The Differences between a Resume and a CV

There are several differences between a curriculum vitae and a resume. A curriculum vitae is a longer (up to two or more pages), more detailed synopsis of your background and skills. A CV includes a summary of your educational and academic backgrounds as well as teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honors, affiliations and other details. As with a resume, you may need different versions of a CV for different types of positions.

Like a resume, a curriculum vitae should include your name, contact information, education, skills and experience. In addition to the basics, a CV includes research and teaching experience, publications, grants and fellowships, professional associations and licenses, awards and other information relevant to the position you are applying for. Start by making a list of all your background information, then organize it into categories. Make sure you include dates on all the publications you include.

Design

How should I design the layout of my CV?

There are many ways to design a CV. This section gives an example.

Always type your CV.

Print your CV on good quality white paper. The paper size should be A4 (this is 21.0 cm wide and 29.7cm tall).

Usually you should not attach a photograph.

Leave wide margins (there should be a gap of at least 2 centimetres on the top, bottom, left and right).

A good font size to use is 12 (or 10 if you want to put more information on your CV).

The document should use only one font style, for example Times New Roman.

Use bold (Bold) or italics (Italics) to emphasise important words.

Only underline section titles (or do not underline any words).

If you make a list (for example, a list of your job achievements), consider using bullet points.

Try to keep the CV on one side of paper, or use two sides if you have a lot of relevant work experience or qualifications.

Keep your sentences short and simple.

A typical section order is:

- Name

- Address

- Employment

- Education

- Other skills

- Personal details

An explanation of how to complete the various parts of a CV is shown below.

Name

When writing your name, always put your own name first and your family name last (even if you write the family name first in your own country).