Resume Vs CV

[TOI ED]
Article Date : 2007-09-10

If you are looking for a job or seeking admission to any educational institution, a resume or a CV can do the trick. If you are puzzled as to whether a CV is more appropriate or a resume, Aashima Sekhri helps you draw differences between the two
All of us, at some point in our lives, have made one or two-pagers on ourselves, maybe for a prospective employer, or maybe for a prospective educational institution we have been looking to join. But do we ever really bother to find out the fine art of writing your life out on a piece of paper in a way to look appealing and interesting to those reading it?

Some of us call it a Curriculum Vitae (CV) and some call it a Resume, but is there any real difference between the two or are they just different terminology comingfrom different parts of the world. Well, that maybe partially correct, but then there are finer differences between the two that set the two apart from each other. Differences in size, shape, function and contents, set it apart to those who wish to be aware.

Resume

“A resume is typically a one pager, which gives the prospective employer an overview of the candidate, whereas a CV is a detailed resume, which gives you much more detail. It is typically around 2-3 pages long and includes details such as details of papers published or projects headed etc.,” says Saumya Sarin, a recruitment consultant with ABC Consulting, a leading recruitment firm in India.

CV

CV, or Curriculum Vitae (a latin word), is an account of your entire education and employment history, translating to 'course of life', and it really is that - a record of your working life so far. Just as in a resume, the CV should include your name, contact information, education, skills and experience. In addition to these basics, a CV must also include research and teaching experience, publications, grants and fellowships, professional associations and licenses, awards and other information relevant to the position you are applying for. To cut a long story short, a CV contains all the details that are omitted from the resume, for the purpose of making it crisp, precise and an overview. It must also include backup documentation such as a copy of a recent publication, in case it is critical to display level of knowledge.

How much is too much information

The goal of a resume is to be able to, briefly and concisely, put across the qualifications and experience of the candidate.“The resume reader should be expected to spend around a minute or so reviewing the resume; this should be the bench-mark of how much to put in a resume,” adds Saumya. A CV, on the other hand, is normally used in academic settings and contains your chronological education history. It also contains your employment history, a list of your published works, or details or projects headed and durations and time periods for which the same continued. The idea is to get an in-depth idea into your knowledge levels.

Practically speaking

“A CV is typically appreciated by an employer who is looking to hire someone with technical skills or someone for a research role, where every little bit of information about the candidate helps ascertain the quality of the candidate,” says Shweta Sood, a business development manager working with Monster India, a leading recruitment firm in India. Since you’re adding that extra piece of information, while making a CV it makes sense to start by making a list of all your background information and then organizing it into categories. Dates anddurations of studies/projects/fellowships undertaken must be mentioned.

The difference between a CV and a resume primarily lies in its length, content and purpose. To put it in a nut shell, a resume focuses on specific achievements and result oriented responsibilities whereas a CV goes into detail with regards to experience / job responsibilities. The idea is to think from the employer’s point of view and identify the level of information he would be looking for while making his decision. It is always better to make both the versions, so that you will always have the correct document to hand out for that all-important interview.