Follow
What is the difference between a resume and a CV?
I often get hammered when I say that in Australia these terms are used interchangeably.
So when Susan Wareham McGrath popped into my inbox with this post explaining the difference, I jumped up and said YES!
Read on if you’re confused.
Susan’s a good friend of mine. She blogs on careers, resumes, jobs and all things social media on the Career Ignition website.
Let her enlighten you.
CV or not CV – What is the difference between a resume and a CV?
Interview IQ was recently asked by a contributor to the blog to explain the difference between a resume and a CV. The answer is simple. In current Australian recruitment terminology, the terms “resume†and “CV†are used interchangeably.
Historically, there was a significant difference between a resume and a CV.
The term “resume†was used to refer to a succinct document, generally kept to four pages or less, containing details of an applicant’s skills, experience, education and employment background.
The term “CV†referred to a much longer document, generally used for positions relating to academia and the medical profession. CVs contained all the information included in a resume, as well as:
- far more detail about the applicant’s education and
- a comprehensive listing of the applicant’s professional history, including every term of employment, all their postnomials and academic qualifications, a list of all their publications, presentations at conferences and other academic engagements.
While applicants for academic roles still need to provide all the information that historically was included in a CV, many of Australia’s leading universities now refer to the document as a “resumeâ€.
For example, Melbourne University says “There is no difference between a resume and a curriculum vitae (CV). The terms are used interchangeablyâ€. The University of Queensland states that applicants for academic positions must include a copy of their “resume†with their application; and in its online application form, Sydney University also requests applicants to upload their “resumeâ€.
While there is no difference between a resume and a CV in Australian terms, job applicants looking to work overseas should be aware that there’s quite a significant difference in other countries and take that into account when tailoring their application.
Susan Wareham McGrath is the Founder of the Career Ignition blog and a guest poster on Interview IQ.  Â
Karalyn is the Founder of InterviewIQ and the Straight to Shortlist Challenge. Learn how to market yourself to tap into hidden jobs. Stop waiting for recruiters to call back. Get 5 meetings with your top 5 employers in 5 weeks. Next Challenge starts October 30.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
i don’t know it is cv if reasume.but it is real life every word is true.and i found distny.my life dream land.help how is the any body .i am hard worker as a heavy duty truck driver.it is my life.u can see me on faceboo/sukhjeet.singh.3154@facebook.com
I would suggest another point of difference is that the term CV is less “user friendly” and a tad old fashioned. I suspect that if we surveyed 1000 people most of them would know what the term “resume” meant but many more would have no clue what a “CV” is (or what the initials mean). During my 6 years in HR for the University of Sydney and 3 years in recruitment consulting I was often asked for resume writing advice. I tended to say “First thing is, swap CV for resume, on your resume.” Not everyone reading your resume is a recruitment professional. So I think it’s wise to avoid creating a barrier between you and the reader by using less familiar terms like “CV.”
No doubt I’ve just put the cat amongst the pigeons for some HR professionals!