The CV is the one document a person carries in five different versions: one for LinkedIn, one for a German employer with a photo and signature, one for an American company on a single page, one for a university with a list of publications and one for an EU project in the donor's template. Translation here is never just a change of language. If the Georgian "chief specialist" goes into English as Main Specialist, an ATS filter will not match it to any vacancy, and a recruiter who gives a CV six seconds will turn the page. That is why we treat CV translation as localization: the content is yours, the form belongs to the market where the vacancy is.
Which CV works where
- Europass (the EU, Erasmus+, scholarships). A standard format divided into fields, which many European programmes and universities require; languages with CEFR levels, skills by category. We translate and build it directly in the Europass structure.
- Lebenslauf (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). Tabular, chronological, with a photo, date and place of birth, often with a signature and date at the end. For German HR gaps in the chronology are a red flag, so every month must be covered.
- The American résumé. One, at most two pages, without a photo, age or marital status, with results-oriented verbs and figures ("increased sales by 30%"). The biggest transformation for a Georgian CV.
- The British CV. Two pages, no photo, with a personal profile at the start and references available on request at the end.
- The academic CV. No length limit: education, positions, publications, grants, conferences, teaching, supervision. It accompanies the academic degree diploma and the recommendations.
- Tender and grant CVs. In EU, World Bank, USAID and GIZ projects the CVs of key experts follow a specific template, with a signed and dated "I certify" statement; in Georgian state tenders the CVs of foreign experts are in Georgian, often notarized.
Job titles, companies, qualifications
The equivalent of the position, not a calque
"Leading specialist", "chief accountant", "deputy head of division", "manager" (which on the Georgian market often means an ordinary employee): we translate each with the term the target market's vacancies really use (Senior Specialist, Chief Accountant, Deputy Head of Department, Coordinator or Officer), and if the Georgian title sounds higher or lower than the foreign one, we choose what matches the duties, not the word. This is not "improvement": it is the exact rendering of the function, which the employment certificate and the references must confirm.
Companies and organisations
The company name stays transliterated or in its official Latin version, the legal form (LLC, JSC, NNLE) is carried over with an explanation, and an employer unknown to a foreigner is characterised in one phrase: "TBC Bank, Georgia's largest commercial bank". The names of state bodies are translated in their official English form so that the recruiter can find them on Google.
Education as in the diploma
The education block of the CV must match the diploma translation word for word: qualification, programme, university, years. If the diploma says Bachelor of Business Administration, BBA in Management must not appear in the CV. The same applies to certificates and language levels, which are written with standard designations (CEFR, IELTS band) and not "fluent" and "with a dictionary".
ATS: who reads the CV before a human does
Most medium and large companies, as well as international organisations, first process a CV with software that looks for keywords from the vacancy description and splits the text into fields. That means three things for the translation. First, skills and tools must be written with standard, searchable terms (project management, stakeholder engagement, SAP FI, AutoCAD), not descriptive phrases. Second, the section headings must be conventional (Experience, Education, Skills) so that the software recognises them. Third, two-column designs, tables and text in graphics are often lost; we return two versions, a visual one for people and a simple single-column one for the system. If you are applying for a specific vacancy, send us the link and we will adapt the vocabulary to it.
A foreign CV in Georgian
The opposite direction is weekly too. A foreign specialist working in Tbilisi needs a Georgian CV for a public service competition, a lecturer vacancy at a state university or a residence permit application together with the employer's letter; a Georgian company attaches the CVs of foreign consultants in Georgian to a tender proposal. Here the task is reversed: Senior Vice President, Head of People and Scrum Master must be presented to a Georgian commission as understandable positions, and the qualifications of foreign universities as they are written in the recognition procedure. In tender cases such a CV is often notarized and bound to the expert's signed original.
What we adjust when translating, and what we do not
The date format (05.2019 in German, May 2019 in English), the international phone format (+995), the address structure, the presence of a photo and personal data according to the target market. We remove the fields typical of a Georgian CV and superfluous abroad: parents' names, marital status, military service (except in countries where that is customary). We do not add what was not there: experience, skills, language levels. This is not only an ethical matter: in work visa and recognition procedures the CV is compared with certificates and contracts, and a discrepancy damages the whole case.
Certification: when and what
For an employer and a university a CV needs no certification at all: it is sent in your name as a PDF. In tender and grant packages, however, the CV is an official attachment: the expert signs it, and the translation is certified on the bureau's letterhead or notarized, in Georgian tenders almost always notarized. Some residence procedures (for example highly qualified specialist visas) and professional licensing require a signed, certified CV to confirm the chronology of the employment record. An apostille is not placed on a CV. The general principles are on the category page; a CV often comes together with a motivation letter, and one editor checks both so that the facts and terms match.
Turnaround
A 1-2 page CV is ready within 1-2 working days, an academic CV with a list of publications or a tender CV in the donor's template within 2-3 days; urgently the same day. We build it in the target format (Europass, Lebenslauf, ATS version). You receive the file as an editable Word document and a PDF; send us the text in any format, even as a link to your LinkedIn profile.
Frequently asked questions
Does a CV translation need notarization?
Not for an employer or a university. The exceptions are tender and grant packages, some residence procedures and licensing, where the CV is an official attachment and a signed, certified version is required.
Should the photo and date of birth stay?
It depends on the country. In a German, Austrian and Swiss Lebenslauf a photo and date of birth are customary; in a British and American CV both are removed, as is marital status. When translating we adapt the format to the target market.
What does an ATS-compatible CV mean?
Large companies first scan a CV with software that looks for the vacancy's keywords and cannot read complex formatting. We translate with standard job titles and skill terms, in a simple structure, so that the CV passes the filter and reaches a human.
How soon will it be ready?
A 1-2 page CV within 1-2 working days, an academic CV with a list of publications or a tender CV within 2-3 days. Urgently the same day.