Starting a career is a great leap in anyone’s life, full of aspirations, boosted confidence, self-aligned, self-disciplined are few words that can define their enthusiasm.
Stepping into the world of opportunities is not just about grabbing a handsome salary package but it is also about self-reconciliation of dreams of attaining something in life.
There
are many things that one has to do when they start exploring new job
opportunities such as identifying the respective organization where one wants
to apply, connecting with new people, improving social circle, etc.
But
there is one step that no one can miss and is imperative before they start the
search process i.e. creating an impressive personal portfolio that is often
referred to as CV and Resume.
CV vs Resume
The main difference between a CV and a Resume is that a CV stands for curriculum vitae, in Latin which means the course of life, and shows a detailed overview of one’s career in chronological order.
It is an in-depth document covering details of your education, work portfolio, career accomplishments such as awards, publications, honors, etc.
Resume, a French word that means “to sum up”, is usually a concise and
crisp document focusing on the important skills of the person. It is made
specifically to highlight the skills that are essential for a particular job or
industry.
Comparison Table Between CV and Resume (in Tabular Form)
| Parameter of Comparison | CV | Resume |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | CV i.e. curriculum vitae shows a detailed overview of one’s career in chronological order. | Resume is a concise and crisp document focusing on the significant professional skills of the person. |
| Focus Is On | The main focus of CV is to capture everything related to one’s career i.e. a whole career journey. | The main focus of Resume lies in spotting the professional skills and knowledge specific to job or industry type. |
| Prioritization of Skills | In chronological order. | The skill with utmost proficiency will be mentioned first. |
| Contact Detail | One can specify multiple ways through which he/she is contacted. | Only Email id and phone number. |
| Length of the Document | It is a lengthy document as all details are mentioned. | It is concise with a maximum of up to two pages. |
| Cover Letter | Included | Not necessary, professional mail can work. |
| Contents | 1 Cover letter 2 Contact Details 3 Educational Background 4 Work Experience 5 Critical Projects Undertaken 6 Awards, Honors, Grants, Fellowships, 7 Professional Memberships 8 Publications or Presentations 9 References | 1 Summary Statement 2 Contact Details 3 Education Background 4 Certifications 5 Key Skills & Technologies 6 Work Experience |
What is CV?
Curriculum Vitae (CV) represents a detailed summary of one’s education, skills, and experience.
It is a lengthy document where everything is mentioned in a descriptive format related to academic background, degrees, work experience, research, grants, awards, licenses, presentations, publications, and other achievements.
CV is well-suited for the people who are
looking out the job opportunities in the academic field or people who are
looking out top-level management positions that require tremendous skills,
experience, and knowledge.
Everything in the CV
should be in chronological order i.e. mentioning them in the order they
happened. CV is a little snapshot of
one’s course of life.
Contents of CV are:
- Full name
- Contact information
- Professional title with summary or objective
- Education
- Research interests
- Publications (academic papers as well as books)
- Work experience (Teaching or lecturing experience as well)
- Skills
- Certificates
- Conferences and courses
- Languages Known
- Grants of fellowships
- References
What is Resume?
A resume is a short, crisp, and straight-to-the-point document created for specific job roles or skills or industry. It is generally one or two-page document where concise information is presented related to essential skills.
A resume
highlights the skills and experiences that are relevant and showcase the
contributions that are useful for the job role for which an individual is
applying.
The chronological order of the information in
Resume is not necessary; it’s the
skills and knowledge that takes precedence. A cover letter is essential with Resume as it defines the intent of your
application.
Contents of Resume are:
- Full name
- Current job title or position that one is holding
- Contact information
- Profile Summary or Career objective
- Work experience
- Education
- Relevant technical as well as non-technical skills
- Languages with a proficiency level
- Relevant certifications or interests, if any
Main Differences Between CV and Resume
CV and Resume both are
relevant documents that provide the minutiae of the individual’s education,
skills, and experience. But the profundity of each makes a significant difference between CV and Resume.
- CV is a lengthy document capturing every detail of the person, whereas the Resume is a short document that represents only essential skills that are necessary for job roles.
- CV always need to be in chronological order, whereas chronological order is not necessary for Resume, here priority is the skills.
- It’s not necessary to include a cover letter with CV, whereas it is a must with Resume.
- A CV shows a comprehensive overview of the individual’s life, whereas Resume shows the functional overview of the individual’s life.
Conclusion
Employer organizations can ask for either CV or Resume depending upon the type of job and criticality associated with it.
But the main aim of CV and Resume is to present the essential career information differently and to land an interview.
On one side CV gives a detailed overview of one’s
life accomplishments concerning education as well as professional work, on the
other hand, Resume is a tailored
version of CV with specific details for specific job roles and job industry.
But if you are
still confused and not sure which one is good for you then just try to find
answers of the following questions,
- Is the job industry is academic or any other skilled labor industry?
- If the job needs specific skills or multiple skills?
- Is the job required any special skills?
- Is a position or role is of higher or middle management?
The academic
industry always needs a CV and other
skilled industries need a Resume. If
specific or special skills are required then one should go for Resume, whereas for multiple skills CV is good.
For a higher
management profile, the recommended format is a CV, whereas for others Resume
will work.
Now it would not be
difficult for you to make out the difference between CV and Resume and their
purpose.
References
- https://www.nature.com/ni/journal/v14/n1/abs/ni.2453.html
- https://www.ajronline.org/doi/pdf/10.2214/ajr.171.4.9762969
- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4939-0647-5_1
- https://journals.lww.com/jnnonline/Citation/1984/04000/The_Curriculum_Vitae_and_the_Resume__Contrasts,.10.aspx