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Maria spent an evening turning her Greek CV into English with a dictionary open in one tab and Google Translate in another. The reply she got back wasn't about her ten years of experience — it was three phrases a recruiter circled: "responsible of the department," "realized many projects," and a job title that meant nothing outside Greece.
That's what happens when μετάφραση βιογραφικού στα αγγλικά — translating a CV into English — turns into word-for-word substitution instead of a real rewrite. The grammar comes out slightly off, job titles don't match how the role is actually described in English-speaking markets, and small formatting habits mark the CV as translated rather than written for the reader holding it. None of that is about your English level. It's about the difference between translating sentences and rewriting a document to a different convention.
Μετάφραση Βιογραφικού στα Αγγλικά: What "Word-for-Word" Actually Breaks
A Greek CV sentence and an English CV bullet aren't built the same way. Greek CVs often carry longer, more formal sentence structures; English CVs favor short, verb-first lines with a concrete result. Translate the Greek sentence directly and you keep its shape — passive, wordy, sometimes grammatically strange — instead of rebuilding it the way an English CV is actually written. Add in job titles, degree names, and date formats that don't map one-to-one between the two languages, and a literal translation ends up technically readable but recognizably not native.
This is a separate question from whether an English CV is expected at all for the role you're applying to — if you're not sure about that, CV in English for Greek companies covers when it matters. Here, the assumption is you already need the English version. The seven steps below are how to get it right.
Step 1: Translate Job Titles by Function, Not by Word
Greek job titles translate literally into odd English almost every time. "Υπεύθυνος" becomes "Responsible," which isn't a job title in English at all. Instead of translating the words, look at how the equivalent role is titled in an English-language job posting for the same function and match that. "Υπεύθυνος Τμήματος Πωλήσεων" becomes "Sales Manager" or "Sales Team Lead," depending on the seniority and scope you actually had — not "Responsible of Sales Department."
Step 2: Rewrite Bullet Points Instead of Translating Sentences
Take the underlying achievement, not the Greek sentence, and rebuild it in English CV structure: action verb, what you did, the result. A Greek bullet that reads as one long descriptive sentence will translate into something wordy and passive if you move it word for word. Rebuilt from scratch, it becomes a short line that leads with a verb. If you're not sure which verbs actually carry weight in English CVs, 7 rules for CV action verbs is a useful reference for this step specifically.
Step 3: Convert Degrees and Institutions to Their Real Equivalent
"Πτυχίο" is a Bachelor's degree — not literally a "Diploma," which reads as a shorter, non-degree qualification in most English-speaking markets. Translate the credential by what it actually equates to, not by the nearest dictionary word. The same applies to grading: a Greek grading scale means nothing to a recruiter who's never seen it, so add one clarifying line (for example, noting the scale or converting to a rough equivalent) rather than presenting a raw number and hoping it's understood correctly.
Step 4: Reformat Dates, Phone Numbers, and Addresses
Greek CVs commonly use day/month/year; write English CVs with the month spelled out ("March 2022") so the date can't be misread in either direction. Add the country code to your phone number rather than assuming it's obvious. And where a Greek CV often lists a full home address, an English-market CV usually only needs city and country — it's the convention, not a rule you're breaking by dropping detail.
Step 5: Match the CV's Structure, Not Just Its Language
Translating the words is only half the job if the layout still follows Greek or Europass conventions the reader doesn't expect. Headings, section order, and what's included up front (or left out — photo, date of birth, marital status are far more common on Greek CVs than on English-market ones) all signal whether the document was actually written for this reader or just converted. If you're weighing which structure to use as your base, Europass vs. a modern CV walks through that choice.
Step 6: Watch for False Friends and Literal Traps
Some Greek words look translatable and aren't. "Πραγματοποίησα" translates literally as "I realized," but in English "realize" means becoming aware of something, not completing it — "I carried out" or "I delivered" is what the sentence actually needs. "Εξοικείωση" isn't "familiarization" on a CV; it's "working knowledge of." These are the phrases that read as grammatically fine and still make a recruiter pause, because the words are technically correct and the meaning is slightly off. Catching them is less about vocabulary and more about rereading every translated line and asking whether it's actually what an English speaker would say.
Step 7: Have a Fluent Reader Check the Final Draft
Read the finished version aloud, or better, have someone fluent in English read it. Translated phrasing that's grammatically correct but doesn't sound like something an English-speaking recruiter would write tends to surface the moment it's read out loud rather than skimmed. If you don't have someone available for that, a professional set of eyes closes the same gap — which is exactly what a review is for before you send the CV anywhere.
A Second Set of Eyes Before You Send It
Every CV Kaeros produces goes through a structured writing pass and then an independent review, written with real hiring context for English, Greek, and Italian audiences — the same gap this article is about, closed by a person rather than a dictionary. If you've already translated your CV yourself and just want a second opinion before you send it, the free CV review is a real person telling you what works and what still reads translated, at no cost. For a full English rewrite instead of a check, the English CV writing service page has the details.
None of the seven steps above are about your English being weak — Maria's wasn't. They're about the fact that a CV translated word for word carries the tells of translation, and a CV rewritten for the reader doesn't.