Would you put your HSK score on your resume?

[Pravit]

I was just writing my resume for grad school apps and thought of including my HSK score with the section that mentions my fluency in Chinese. I got an 8 from the June exam with a 总分 of 350, which comes out to 99th percentile (mean score is 200 with a standard deviation of 60). The thing is, it seems nobody knows what the HSK is anyway, and it could possibly hurt me rather than help me. An 8 is listed only as the highest level of "intermediate", but from what I've seen, "intermediate" in the US generally refers to a much lower level of language proficiency (for example, the 2nd year of high school language classes).

The program I'm applying to has nothing to do with Chinese anyway, but I just thought it could be a nice touch. Or not. What are your thoughts?

BTW, anyone who's been on summer language programs in China: how did you work this into your resume, if at all? So far I just put this under my "Skills" heading on a line labeled "other experience." The language experience might be a bit irrelevant, but I wanted to put some explanation for why I hadn't done any internships or summer jobs.

Thanks!

[madizi]

Maybe you could explain it shortly in brackets what HSK is and that this level is very high for a foreigner.

[newyorkeric]

The thing is, it seems nobody knows what the HSK is anyway, and it could possibly hurt me rather than help me. An 8 is listed only as the highest level of "intermediate", but from what I've seen, "intermediate" in the US generally refers to a much lower level of language proficiency (for example, the 2nd year of high school language classes).

I don't see how it can hurt you, even if people underestimate your abilities. You still possess a somewhat exotic and unique ability and interest. And I have never heard anyone refer to intermediate as 2nd year of high school in the US. That's crazy talk. I would make sure to include the percentile because people will interpret that correctly --- that you kicked butt on the exam. With also mentioning fluency, people will get the idea.

[novemberfog]

from what I've seen, "intermediate" in the US generally refers to a much lower level of language proficiency (for example, the 2nd year of high school language classes).

Most intermediate level college courses are not enough to even get an HSK 3 from what I have seen from textbooks and course web sites. And intermediate courses in high school are even simpler. Don't base the meaning of intermediate on the HSK with that of course work in North America. It simply doesn't match up and your abilities are much greater than that of a student who studied in college for 4 semesters.

Since you are applying to grad school, you should definately put your HSK score beside your Chinese language skills in the foreign languages section of your resume. For a grad school app I think it is important to present yourself as well-rounded. If you were applying for a job it would be a bit different. The general rule that I have seen is that when applying for a job, don't put language skills down unless you'd be ready to converse on the spot at the interview or if you have passed a certain level of a proficiency test. I HATE it when people write that they can speak japanese on their resume at the "advanced" level because they passed "advanced" Japanese in college. In an interview they often can't even make basic conversation and it is a waste of time.

Also, those who are looking for language ability in Chinese will know the HSK. Those who don't know it probably won't be hiring or selecting you just because you can communicate in Chinese so it won't matter much anyways. I don't think that you need to take up precious space with an explanation. Maybe you could list it like this:

Mandarin Chinese: HSK Level 8, June 2007 - Intermediate level communication skills

As for your study abroad, I would list it in the education area after your B.A. or B.S. degree. I wouldn't do so when applying for employment, but for grad school I would.

[gato]

Mandarin Chinese: HSK Level 8, June 2007 - Intermediate level communication skills

I would put "fluent" instead of "intermediate" if you can carry a conversation in Mandarin because different people have different ideas of what "intermediate" means. With a score of 8, I assume that you can already understand movies and read the papers. That would qualify as "fluent" under most people's definition.

[muyongshi]

Most intermediate level college courses are not enough to even get an HSK 3 from what I have seen from textbooks and course web sites. And intermediate courses in high school are even simpler.

Friend who took Chinese in college for 4 years in the states...HSK Score: 5

Friend who studied only in China for 1 year...HSK Score: 8

I would put "fluent" instead of "intermediate" if you can carry a conversation in Mandarin because different people have different ideas of what "intermediate" means. With a score of 8, I assume that you can already understand movies and read the papers. That would qualify as "fluent" under most people's definition.

It is surprising to me how quickly we put the label of "fluent" on. Being able to do all that you say I would still never call myself fluent but any foreigner that doesn't speak the language would say fluent.

[gato]

Being able to do all that you say I would still never call myself fluent but any foreigner that doesn't speak the language would say fluent.

Yes, like blackbelts, there are varying degrees of fluency.

[madizi]

I don't see how it can hurt you, even if people underestimate your abilities. You still possess a somewhat exotic and unique ability and interest. And I have never heard anyone refer to intermediate as 2nd year of high school in the US. That's crazy talk. I would make sure to include the percentile because people will interpret that correctly --- that you kicked butt on the exam. With also mentioning fluency, people will get the idea.

In America and Europe, Chinese is less and less "exotic" (although it never seemed to me that mother language of 1.4 billion people is in any way exotic). More and more people are aware that Chinese lang. is important and can bring them good jobs and higher salary. Besides, some even learn it of curiosity or because they like Chinese culture (heh, do you remember Monthy Pyton's "I Like Chinese"?).

Most intermediate level college courses are not enough to even get an HSK 3 from what I have seen from textbooks and course web sites. And intermediate courses in high school are even simpler. Don't base the meaning of intermediate on the HSK with that of course work in North America. It simply doesn't match up and your abilities are much greater than that of a student who studied in college for 4 semesters.

He probably would not base the meaning of intermediate HSK with intermediate course in USA, but employers probably would. Some of them just want someone who is fluent in Chinese and don't know what HSK is and how hard is to reach upper intermediate level. So they could easily compare this level with US standards. Besides, although most of people are aware that Chinese is hard to learn (because of characters), they still underestimate it and compare it with European languages. They think that intermediate English and Chinese are on the same level. And on a top of that, some even want pay for Chinese translation the same amount as for any other European language translation, even though Chinese is harder to learn (translators know what I'm talking about).

[Pravit]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I decided to keep it on; after all, couldn't hurt. Although my gf did mention that it's a bit similar to listing as an "accomplishment" that you got 99th percentile on the TOEFL.

Based on the outrageous claims of language skills I've seen on other people's resumes, I'm definitely putting that I'm "fluent" in Mandarin. Of course, everyone has their own definitions of fluency, but for me, it means being able to carry most conversations without people realizing you're a foreigner, understand movies + TV shows, and read general audience books and newspaper articles with minimal difficulty.

About listing summer programs in Education, dunno...have had a few people recommend that, but I mean, it's just like 2-month courses in China, not anything really official. I'm just afraid adcoms will see "XI'AN JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY" and throw my app into the "international applicants" pile (I have a really foreign-sounding name to begin with). Anyone done this sort of listing on their own resumes?

I would take HSK Advanced, but I only have time to go to China in the summer and I don't live anywhere near the few US testing sites (and I'm not willing to pay hundreds of dollars in airfare just for an advanced HSK certification). At the very least, my 8 qualifies me to work in Korea now...

[simonlaing]

Hi Pravit,

Sorry to Add on late, but anyone who know about studying Chinese in China. (And there are a lot of exchange programs out there) Will unerstand that an 8 is great score.

Also you could put on it 8 out of a possible 8 .

Also a level 6 score is necessary to be admitted to a Graduate degree program in China.

That might help give them some perspective.

Nice score by the way.

have fun,

Simon:)