Job seekers are often confused about whether to make a CV or a resume. To choose, it is essential to understand the difference between CV and Resume since both are very different and perform different functions.
Starting a career is a great leap in anyone’s life; full of aspirations, reinforced confidence, self-alignment, and self-discipline are a few words that can define your enthusiasm.
Entering the world of opportunities is not only about getting a good salary but also about reconciling yourself with dreams of achieving something in lifeOne has to do many things when starting to explore new job opportunities like identifying the respective organization where you want to apply, connecting with new people, improving the social circle, etc.
But there is one step that no one can miss, and it is imperative before starting the search process to create an impressive personal portfolio, often referred to as CV and Resume.
CV stands for curriculum vitae, Latin for life course, and shows a detailed description of one’s career in chronological order.
It is a detailed document covering your education, portfolio of work, and professional achievements like awards, publications, honours, etc.
A resume, a French word meaning “to summarize,” is usually a concise, crisp document that focuses on the person’s important skills. It is made specifically to highlight the essential skills for a particular job or industry.
Parameter | CV | Resume |
Content | 1 cover letter | 1 Summary Statement
|
Definition | CV, ie curriculum vitae, shows a detailed description of the professional career in chronological order. | The resume is a concise, crisp document that focuses on the person’s important professional skills. |
The focus is on | The main focus of CV is to capture everything related to one’s career, that is, an entire professional journey. | Resume’s primary focus is on detecting professional skills and knowledge specific to the job or type of industry. |
Skill Prioritization | In chronological order. | First, the skill with the highest proficiency will be mentioned. |
Contact details | One can specify multiple ways through which you are contacted. | Only email ID and phone number. |
Document length | It is an extensive document since all the details are mentioned. | It is concise with a maximum of two pages. |
Presentation letter | Included | It is not necessary, professional mail can work. |
What is CV?
Curriculum Vitae (CV) represents a detailed summary of a person’s education, skills, and experience.
It is a long document where everything is mentioned in a descriptive format related to academic background, degrees, work experience, research, scholarships, awards, licenses, presentations, publications and other achievements.
CV is suitable for people looking for job opportunities in the academic field or high-level management positions that require tremendous skills, experience and knowledge.
Everything in the CV must be in chronological order, that is, mention them in the order they happened. CV is a small snapshot of the course of life.
The contents of the CV are:
- Contact information
- Full name
- Professional title with summary or objective
- Education
- Research interests
- Publications (academic papers and books)
- Work experience (teaching or conference experience as well)
- Skills
- certificates
- Conferences and courses
- Known Languages
- scholarship grants
- References
What is CV?
A resume is a short, crisp, and direct document created for specific jobs, skills, or industries. It is usually a one or two-page document presenting concise information related to essential skills.
A resume highlights relevant skills and experiences and showcases contributions that are useful to the job position a person is applying for.
The chronological order of the information in the Curriculum is not necessary; it is skills and knowledge that take precedence. A cover letter is essential with the Resume as it defines the intent of your application.
The content of the Resume is:
- Full name
- Current job title or position held
- Contact information
- Summary of profile or professional objective
- Work experience
- Education
- Relevant technical and non-technical skills
- Languages with a proficiency level
- Certifications or relevant interests, if any
Main Difference Between CV and Resume
Both CV and Resume are relevant documents that provide the details of the individual’s education, skills, and experience. But the depth of each makes a significant difference between CV and resume.
- The CV is a long document that captures all the person’s details, while the CV is a short document that represents only the essential skills necessary for job roles.
- The CV must always be in chronological order; while the chronological order is not necessary for a resume, the priority is the skills.
- It is unnecessary to include a cover letter with a CV, while it is essential with a CV.
- A CV shows a full overview of the person’s life, while a Resume shows the working description of the person’s life.
Conclusion
Employers’ organizations may request a CV or curriculum vitae depending on the type of job and its importance. But the main purpose of a CV and Resume is to present the essential professional information differently and get an interview.
On the one hand, a CV offers a detailed description of life achievements in education and professional work; on the other hand, a Resume is a customized version of the CV with specific details for specific job roles and the employment industry.
But if you are still confused and not sure which one is good for you, try to find the answers to the following questions:
- Is the job industry-academic or any other skilled job industry?
- Does the job require specific skills or multiple skills?
- Does the job require any special skills?
- Is it a position or function of senior or middle management?
The academic industry always needs a CV, and other specialized industries need a resume. If specific or special skills are required, a resume should be chosen, while a CV is good for multiple skills.
The recommended format is a CV for a higher management profile, while for others, the CV works. You wouldn’t find it difficult to distinguish between a CV and Resume and their purpose.
Word cloud to differentiate between CV and Resume
The following is a compilation of the most used terms in this CV and Resume article. This should help you remember related terms as used in this article at a later stage.
Courtesy: Queens College
