RESUME OR CV

Resume Or CV: What is the Difference?

This article is dedicated to explaining the primary differences between resume and CV. In many countries like Australia, South Africa and in Asian countries, curriculum vitae is known as the synonym for resume which is not true at all. There are some major differences between a CV and a resume although both can be used while submitting an application for job, admission and etc.

Main Difference in Resume and CV (Curriculum Vitae)

The main differences between a CV and a resume are the length, what they are used for and what’s included in them. Although both of these documents are used for job applications, they are not interchangeable by words. You can risk your job if you do not know the difference between a CV and a resume.

If we talk about the United States, most of the resumes are marketing documents that are somewhat competency-based. In those resumes, the applicants mention their qualifications, their skills, notable achievements, past work experience and the advantage their experience can give to the organization.

However, the CVs in the United States are credential-based. They submitted for jobs as well but in scientific research, academia, internship, and all the medical fields. The US pattern of CV mentions a piece of detail information about the candidate’s educational background, his educational qualifications, his research experience if any, his past work experience, certifications and number of internships he has done. It’s a comparatively long listing as compared to the US resume.

Now, let’s discuss curriculum vitae and resume in detail and see how they differ from each other:

What Is Curriculum Vitae?

Curriculum vitae provides a summary of what you have done so far to polish your skills and experience. In short, it tells about your work experience, your notable skills, and achievements. If you are talking about a CB of entry-level person, then the CV might be longer and, in more depth, than any resume.

However, any detailed CV does not go more than 2-3 pages. CVs for mid-level candidates tend to run much longer than the entry-level candidate and also for the who has published numerous publications.

In short, CVs are much longer than resumes and include more information about a candidate’s experience, skills, education, and one’s academic or scientific research background.

A CV Summary

A CV summary is a one-page or two-page condensed version of the complete or detailed CV. It is a quicker way to address one’s qualifications, skills, past work experience, and scientific research work.

Sometimes, when big companies need to select from a large pool of candidates, they ask for a one-page or two-page CV. This helps them to select a suitable candidate for the post without digging much into their CVs.

What to Include in Your CV?

Curriculum Vitae is a detail marketing document so it should include your name, contact information, work experience, skills, and notable achievements.

In addition to the basic information, it should also include your teaching experience if any, your research experience if any, your grants, your internships, your publications, personal associations, awards, licenses and other information relevant to the post that you are applying for in a company.

The best way to start a curriculum vitae is to mention all your background information first and then organize the information relevant to the post in different categories.

Here is a list of what to include in your CV precisely:

• Name
• Contact information
• Research objective, personal statement, and your professional profile
• Educational background
• Professional work and academic points if any
• Book
• Book chapters
• Your publications
• Peer-reviewed publications
• Other publications
• Awards and honors
• Internships
• Grants and fellowships
• Conferences attended
• Teaching experience
• Lab experience
• Research experience
• Graduate fieldwork
• Non-academic activities
• Memberships
• Languages and notable skills
• Other achievements
• References

What Is A Resume?

A resume basically provides a detailed summary of your work experience, your education, credentials, work history, notable skills, achievements and other achievements related to the post you are applying for.

There are two types of sections in resumes knowns as the optional sections. One is the resume objective and the other is the career summary statement. It is up to you if you want to include both the sections or go with one section only. Most of the candidates go with one section only if the post they are applying for demands a short resume of 1-2 pages.

Resumes are most important than CVs just because they are the most wanted document in the job applications. That is why a resume should be as precise as possible.

Typically, a resume is only 1-page long but if you have numerous achievements and a long educational background, then you can make it 2-pages long as well.

To keep the resume concise and precise, bulleted points are used. This increases the readability of the resume as well.

There are many formats or forming a resume. Three of the most common formats are chronological, combination and functional formats. If you are looking for one format, just use the one that suits your job post the best.

What to Include in A Resume?

These are the things which you need to include in a resume but in a concise manner, most preferably in bulleted points.

• Name
• Background information
• Contact information
• Resume summary or the resume objective
• Work experience
• Work history
• Education
• Skills
• Notable achievements if any
• Awards if any
• Courses if any
• Publications if any
• Certifications if any
• Conferences attended

It is better to mention your honors, awards, courses, publications, certifications and conferences in a separate section known as the additional sector.

Cv And Resume Writing Tips

Now when you know the primary difference between a CV and a resume, let’s focus on the writing tips regarding a CV and resume to help you make an exceptional resume or CV.

Always Relate Your CV Or Resume to The Position or Post You Are Applying For

This is the most essential thing to note when writing a resume or a CV. You need to keep in mind the post that you are applying for. This helpful tip does not only apply to a resume but to CV as well. Make sure to highlight your education, your work history, your work experience and most importantly your skills that might relate to that job or to the industry in some way.

For instance, if you need to prepare a CV to give in to a teaching institute, you need to mention your teaching experience at the top. This highlights that you have been in this industry for long and you have what it takes to be a teacher there.

In your resume, you can just mention the work experience at the top of the list in a bullet point. You can also include important keywords from the job description in your CV or resume. This will show the recruiter that you are the best candidate for that particular job post or position.

Use A Template and A Format

You must also use a CV template and a format too, to structure your resume or CV. A template or the format will organize your resume or CV document pretty good. Also, this will help the recruiter to see your skills, education and other information quickly.

When you use bullet points, it increases the readability. While it is quite difficult to read everything thoroughly from paragraphs if you are in a hurry.

Proofread and Edit

No matter what you make your CV or resume for, you need to proofread and edit it to eliminate all possible mistakes. You need to go through your document thoroughly and edit it properly to eliminate all the grammatical and spelling mistakes.

Finalize your document by proofreading your document. Moreover, ensure that the format you are using is uniform. For instance, if you are using bullet points for one job description, use bullet points while describing the other jobs too. This helps the employer to read thoroughly.

Tips for Writing A Good Resume

• Choose the right format for your resume. You should choose the format according to the position and industry needs. You can choose from combination, chronological or functional format. You can search on the internet to see what format is best for the industry or the job you are applying for.
• Write for humans as well as robots. Many companies use the applicant tracking system and for that, your resume goes through a robot.

The resume writing tips mentioned above will help you to get craft a resume that would be appealing to the applicant tracking software as well as the human resource department of any company.

Tips for Writing A Good CV

• To write a good CV, you need to know what to include and in which format.
• Start by choosing an appropriate format. Choose the format that’s suits the industry and the job position. For instance, if you are applying for a fellowship, you can skip the personal information that’s needed in international CVs.

What You should Create When Applying for a Job?

Most of the companies, including multinationals, prefer resumes over CVs. However, some of the companies that hire from a large pool of applicants may also ask for a CV. Only submit a CV if it is a requirement, otherwise, a resume is just fine to apply for any job.

Conclusion

The above-mentioned information explains the primary differences between a CV and a resume. In conclusion, they differ in length and the type of information that’s included in both the documents.