CVs versus resumes: What's the difference?

What is a CV?

Your CV is the most important document in your job application. In any job application, you'll need to submit your CV. It is basically a summary of your skills, your work experience, your education, and your projects. So it has everything about you that is related to your work experience, your skills, your education, anything you can imagine that relates to you, to who you are in the workplace.

Main sections of your CV

Your CV should include the following sections:

1. Contact information
2. Professional summary
3. Work experience
4. Projects
5. Education
6. Skills
7. Certificates, honors, accreditations.
   

What is a resume?

Resume and CV are used interchangeably by employers and often mean the same thing. However, there are some key differences if they ask specifically for a resume over a CV.

Differences between CV and resume

• Length: CVs tend to be be longer. And this means that it can be more than two pages versus resumes, which are really strictly limited to two pages.
• Focus: The focus of your CV can include any academic work that you've been accomplishing. So it's more academic than your resume.
• Audience: CVs are oriented towards an academic audience, while resumes are more common for business audiences.
• Customization: As CVs are longer, there are more opportunities to add more detail and depth to your experiences and skills.

‍