ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL

One of my first experiences with #culturaldifferences in a business context occurred 20 years ago when I was working as an English trainer. A client asked me to translate a German curriculum vitae into English. The candidate was applying for a management position in Toronto, Canada.

Was it necessary to add the name of my client’s elementary school and the fact that he had a paper route at age 12? And why did a cover letter accompany copies of every certificate and degree the client had ever achieved? Visions of lawsuits conjured in my head as I read birthdates, marital status, nationality, and religion. I come from a litigation culture, where lawsuits are as common as snow on a winter’s day. I tried to advise my client on this aspect, yet he was adamant that his age, as well as his well-air-brushed photograph, was necessary for the potential employer to gain an insight of him, and ‘this is the way it is done in Germany’

Fast forward twenty years later, working as an #interculturalcoach and I am still hearing, ‘this is the way it is done around here’, one size fits all response to global needs. Here functions just nicely, but venture beyond the here into English-speaking countries, and you will see that anti-discrimination and labour laws dictate the content of a #curriculumvitae. And not following those rules could mean that your well-drafted CV will end up in the wastepaper basket.