Resume vs CV — what's the difference?
If a job posting asks for a "CV" and you've only ever made a resume, don't panic. The terms are confusing because they mean different things in different countries.
The short version
In the United States, almost every job wants a resume — a one-or-two-page summary of your work history, skills, and education. CVs (curriculum vitae) are mostly used in academic, scientific, and medical research positions, where you list every publication, conference, and grant you've ever received.
Outside the U.S. — in the U.K., much of Europe, parts of Asia and Africa — what they call a "CV" is what Americans call a "resume." Same document, different name. So if you're applying for a job in the U.S., make a resume. If you're applying for a job overseas, you may also call your one-pager a "CV."
What a resume is
A resume is a brief, targeted summary of your professional background, focused on what's relevant to the specific job you're applying for. The goal is to get a hiring manager interested enough to call you for an interview. It should be:
- One to two pages. One page if you have less than ten years of experience. Two pages maximum after that.
- Customized for each job. The skills you emphasize and the experiences you highlight should match what the posting is looking for.
- Focused on results. Not just what you did, but what came of it.
- Easy to scan. Hiring managers spend an average of six seconds on a first pass through a resume. Make the important things easy to find.
What an academic CV is
An academic CV (the kind you'd submit for a tenure-track professor job, a postdoctoral fellowship, or a senior researcher role) is much longer. Five to fifteen pages is normal. It includes:
- All publications, in detail
- All conferences you've presented at
- All grants you've received or applied for
- All teaching positions and courses taught
- All committees you've served on
- All professional memberships
- All awards, fellowships, and honors
- Sometimes references and a research statement
This is comprehensive on purpose. In academia, your career is judged by the cumulative weight of your scholarly output, and the CV is meant to demonstrate that weight in full.
Unless you're applying for a job at a university or a research institute, you do not need an academic CV.
What "CV" usually means in the U.S.
When most American job postings say "CV," they actually mean "resume." It's a vocabulary preference, not a real difference in expectations. The same one-or-two-page document works. If you're not sure, ask the recruiter or the contact listed on the posting. Or just submit your standard resume.
What "CV" means outside the U.S.
In the U.K., Ireland, most of continental Europe, India, Australia, New Zealand, and much of Africa, the standard job application document is called a "CV" — but it's structured like an American resume. One to two pages, summary, work history, skills, education. Some countries have specific local conventions (a photo is normal in Germany, for example, but illegal in many U.S. employment contexts), so if you're applying internationally, look up the customs of the specific country.
When you might need both
If you're applying for academic or research positions in the U.S., you may be asked for both a CV (the long, comprehensive document) and a resume (a one-or-two-page summary version of the same information). Some industries — medicine, law, science, executive consulting — also use both depending on the situation.
If you're applying for a regular job (any kind of office, frontline, retail, healthcare, trades, manufacturing, customer service, or transportation work), a resume is what you need. The word "CV" on the posting almost always means "resume."
If you're not sure whether the employer wants a resume or a CV, send a clean, professional, two-page resume. It's appropriate for almost any non-academic situation. Save the longer document for jobs where the posting specifically describes what they want, like "academic CV including publications and teaching history."
File names matter
Whatever you call it, save the file with your name in it. "John_Smith_Resume.pdf" is much better than "Resume_Final_v3.pdf." Hiring managers receive hundreds of files. Make yours easy to find later.
The resume builder on this site automatically names your downloaded file with your last name, so you don't have to think about it.