Applying, step by step · 5 min read
What's the difference between a CV and a resume?
Outside universities they do the same job. The word changes by country, the length changes by country and field, and the job post tells you which to send.
The short answer
In the UK, Ireland and much of Europe, Africa and Asia, a CV is the everyday document you send with a job application, usually up to two pages. In the US and Canada the same document is called a resume, and it is often one page early in a career. There, a CV means a longer academic record of research, teaching and publications. For most jobs the two do the same thing: show an employer quickly that you can do this role. Use the word and length the job post expects.
On this page 4 sections
Where the word changes
| Where | Called | Usual length for most jobs |
|---|---|---|
| UK and Ireland | CV | Up to two sides of A4 |
| US and Canada | Resume | One page early on, two with years of experience |
| US and Canada, academic jobs | CV | Several pages, no fixed limit |
| Australia and New Zealand | Both words | Two to three pages is common |
UCAS, which runs UK university admissions, tells applicants to keep a CV to no more than two sides of A4. Harvard's engineering school careers office describes the US academic CV as a several-page record of research, publishing and teaching, and suggests keeping a separate resume if you might apply outside academia.
What stays the same everywhere
- Your most relevant experience comes first and is easiest to find.
- Each line says what you did and what changed because of it.
- Headings are plain: Experience, Education, Skills.
- Nothing on it is something you couldn't talk about for a minute in an interview.
How to turn one into the other
- Going from an academic CV to a resume: keep three to five publications that matter for the job, turn research into results a business would recognise, and cut to one or two pages.
- Going from a UK CV to a US resume: drop the personal statement if it's generic, switch to US spelling and cut to one page if you have under ten years of experience.
- Going the other way: add a two-line summary at the top and allow yourself a second page.
OffLadder CV is our free Chrome extension for this step. Open a job post and it lists the post's must-haves, shows which ones your CV already mentions, and rewrites your CV for that job. Every change is checked against the CV you gave it, so it never adds experience you don't have.
Questions people ask
- Is a CV the same as a resume?
- For most non-academic jobs, yes. A UK employer asking for a CV and a US employer asking for a resume want the same thing: a short, relevant summary of your experience. The difference that matters is length and a few local conventions.
- When do I need an academic CV?
- When you apply for research, lecturing, postdoc or some government lab roles, mostly in North America. An academic CV lists publications, grants, teaching and conferences in full and can run to several pages.
- Should I include a photo?
- In the UK, US, Canada, Ireland and Australia, usually not. Some employers in parts of Europe and Asia still expect one. Follow the post or the norm in that country, and leave it off when unsure.
- Do I put my date of birth or marital status on it?
- Not in the UK, US, Canada, Ireland or Australia. They aren't needed to judge your experience. Name, a way to reach you, your town or region and a LinkedIn or portfolio link are enough.
- I'm applying abroad. Which version do I send?
- Write the one the post's country expects. Change the spelling, the length and the name of the document, and convert grades or qualifications into terms a local employer will recognise.
Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.
Sources
- Resumes, CVs and portfolios · Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
- How to write a CV · UCAS
How this page is written
Sources support the factual background, not a guarantee that an exercise predicts career fit. Fictional practice material is labelled. Dates record content updates; no independent expert review is implied. More about OffLadder.