How to Include Language Skills on Your Résumé (Examples)

¿Hablas español?

Parles-tu français?

If so, you might want to mention it on your résumé — unless you think you can speak French (we’re looking at you, Joey Tribbiani).

Indeed, in an ever-increasing competitive job market, adding language skills to your résumé can set you apart from other candidates and bring you one step closer to landing your dream job.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to include language skills on your résumé, as well as why you should and when to do so, complete with useful examples along the way.

Why include language skills

When writing a résumé, your main goal (other than landing a job) is to effectively market yourself to potential employers. And this is done through bringing attention to your strengths, qualifications and unique selling points — including the various languages you speak.

But how exactly does listing your language skills on your résumé help you in your job search?

• It increases your employability. Demonstrating proficiency in multiple languages can make you a more attractive candidate, especially for roles in international companies or those requiring communication with diverse clients.
• It gives you a competitive advantage. Being bilingual or multilingual, especially in a globalized job market, sets you apart from other candidates who may only speak one language.
• It broadens job opportunities. Language skills can open doors to positions in different regions or countries, as well as roles such as translation, interpretation, sales and marketing.
• It highlights your cultural competence. Knowing multiple languages often comes with an understanding of different cultures, which can be beneficial in navigating cross-cultural interactions and fostering an inclusive work environment.
• It enhances communication. Language skills facilitate better communication with colleagues, clients and stakeholders who speak different languages, improving teamwork and customer relations.
• It demonstrates learning agility. Last, but certainly not least, listing language skills on your résumé proves your willingness and ability to learn and to stay current in your field.

When to include language skills

For the most part, it’s always a good idea to include language skills on your résumé, especially if they’re required for your profession or target company.

That said, you should only list languages if you speak at least two (including your native language).

Indeed, if your mother tongue is the only language you speak, listing it on your résumé only wastes valuable real estate that could otherwise be used to bring attention to other key skills and qualifications. It’s also unnecessary: if your résumé is written in English, for example, hiring managers can hazard a pretty good guess that you’re proficient in it.

Where to include language skills

There are three places you can showcase your language skills within your résumé. These are:

• The skills section
• The languages section
• The summary section

We’ll explore all three options below:

Skills section

If you only speak two or three languages, the best — and most space-saving — way to showcase them on your résumé is within your skills section alongside your other technical skills and knowledge.

To do this, it’s a good idea to group similar skills together in a separate bullet point. For example, you’ll dedicate a bullet point to “Languages” (typically at the end of the list) and then mention the individual languages you speak.

Here’s what it should look like:

Languages section

If you speak more than three languages, it’s standard practice to showcase them in their own dedicated section.

The languages section is typically placed towards the end of your résumé, after the essentials (comprising the summary, experience, education and skills sections). However, you may feature it further up if language skills are an important aspect of your profession — such as if you’re a translator.

Here’s an example:

Summary section

Finally, you can use your summary section to bring attention to your linguistic prowess, especially if your profession revolves around a specific language.

Unlike in the skills and languages sections where you would list the languages you speak (along with your proficiency in each one) in a more matter-of-fact manner, you have a little more freedom in the way you mention them in the summary section.

Take, for example, this résumé summary for a proofreader:

Tips for showcasing your language skills

Now, to the juicy part: actually listing your language skills in your résumé — and these tips will be a great starting point.

1. Determine your proficiency level

It’s one thing to tell hiring managers which languages you speak — and quite another to show how skillful you are in those languages. After all, employers want to know the extent of your linguistic abilities to determine how — and whether — you match the position’s requirements.

Once you’ve listed your languages, specify your proficiency in each one (typically within parentheses — like this). There are various internationally recognized proficiency language scales you can use to do this, including:

• American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (novice, intermediate, advanced, superior, and distinguished)
• Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (basic A1 and A2, independent B1 and B2, and proficient C1 and C2)
• Interagency Language Roundtable (elementary, limited working, professional working, full professional and native or bilingual proficiency)

2. Don’t exaggerate or lie about your language skills

While mentioning your fluency in a specific language may stack the odds in your favor, especially if it’s listed among the must-haves in the job description, you better be fluent. Because if you’re not, it will spell disaster for you.

Indeed, the truth has a funny way of always coming out in the end. And when it does, it could mean automatic disqualification from the candidate pool or, worse, instant dismissal if you do end up getting hired. Either way, your credibility and professional reputation will take a hit — often permanently and very publicly.

