How to Write a Resume in Spanish: Words, Headings and an Example

The standard word is currículum, written with an accent, or its fully Spanish form currículo. Both come from the Latin curriculum vitae, "course of life". The Real Academia Española's guide to usage says the Latin phrase is written without accents and stays the same in the plural (los curriculum vitae), while the Spanish word currículum takes an accent and its plural is currículums. The hybrid "currículo vitae" is wrong.

In everyday speech most people say CV. The RAE notes that the abbreviation is read as "ce uve" or "ce be" depending on the region. In Latin America, especially Colombia, Central America and the Andean countries, hoja de vida ("life sheet") is used with the same meaning, and in Puerto Rico people also say resumé, borrowed from French and English.

Watch out for resumen. It means summary or abstract, so "mi resumen" would confuse a Spanish speaker. It does work as a section heading, "resumen profesional", for the short summary at the top of your CV.

The blocks are the same as an English resume, with standard Spanish headings (see the table below). Pick one wording for each heading and use it consistently. "Formación académica" is the most widely used heading for education, and "experiencia laboral" or "experiencia profesional" for work history.

A Colombian university writing center lists the basic parts of the hoja de vida as personal data, education and training, work experience, affiliations and references. It also recommends an impersonal style: write "persona honesta" rather than "soy honesto". The same advice holds everywhere: describe results, not personality.

Order your experience from most recent to oldest. The Colombian guide describes chronological, reverse and functional layouts, and reverse chronological is the one recruiters in the U.S. and most of the Spanish-speaking world expect.

Traditional Spanish-language CVs carry more personal data. A Universidad Complutense de Madrid guide lists national ID number (DNI), date and place of birth, marital status and driver's license among the usual "datos personales" fields, and the Colombian guide treats references as a standard section. Photos are common on CVs in Spain and much of Latin America.

For a job in the United States, leave all of that off, even if the resume is written in Spanish. U.S. career offices such as Harvard's tell applicants to avoid photos, age and gender on a resume. Keep your name, city and state, phone, email and LinkedIn URL.

For jobs in the European Union, many employers recognize the Europass CV, which you can create, store and share in 31 languages, including Spanish. For employers in Latin America, follow the posting's instructions and local norms, and keep the document to one or two pages.

Usually, no. Send an English resume and prove your Spanish inside it. Most U.S. employers screen in English, and the recruiter reading your file may not speak Spanish. List the language in its own section and show it in your bullets: interpreting for patients, handling Spanish-language calls, translating safety materials.

Send a Spanish version when the posting is written in Spanish, asks for a resume in Spanish, or comes from a Spanish-language business, school or media outlet. Make it a separate file with the same jobs, dates and numbers as the English one, and do not mix languages line by line in one document.

Use keywords in the language of the posting. If the ad says "bilingual customer service representative (English/Spanish)", that exact phrase belongs in your English summary.

Put it in a Languages section ("Idiomas" on a Spanish resume) with an honest level. Plain labels such as native, fluent, professional working proficiency and conversational work for most jobs. If you have a test result, use the scale it comes from.

Then show the skill at work in a bullet. "Spanish (native)" in a skills list is a claim; "Interpreted for about 30 Spanish-speaking patients a week during intake" is evidence.

• CEFR (A1 to C2): the European scale used across Spain and the EU. The DELE diplomas awarded by Spain's Instituto Cervantes certify Spanish at these levels.
• ACTFL (Novice to Distinguished): a U.S. scale that describes what you can do with a language in speaking, writing, listening and reading. Common in education and U.S. language testing.
• ILR (0 to 5): the U.S. government scale, with plus levels such as 2+. Use it for federal and defense jobs.

Choose one verb form and keep it. Spanish resumes usually use either the first-person past tense without the pronoun ("Gestioné", "Reduje") or noun phrases ("Gestión de inventario"). The past tense reads more active and matches English action-verb bullets.

Type every accent and ñ. A missing accent looks like a spelling error to a Spanish reader, and the Colombian guide singles out spelling as a first-impression problem. Save the final version as a PDF with embedded fonts so the characters display correctly on any computer.

Useful action verbs in the past tense:

• Gestioné (managed)
• Coordiné (coordinated)
• Supervisé (supervised)
• Implementé (implemented)
• Reduje (reduced) and Aumenté (increased)
• Capacité (trained)
• Atendí (served, handled)
• Negocié (negotiated) and Diseñé (designed)

A one-page sample for a fictional bilingual job seeker applying to a Spanish-language role in the U.S. Names, employers and numbers are illustrations.

The same fictional job written two ways, with English translations in parentheses.

Short lines for emails and applications, with translations.

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• CV vs resume
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• Customer service resume

We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.

1. Real Academia Española: Diccionario panhispánico de dudas: curriculum vitae (accent and plural of currículum, CV, hoja de vida, resumé in Puerto Rico)
2. Centro de Escritura Javeriano, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali: La hoja de vida (ICONTEC definition, core sections, impersonal style, spelling)
3. Universidad Complutense de Madrid: Currículum vitae y solicitudes de empleo (traditional datos personales fields on a Spanish CV)
4. European Union, Europass: Crea tu CV Europass (Europass CV in 31 languages)
5. Harvard FAS Mignone Center for Career Success: Harvard College Guide to Creating a Strong Resume (U.S. resumes: avoid photos, age and gender)
6. Interagency Language Roundtable: ILR Skill Level Descriptions for Speaking (U.S. government levels 0 to 5 with plus levels)
7. ACTFL: ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2024 (proficiency in speaking, writing, listening and reading)