Know the difference between Resume and Curriculum Vitae

Planning to kickstart a career? What is the best way to prepare other than writing Resume or Curriculum Vitae. Infact, it is the first and common step to start your job search.

Resume and CV though belong to the same category have differences in the length, the content and the purpose.

Here are a few details and tips on what is a Resume/CV and how to write it.

What is a Resume?

A resume is a brief note of your skills, experience and education. It gives a concise report of the summary which provides all the required details to the reader in a minute or two.

In other words it is compilation of your education, work experience, credentials, and accomplishments that is used to apply for jobs.

Also Read: 4 Qualities Employers Expect Before Hiring?

What a Resume should include?

Resume should be objective. Your objective should be simple, clear and should speak to the employers about your skills. Objective should also match the job requirements.

A resume should be formal and have basic font and bullets. The format of the resume should consist of the contact details including postal address and phone numbers.

Contact details should be followed by profile summary. Profile summary should give all the details of your previous jobs and the experience. Profile summary should be customized according to the requirements of the job.

Add relevant experience in the priority list followed by other key skills.

Resume should not include:

• Lengthy paragraphs
  
• Irrelevant experiences
  
• Fancy words
  
• Grammatical errors
• Reasons for leaving previous organisation and photographs (unless specified).

Also Read: Most Common Resume Mistakes and How to Correct Them?

What is Curriculum Vitae (CV)?

A Curriculum Vitae generally called as CV, consists of two or more pages.

CV includes detailed synopsis such as summary of educational and academic backgrounds, experience, presentations, awards, honours, affiliations and other details.

Curriculum Vitae is generally used to apply for an international academic institution, scientific or research positions and also while applying for fellowships or grants.

What points to include while writing a CV?

Similar to resume, CV should include the details like name, contact information, education, skills and experience.

Apart from basic information, CV should give the details on research, experience, professional associations, awards and other information.

CV should have the list of all your background information, which should be categorized in an organised way. Do not forget to mention dates, for example, mention the year you passed out class 10th or class 12th exam or date when you joined the first job etc.

How to write a Resume or CV?

Before you start to write a resume or CV, analyse the requirements, which have to be fulfilled. Think for which post are your applying and write accordingly.

Different posts demands different requirements. Hence, make it a point to write the valid information. CV should always be perfect as it gives all the details about you and clearly says what you are.

Some of the elements that CV must have are as follows: Contact information, brief biography, undergraduate education, graduate education, scholarships, training/projects handled, bibliography, research experience, graduate fieldwork, employment history including experience, presentations, awards and honours.

Also mention if you have accomplished technical knowledge and number of languages known.

It is always better to have a template to write CV, use a formal language, proper formating that includes bold, italics, colouring the headlines etc.

Also Read:Tips: Best Ways To Answer 'Why Should We Hire You?

Customise CV

While preparing a CV, having a common perception is not preferable. CV should be customised according to the post you are applying. Have targeted and focused versions of curriculum vitae and use them accordingly.

For instance: Fellowship requisites are different from job requisites.Thus, you have to prepare different CVs for fellowship and job applications.

CVs should not have:

There is no need to include your photo, salary details and the reason for leaving the previous organisation.