Applying and the job interview

The thirty-third entry is a realização, and it is the word on this list most likely to be waved through by an English reader who thinks the meaning is obvious. « Realisation » in English is almost always mental: the moment when something dawns on somebody, the sudden understanding that a deadline has passed. A realização is the opposite kind of noun. It is external, finished and countable — the thing achieved. A maior realização dele foi montar a equipa means his greatest achievement was building the team, and « his greatest realisation » would turn a track record into a private thought. The verb behind it keeps the two apart just as firmly. Realizar is to carry out, to bring about, to hold an event — realizar um projeto, realizar uma reunião — and never to become aware. For that, Portuguese reaches for aperceber-se or dar-se conta. So in a covering letter, as minhas principais realizações asks for a list of results, not for a paragraph about what the writer has come to understand. English hides the same split inside « to realise », which does both jobs at once and lets the confusion through.