Should Your Resume Be in Hindi or English?

Many Hindi-medium graduates start their job search by typing "resume in Hindi". That makes sense: Hindi is the language you write in most easily. But the language of your resume should follow the job, not your comfort.

For most private-sector jobs in India, the answer is an English resume. For a smaller set of jobs, Hindi is the better choice. This guide helps you decide, write simple and correct English, and list your languages honestly.

The short answer

• Private company, office or corporate role: send an English resume.
• The posting, recruiter or form asks for Hindi: send Hindi. Follow the instruction.
• The work itself is in Hindi (Hindi content, Hindi teaching, translation, Hindi news): Hindi can be the better choice, and many people keep an English copy as well.
• Not sure: look at the language of the job posting. If it is written in English, reply in English.

Being Hindi-medium is not something to hide or apologise for. It is part of your education, and for some roles it is a real strength. The question is only which language each document should use.

When an English resume is expected

In most private companies, your resume is read by more than one person. The recruiter forwards it to a hiring manager, who may not read Hindi at all, especially in a company with offices in several states. An English resume is the document that can travel inside the company without anyone translating it.

It is the safe default for IT, BPO, banking, sales and operations roles in large companies, for off-campus drives, and for any posting written in English.

You do not need perfect English to apply. But the recruiter will judge your English partly from your resume, so aim for correct, simple English that matches how you will speak in the interview.

When a Hindi resume makes sense

A Hindi resume is appropriate when the employer asks for one, or when Hindi is the skill being hired. Some examples:

• Hindi content roles: writing, editing, proofreading or social media in Hindi. Your resume is also a writing sample, so write it in the language of the job.
• Hindi teaching: schools and coaching institutes hiring a Hindi teacher.
• Translation work: where the job is moving text between Hindi and English. For some government translator posts, Hindi-medium study is itself one of the named routes to eligibility. The SSC Combined Hindi Translators Examination notice (2025) lists degrees with "Hindi medium and English as a compulsory or elective subject" among its qualifications. Government recruitment like this usually runs through the commission's own online form, not a resume, so read each notice for what it actually asks.
• Local employers in Hindi-speaking regions who advertise in Hindi and talk to you in Hindi.

Even for these roles, keep an English version too. A translation role needs proof of your English as well.

Three practical rules for a Hindi resume:

1. Use a Unicode Devanagari font such as the one your phone or Google Docs uses by default. Older typing fonts can turn into random Latin letters when the file is copied, pasted into a form or read by software.
2. Keep one language per document. Write the whole resume in Hindi, or the whole resume in English. Mixing scripts line by line is hard to read. Your email address, phone number and tool names (Excel, Tally) stay as they are.
3. Name the file clearly, for example Rahul_Verma_Resume_Hindi.pdf, so the recruiter knows which version they have.

Write simple English, not translated English

The most common problem is not weak English. It is English written in Hindi first and translated word by word, by a person or a tool. The result is long lines that describe duties, not results.

Drafting in Hindi first is fine. Just rewrite each translated line using the pattern below instead of keeping the tool's output.

The pattern: start with an action verb in the past tense, say what you did, then say for whom or how much.

Illustrative example. Rahul Verma is a fictional B.Com graduate from a Hindi-medium college in Kanpur. He helped at a family friend's hardware shop for a year.

Before, translated line by line:

• "Did the work of making the bills of customers and doing entry of the stock in computer on daily basis."
• "Having good knowledge of MS Office and also having the communication skill in the English and Hindi."

After, rewritten in plain English:

• "Prepared customer bills and updated daily stock records in Tally for a small hardware shop."
• Skills: Tally, MS Excel (VLOOKUP, basic formulas), MS Word
• Languages: Hindi (native), English (read and write well, spoken: conversational)

The facts did not change. The new lines are shorter, start with a verb and say exactly what he can do, and Rahul can explain each one in an interview.

A few habits that help:

• Prefer short words: "led" not "spearheaded", "used" not "utilised", "helped" not "facilitated". Big words you would not say aloud make the interview harder.
• Avoid letter phrases like "Kindly consider my candidature" or "Respected Sir/Madam" on the resume itself.
• Read each line aloud. If you could not say it to an interviewer comfortably, simplify it.
• Ask one person you trust to check it. A second reader catches what tools miss.

List your languages honestly

Many roles in support, sales and field work need a regional language as much as English. List every language you can use at work, with a plain, honest level for each:

If your reading, writing and speaking levels differ, say so. "English: read and write well, spoken: conversational" is more useful and more believable than "English: fluent" followed by a nervous interview. Expect the interviewer to test the level you write.

If you hold a formal test result, add it with its level. Some tests use the Council of Europe's A1 to C2 scale; its global scale description explains each level. Do not assign yourself a CEFR level you were never tested on.

An illustrative languages line for a fictional candidate from Bihar applying for a field sales role:

• Hindi (native), Bhojpuri (fluent, spoken), English (professional working), Bengali (conversational)

Your Hindi-medium education on the page

List your education the normal way: degree, college, university, year and score. See how to write 10th, 12th and CGPA lines for the format.

You do not have to write "Hindi medium" on the resume. Most resumes do not state the medium of instruction for any degree. Add it when it helps, for example for a Hindi teaching or translation role, or when a form asks. If an employer asks directly, answer truthfully.

Write your college, board and degree names exactly as your certificates show them in English, because they may be checked against your documents.

A quick check before you send it

• The resume is in the language the posting or employer asked for.
• One language per document, and the file name says which one.
• Every line starts with a verb and says what you did, not only your duty.
• No word-for-word translated phrases or letter phrases.
• Each language has a level, and your spoken English level is one you can show in an interview.
• Names of degrees, colleges and boards match your certificates.
• A Hindi version uses a Unicode Devanagari font.

If you write your resume in English, you can run it through Guul's resume checker. It explains each finding in plain words, which helps when you are still getting used to resume English. For which personal details belong on an Indian resume, read personal details on an Indian resume, and for fresher layout basics see the fresher resume ATS notes for India.

Start with the version the job needs. Write it plainly. Make sure you can say every line out loud.