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What Is The Difference Between a Curriculum Vitae and a Resume?

Often one hears the term Curriculum Vitae being used almost exactly as one would use the term Resume. Though structurally similar, the curriculum vitae has some important differences from a resume. Here is a quick checklist:

Curriculum Vitae	Resume
A curriculum vitae is usually long, often several pages.	A resume is short and in many cases, a one pager is recommended.
A curriculum vitae is more descriptive.	A resume skims the surface.
A curriculum vitae is often used when applying for academic or research positions.	A resume is used in a wide variety of situations - job applications, college admissions...
Academic, curricular, and scholarly areas are in considerable focus. Hence you will find details of awards, publications, projects, honors, memberships, affiliations...	These academic areas are mentioned, but the resume paints a much broader picture

Common Sections in a CV:

Contact Information A CV must include your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address.

Education This is a very important section for a CV. It must include all academic qualifications, with the name of the institute, degree/diploma type, designation if any, honors, concentrations, majors, ranks, gpa...

Experience Any full time or part time experience that relates to the objective for which the CV is being made should be included. Details such as organizations name, designation, responsibilities, dates and the like should also be mentioned.

Teaching Experience If not already covered in the Experience section above, a special section detailing teaching experience can be included in the CV.

Accomplishment A CV must list scholarships, assistantships, fellowships, awards, honors...

Affiliation A CV must list certifications, affiliations, memberships...

Publications Books, articles, and reports published by you must be mentioned and also briefly described in a CV.

Conference Participation Presentations in conferences must be briefly described in a CV. Additionally, the name of the conference, dates and location of the conference must be mentioned.

Research Interest If applicable, the CV should include your area of research and also mention the research work already completed.

References A CV can include some references. But if these are not going to be evergreen, it is best to mention Available upon Request.

Other Sections Depending upon the individual and the purpose of the CV, other sections could include community activity, international experience and skills.

(c) 2003 by Ajeet Khurana (http://businessmajors.about.com/), licensed to About Inc. Used by permission of About Inc., which can be found on the Web at http://www.about.com. All rights reserved. Ajeet Khurana is an alumnus of The University of Texas at Austin.