Difference Between a Good CV and a Good Resume
May 1st, 2008 by dipankar
A curriculum vitae, or CV for short, is not the same as a resume. Many people use the two terms interchangeably, but there are some important differences what we should be aware of.
You may want to use a curriculum vitae (c.v.) if you are applying to a position which is academic or research-oriented. Many graduate students use a C.V. if they are applying to advanced programs or to employers such as those just mentioned.
Often referred to as a “vitae.” A vitae is very similar to a resume. It highlights a speaker’s education and key jobs held. A speaker in the academic community usually uses curriculum vitae. A special type of resume traditionally used within the academic community. Earned degrees, teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, and related activities are featured. Unlike a resume, a CV tends to be longer and more informational than promotional in tone.
A Curriculum Vitae, commonly referred to as CV, is a longer (two or more pages), more detailed synopsis. It includes a summary of your educational and academic backgrounds as well as teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honors, affiliations and other details.
A curriculum vitae, meaning “course of one’s life, is a document that gives much more detail than does a resume about your academic and professional accomplishments.
When seeking a faculty, research, or leadership position at an academic or scientific organization, you need a special resume called curriculum vitae. Candidates who use a CV have an educational background directly related to the positions they seek, education is always featured first. Even after twenty years of research, your degrees and the schools where you earned them will overshadow your experience.
Following are the things to include in a CV
Like a resume, your CV should include your name, contact information, education, skills and experience. In addition to the basics, a CV includes research and teaching experience, publications, grants and fellowships, professional associations and licenses, awards and other information relevant to the position you are applying for. Start by making a list of all your background information, and then organize it into categories. Make sure you include dates on all the publications you include.
Name dropping is more common in CV’s than in resumes. For example, if you performed research under a certain professor, you would probably include her name and title. Science and academia are small worlds, and it is likely that a prospective employer will have heard of a given specialist in her own field. Similarly, if you went on clinical rotations at a given hospital, name it; your future employer might have hospital privileges there.
What is targeted resume?
In most contemporary career consulting the trend is to fashion the document towards what that person can accomplish in a particular job. This is sometimes called a ‘targeted résumé’.
The major difference between a curriculum vitae and a resume is the scope of the content. A curriculum vitae generally has a much wider scope, covering areas of your life and background that a resume won’t.
1. A curriculum vitae is generally a much longer document, commonly ranging anywhere from five to ten or more pages in length. A CV gives the employer a bigger picture of you as a person as well as you as a worker.
2. A resume is a brief, to the point, fact-by-fact analysis of your educational and professional life.
3. The word résumé (often spelled resumé or resume) is used especially in the United States and in English Canada; the Latin term curriculum vitæ (often abbreviated CV) is instead used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, French Canada and some Commonwealth countries, as well as in the academic fields in North America, and in many languages other than English. In some regions (such as Australia and India) CV and résumé are used interchangeably.