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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 ‘resume’.
For example, Melbourne University says “There is no difference between a resume and a curriculum vitae (CV). The terms are used interchangeably”. 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 ‘resume’.
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.
Karalyn is the Founder of InterviewIQ and chief champion for all her clients. Get personal coaching to make 2023 your most successful year yet. Check out our job search booster services here>>Give me smarter ways to find a job .
{ 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!