Always be honest about your proficiency (and generally don’t exaggerate or lie about anything on your résumé). For example, if you can only recite the lyrics to Céline Dion’s French songs off by heart, you’re not “fluent” in French. Likewise, if you only know how to say “please” and “thank you” in Japanese, you’re not a “conversational” Japanese speaker.

3. Prioritize languages by proficiency

As with everything else on your résumé, your languages section should be structured in a way that’s strategic and logical. For language skills specifically, this means organizing them in a descending order of proficiency — starting from the languages you’re most proficient in and ending with those you’re least proficient in.

For example, if you’re a native English speaker and you’re fluent in a few other languages, you’d begin your list with English, followed by the rest — typically in alphabetical order, provided your proficiency in each one is the same.

On that note, it’s a good idea to skip beginner languages entirely — after all, the whole point of your résumé is to demonstrate your strengths, not your weaknesses. Of course, if you’re actively learning a language, and it’s a must-have or good-to-have skill for your target job, then you may consider listing it too.

4. List only relevant languages

If you’re a polyglot, you may be tempted to list every single language you speak or write. But, while it’s certainly impressive, doing so could unnecessarily increase the length of your résumé, make it cluttered, and perhaps even distract hiring managers’ attention from more critical qualifications.

Worse still, employers may question your ability to use so many languages effectively in a professional context — which could potentially lead to skepticism about your other claims.

Your best bet is to only list languages that are directly relevant to the job you’re applying for, prioritizing those that are specifically listed among the requirements. This ensures your résumé remains focused and impactful.

5. Make use of other sections

While your language skills should ideally be spotlighted in your skills or languages section, that doesn’t mean you can’t — or shouldn’t — bring attention to them elsewhere in your résumé. That is if, of course, it makes sense to do so.

For example, if you have any official language certifications (like the Test of English as a Foreign Language, the Diploma in French Language Studies and the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test), you could mention these in a certifications section to validate your proficiency.

Likewise, if your job responsibilities included using French (even unofficially), you could mention this in your work experience section — something along the lines of “Acted as office-point person for French translation and negotiations”. Or, if you minored in Spanish at college, it’s a good idea to include this little tidbit in your education section.

Example résumé with languages section

Want to see a languages section in action? Here’s an example résumé for a translator:

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FAQs about language skills

We talked about why you should include language skills in your résumé, as well as where and how to list them, but you might still have some questions. And we’ve got answers!

Q: How many languages should I list in my résumé?

There’s really no hard number here. It all boils down to their relevance to the position, your proficiency levels, and how much space you have on your résumé. Generally, though, 3–5 languages will suffice.

Q: Which languages are most sought-after by employers?

In the US, the most in-demand foreign language is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Spanish. This is followed by German and Mandarin, according to a Preply study.

Meanwhile, Hindi speakers claim the biggest paychecks in the US, with an average salary of $76,106. Portuguese, German, Urdu and Japanese professionals also rank highly in terms of salary prospects.

Q: Can I list programming languages alongside the languages I speak?

While you can — and should — list programming languages on your résumé, it’s best to keep them separate from natural languages like Arabic and Greek, as they’re two completely different things. After all, you don’t speak HTML, JavaScript or Python.

Q: Should I list languages I’m currently learning?

Of course — especially if they’re relevant to your target job. But make sure to specify this, for example: “French: Intermediate (currently learning)”. Alternatively, if you’re taking formal language courses, you can list them in a professional development section.

Q: Should I list fictional languages?

Definitely not! Unless the job is performed entirely in Klingon, Dothraki or Minionese (which is highly doubtful), leave fictional language skills off your résumé. They’re just not relevant.

Key takeaways

Compared to writing about your achievements and qualifications in your résumé, writing about your language skills is quite straightforward — and perhaps even so much easier.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t any best practices to follow or key considerations to keep in mind, which our article explored comprehensively.

To sum up, here’s what we learned in this article:

• Including language skills on your résumé can, among other things, increase your employability and broaden your job search to all four corners of the world.
• Always highlight language skills if they’re relevant to your profession, but only if you speak at least two languages.
• The most common place to showcase your language skills is within a dedicated languages section, but you can even list them in the skills section or résumé summary.
• Specify your proficiency (honestly) in each language, and list them in descending order of proficiency. Ideally, only list those that are directly relevant to your target job.
• Keep programming languages separate from natural languages — and, whatever do you do, please don’t mention your fluency in Klingon!

Got a question about listing language skills on your résumé? Let us know in the comments section below.

This article is a complete update of an earlier version originally published on May 28, 2018.