Clear Difference Between a CV and a Resume

Many Job Seekers are often confused between the terminologies: Resume and Curriculum Vitae(CV). Sometimes, these terms are used interchangeably, but when employers are specific about what they prefer of the two, employees are all the more confused. 

Today, we will dissect the two terms and bring out their differences, if any. Follow me on this eye-opening journey 

What is a CV?

Unless you’re applying to a job that specifically requests a CV, or are looking for a job in academia, you’ll likely never need a CV — most jobs use resumes. Modern hiring professionals want a quick summary of your most valuable skills — after all, they have a lot of applicants to weed through before they make their list of people to interview.

A CV is not brief, nor does it only list the skills needed for any single given job. Instead, a CV is a lengthy document (often more than five pages and almost always more than two) that lists all of your work history, published works, presentations, affiliations and academic achievements. It’s meant to establish your position as an expert in your field. Although that would seem useful for nearly anyone, sending a CV when a resume is called for is a sure fire way to destroy your chances at any given resume-driven job.

READ ALSO:  5 Simple Differences Between A Cover Letter and An Application Letter

What is a Resume?

A resume provides a summary of your education, work history, credentials, and other accomplishments and skills. There are also optional sections, including a resume objective and career summary statement. Resumes are the most common document requested of applicants in job applications.

A resume should be as concise as possible. Typically, a resume is one page long, although sometimes it can be as long as two pages. Often resumes include bulleted lists to keep information concise.

Resumes come in a few types, including chronological, functional, and combination formats. Select a format that best fits the type of job you are applying for.

The Biggest Difference Between a CV and a Resume

Obviously, the length of these two documents differs greatly, but there are more than just page counts that separate them. The attitude of a CV is much like what you’d expect, too. It’s very straightforward, offering loads of raw data for an employer.

A resume, on the other hand, is more like a sales document and your job history is the thing on special. A resume extracts data from your life and frames it in ways that show a specific employer exactly what you have to offer them.

The resume should save potential employers the time of digging around for features and instead present the benefits of hiring you in plain language.

Transforming Your CV into a Resume

You may need both a CV and a resume for your job search. Sending the appropriate document (CV or resume) tells employers that you can distinguish the differences between the academic and non-academic environments and that you can adapt your skills to either environment. Most employers in industry prefer a resume. When rearranging your CV to make it a resume:

• Do not exceed two pages.
• Re-evaluate your experience. Think creatively about how your academic experience can be translated into the necessary skills for a non-academic environment. Consider skills of project management, leadership, teamwork, effective communication, and meeting deadlines.
• Choose action verbs to describe your experience.
• Put your strengths first. List your professional experience or your degree first, depending on which is most important for a specific position.
• Include a well-written job objective; state the type of position and work setting you are seeking, skills or abilities you possess, and long-term goals. Be sure that your resume supports your job objective.
• Emphasize skills and accomplishments.
• List relevant presentations, publications, and papers, but not all.
• Have someone proofread it.

When writing a professional resume, you’re offering up the highlights to a specific audience. A CV provides your career history to anyone and everyone who might be interested. Like with all things in life, you should always use the right tool when you’re job seeking to get the very best results.

-(Reference: Job.naij)