A CV or Curriculum Vitae is an outline of a person’s educational and professional details which conveys the information in the best possible light. It is a chief tool required by job applicants. Therefore, complete knowledge about it is essential before attempting to prepare one for a job.
CV and Resume: the difference
A CV and a resume are alike when it comes to the purpose, as both are a job seekers’ marketing documents that give a complete sketch of the applicant.
They include information pertaining to skills, educational qualification and experience required to apply for a job. The two, however, differ in their use, format and length. While a resume has specified format, a CV does not have any set format.
A CV is usually used to apply for scientific, research and teaching positions and also for grants of fellowship, while a resume can be used to apply for any job.
A CV includes a summary of one’s educational and academic background as well as teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honours, affiliations and other details.
On the other hand, a resume is a one or two page summary of an individual’s skills, experience and education.
While a resume is usually brief and concise restricted to a page or two at most, a curriculum vitae is longer extending over minimum two pages, providing a detailed synopsis. A CV leans towards completeness, a resume tends towards brevity, and both are certainly not interchangeable.
The first CV was written by Leonardo Da Vinci, about 500 years ago. Since then there have been many modifications and one requires updating oneself with the present day requirements to cater to the demand.
Types of CV: There are basically two major types of CVs.
Chronological: It outlines the career history in the order of date, normally beginning with the most recent events following up in reverse chronological order. It has a conventional approach and is easy to prepare and includes a good mixture of educational background and work experience in reverse chronology. It can be job specific and not applicable everywhere.
Skills-Based: It is a highly focussed CV which relates to one’s skills and abilities in a specific job or area. It highlights the potentials one possesses as the major achievements. The factual, chronological details of education and work history assume a subordinate status. They facilitate applicants whose degree subject and work experience are not directly relevant to the job application.
What Makes A Good CV: There is no fixed set of rules to write a good CV, however a few general rules can be applied:
It should target the specific job or career areas applied for and showcase the relevant skills
possessed.
It needs to be logically arranged, clearly and carefully laid out, reader-friendly and not cluttered.
It should be informative but concise and accurate, devoid of errors in content, spelling and grammar.