Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV)

A resume (US) or curriculum vitae (GB) is a summary of your previous experience, education and qualifications. In Europe, when people say ‘CV’, they are commonly referring to what is known in the U.S. as a ‘resume.’ But is there any difference between a curriculum vitae (CV) and a resume?

The primary differences are the length, the content and the purpose. A resume is usually brief – no more than a page or two. A curriculum vitae may be longer (at least two pages) and more detailed including your academic background, research experience, publications, awards, honors, and other details. That is why a CV is used mainly when applying for academic, education or research positions and fellowships. However, very often, CV and resume are used interchangeably.

When writing a resume, try to determine your main ‘selling points’ and include enough information for the employer to feel that you are worth interviewing. Some important tips for your resume:

• Match your skills and experience to the needs of the organization.
• Stress what sets you apart from the crowd.
• Remember that the primary aim is to rouse the employer’s interest, not to provide a biography.
• Be brief and to the point. At best, the resume reader will spend a minute or so reviewing your qualifications.

Personal details:

Normally these would be your name, address, date of birth (although with age discrimination laws now in force this isn't essential), telephone number and email.

Job objective:

State exactly what you want. It may be useful to give not the position you would like (e.g. a sales manager), but the area and the general level of responsibility (e.g. a management position in marketing)

Profile:

A personal profile at the beginning of your CV is your chance to attract the reader’s attention directly to your most important attributes for the job, for example, ‘an energetic and skilled communicator with a record of leadership and initiative’.

Education and qualifications:

For students whose job experience is little or nonexistent, this section usually comes first. Begin with your most recent or your most advanced degree or diploma, give the date and the name of the institution that granted it. It’s not necessary to include secondary school, unless you have a particular reason. Make sure to list any additional courses, including specific company training programs or language courses.

Mention grades unless poor!

Work experience:

Use action words such as developed, planned and organized (e.g. organized employee training seminars, prepared budgets, supervised, administrated, analyzed, coordinated, etc.). Even work in a shop, bar or restaurant will involve working in a team, providing a quality service to customers, and dealing tactfully with complaints. Don't mention the routine, non-people tasks (cleaning the tables) unless you are applying for a casual summer job in a restaurant or similar.

Try to relate the skills to the job. A finance job will involve numeracy, analytical and problem solving skills so focus on these whereas for a marketing role you would place a bit more emphasis on persuading and negotiating skills. Give dates of your employment (in reverse chronological order), name of the enterprise you worked for, position title, description of the duties you performed, including all volunteer and part-time jobs for students.. If you are still employed in this position, write: ‘2005 to present’.

Interests and achievements:

Most personal information is unnecessary. However, being single might be an advantage for a job requiring a lot of travelling.

Keep this section short and to the point. As you grow older, your employment record will take precedence and interests will typically diminish greatly in length and importance. Bullets can be used to separate interests into different types: sporting, creative etc.

Don't use the old boring clichés here: "socializing with friends".

Don't put many passive, solitary hobbies (reading, watching TV, stamp collecting) or you may be perceived as lacking people skills. If you do put these, than say what you read or watch: "I particularly enjoy Dickens, for the vivid insights you get into life in Victorian times".

Show a range of interests to avoid coming across as narrow: if everything centers around sport they may wonder if you could hold a conversation with a client who wasn't interested in sport.

Hobbies that are a little out of the ordinary can help you to stand out from the crowd: skydiving or mountaineering can show a sense of wanting to stretch yourself and an ability to rely on yourself in demanding situations.

Any interests relevant to the job are worth mentioning: current affairs if you wish to be a journalist; a fantasy share portfolio such as Bullbearings if you want to work in finance.

Any evidence of leadership is important to mention: captain or coach of a sports team, course representative, chair of a student society, scout leader.

Anything showing evidence of employability skills such as team working, organizing, planning, persuading, negotiating etc.

Skills:

Include categories if they demonstrate qualities relevant to the job. The usual ones to mention are languages (good conversational French, basic Spanish), computing (e.g. "good working knowledge of MS Access and Excel, plus basic web page design skills" and driving ("full current clean driving license").

Referees:

Normally two referees are sufficient: one academic (perhaps your tutor or project supervisor) and one of an employer. You don’t need to include references until the employer is really interested. So just write: ‘Supplied upon request’.

Types of Resume

There are two basic types of resumes used to apply for job openings: a chronological resume and a functional resume.

The chronological resume works well for job seekers with a strong, solid work history which shows career growth from one position to the next. It is the most traditional type of resume with the focus on time, job continuity, growth and advancement. Your work experience is given the priority, and jobs are listed in reverse chronological order with your current, or most recent job, first, along with a brief description of duties. Employers like this type of resume because it’s easy to see what jobs you have held and how they qualify you for the advertised position.

A functiona l resume focuses on your skills and experience. The focus on what you did, not when and where you did it. It is used most often by people who are changing careers, have gaps in their employment history or very little work experience. This type of resume describes the achievements and abilities gained through work experience, vocational training, hobbies, volunteer work, community activities or just life experience. The employer can see immediately how you fit the job without having to read through the job descriptions to find out.

There are also variations of these two types. A combination resume combines the traditional chronological listings and job descriptions with a quick synopsis of your market value (your skills, qualifications, accomplishments). It has become the accepted standard nowadays, and is perhaps most effective for today’s professionals.

A targeted resume may be any of the three types above, but it is written for a specific company or a specific position. Hence, the focus is on your experience and skills relevant to the job you are applying for.