THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CV AND A RESUME

In my work as a Career Coach, I have reviewed and written many CVs and resumes for several clients in Africa and some other continents of the world. I have observed keenly the confusion many people have in differentiating between a CV and a resume. Both employers and job seekers mistakenly take a CV for a resume and vice versa. But there are differences between the two types of application document.

A CV (Curriculum Vitae, which means course of life in Latin) is an in-depth document that can be written on two or more pages and it contains a high level of details about you. The CV covers your education, work experience and expertise as well as any other accomplishments like publications, awards, honors, etc. The document tends to be organized chronologically and should make it easy to get an overview of an individual’s full working history. A CV is static and doesn't change for different job positions; the difference would be in the cover letter.

A resume, or résumé, is a concise document typically not longer than one page as the intended reader will not spend much time on your document. The goal of a resume is to make an individual stand out from the competition. The job seeker adapts the resume to every job opportunity or position they apply for. It is in the applicant’s interest to change the resume from one job application to another and to tailor it to the needs of the specific employer or job opening. A resume doesn’t have to be ordered chronologically; it doesn’t have to cover your whole career history and is a highly customizable document.

Explicitly, three major differences between CVs and resumes are the length, the purpose and the layout. A resume is a brief summary of your skills and experience over one or two pages whereas a CV is more detailed and can stretch well beyond two pages. The resume is customized to each position whereas the CV will stay the same and any changes will be in the cover letter. A CV has a clear chronological order, listing the whole career history of the individual whereas a resume’s information can be changed to best suit the job opening. In summary, the main difference between a resume and a CV is that a CV is intended to be a full record of your career history and a resume is a brief, targeted list of skills and achievements. A CV is long, covers your entire career and static whereas a resume is short, no particular format rule, highly adaptable.

In the US and Canada, a resume is the preferred application document. Americans and Canadians would only use a CV when applying for a job abroad or if searching for an academic or research oriented position. In the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, a CV is used in all contexts and resumes aren’t used at all. The CV prevails in mainland Europe and there is even a European Union CV. In Australia, India and South Africa, the terms resume and CV are used interchangeably. The term resume is used more for jobs in the private sector and CV is more commonplace when applying for public service positions.

In Ghana, a CV is more commonly used than a resume although people use the terms interchangeably. In most cases, employers and recruiters request for a CV than a resume. However, I have also noticed a hybrid kind of application document that combines the features of both a resume and CV.

With this clarification, I hope that employers or recruiters will know which document to request for in their employment process. Job seekers must also respond to the requirements of job applications with the right documents accordingly. The next time you want to apply for a job opening, know that you may be requested to send your CV or resume.

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Emmanuel Woyome is a leading Career Coach in Africa, serving clients around the globe. He writes, speaks, coaches, trains and consults on career development and workplace issues. He is the CEO of Corporate Life Consulting (www.corporatelifeconsulting.com), a Career Coaching & HRD firm. You may contact him through E-mail: e.woyome@gmail.com or Mobile: +233 24 3851066.