resume vs. curriculum vitae

A resume or curriculum vitae (CV) is a document that contains a summary or listing of relevant job experience and education, usually for the purpose of obtaining an interview when seeking employment. Often the resume or CV is the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker, and therefore a large amount of importance is often ascribed to it.

Terminology

Resume is French meaning "summary". Curriculum vitae (CV) is Latin meaning "course of life"

A resume more often has:

    4a free-form organizational style and is used for seeking employment in the private sector

    4tendency to be more descriptive and tailored for a specific purpose or target audience. for

        example, a resume may begin with a statement about a personal goal, followed by a list of

        most significant accomplishments or characteristics in order of significance

    4flexibility of may or may not be represented by the person as a complete history of themselves

        without omission

A curriculum vitae usually has:

    4a more standardized look and format for the purpose of seeking positions in academic or

        educational institutions

    4tendency to be organized in a way that presents data about one's self in a compact fashion,

        with a clear chronology. for example, a curriculum vitae often includes complete and

        unembellished lists of data such as educational institutions attended, degrees received,

        positions held, professional affiliations, publications authored, etc

    4consistency in implying that there are no omissions, and in particular, no temporal gaps

        between listed items.

Styles

Resume Style

A resume is a summary typically limited to one or two pages of size A4 or Letter-size highlighting only those experiences and credentials that the author considers most relevant to the desired position. Simple resume may be organized in three different ways: chronological, functional, and combination of both.

Chronological resume enumerates a candidate's job experiences in reverse chronological order. This format is by far the most common resume layout in use. In using this format, the main body of the document becomes the Professional Experience section, starting from the most recent experience going chronologically backwards through a succession of previous experience. The chronological resume works to build credibility through experience gained, while illustrating career growth over time. The chronological resume format will briefly highlight these competencies prior to presenting a comprehensive timeline of career growth via reverse-chronological listing with most recent experience listed first.

Functional resume lists work experience and skills sorted by skill area or job function. The functional resume is used to assert a focus to skills that are specific to the type of position being sought. This format directly emphasizes specific professional capabilities and utilizes experience summaries as its primary means of communicating professional competency. The functional resume works well for those making a career change, having a varied work history and with little work experience. A functional resume is also preferred for applications to jobs that require a very specific skill set or clearly defined personality traits.

Combination resume balances the functional and chronological approaches. A résumé organized this way typically leads with a functional list of job skills, followed by a chronological list of employers. The combination résumé has a tendency to repeat itself and is therefore less widely utilized than the other two forms.

Curriculum vitae Style

A CV is expected to include a comprehensive listing of professional history including every term of employment, academic credential, publication, contribution or significant achievement. In certain professions, it may even include samples of the person's work and may run to many pages.