simple way ("French: native; English: fluent") and, if you have one, with a recent test score. A concrete professional use ("daily code reviews in English") speaks even louder.
Should I translate company and school names?
Not proper names, which stay as they are. Yes for the nature of the employer or institution, which you explain in a few words. A foreign recruiter must understand what the organisation is without having to look it up.
Does the date format change?
Yes. Prefer an unambiguous format, such as "Mar 2024 – Present" or "03/2024 – Present", with the month spelled out if possible, because the day-month order differs between British and American English.
Should I prepare differently for an interview in English?
The questions are the same, but expressing yourself takes more effort. Rehearse out loud, in English, the presentation of your background and the story of a project, as suggested in our article on preparing for a technical interview.