CV vs resume: what is the difference?

The short answer

For most people applying for most jobs, a CV and a resume are the same kind of document with different names. Both are a short summary of your contact details, experience, education and skills, written to get you an interview. The Cambridge Dictionary defines a résumé as the US word for a CV. British, Irish and many European employers say CV; American and Canadian employers say resume.

The confusion comes from the fact that Americans also use "CV", but for something else: a long, complete record of an academic career. So a US university hiring a professor wants a CV that may run to many pages, while a US company hiring an accountant wants a resume that is often one page. In the UK, "CV" covers both, and the length changes with the job.

• UK job, any sector: a CV, usually up to two pages of A4.
• US or Canadian job outside academia: a resume, often one page for early career and rarely more than two, on US letter paper.
• US academic, research or medical post: a CV, as long as your record needs.
• UK academic post: a CV that is longer than a standard one, with publications and teaching.

What UK employers mean by a CV

The National Careers Service describes the sections a UK CV normally has: contact details, a few lines introducing who you are and what you want to do, your education, your work history with what you did in each role, and a note that references are available on request. Most people add a skills section, and some add interests when they are relevant.

The same guidance says what to leave out: your age, date of birth, marital status and nationality. A UK CV has no photo as standard either. What it does have, and a US resume often does not, is a short personal statement at the top written in the first person, and a slightly more relaxed attitude to length. Two pages of A4 is normal for someone with a few years of work behind them.

What a US resume looks like

A US resume covers the same ground, with some differences in convention that are worth knowing if you apply across the Atlantic:

• Paper size: US letter (8.5 by 11 inches), not A4. Set the page size before you export the file, or margins and page breaks will shift when it is printed.
• Length: early-career resumes are commonly kept to one page. Experienced candidates may go to two.
• Top of the page: a short "Summary" or no introduction at all, rather than a paragraph headed "Personal statement".
• Personal details: no photo, date of birth or marital status. This matches UK practice, so there is nothing to remove if your CV already follows it.
• Locations and dates: city and state abbreviation (for example, "Austin, TX"), and month and year for each role.
• Spelling and vocabulary: US spelling throughout, and US terms for education such as "high school" and "bachelor's degree".

The tone is often a little more direct. Bullets start with an action verb and aim to show a result, which is good advice for a UK CV too.

The US academic CV

An American academic CV is a full record, not a summary. It lists degrees, dissertation, publications, conference papers, grants and funding, teaching, supervision, service on committees and professional memberships. It grows with your career and is not trimmed to fit a page count. Researchers, scientists and doctors in the US use it for faculty, postdoctoral and many research posts, and some grant applications ask for one.

The UK academic CV works in a similar way, and the academic CV example covers it in detail. If you are moving between UK and US universities, the main changes are paper size, spelling and how you describe your qualifications and job titles, not the structure.

Which to send, country by country

Always follow the advert. If it asks for a resume, send a resume; if it asks for a CV, send a CV. Where it does not say, these are safe defaults:

• United Kingdom: a CV, on A4, usually up to two pages.
• Ireland: a CV, laid out much like a UK one.
• United States: a resume for most jobs; a CV for academic, research and some medical posts.
• Canada: a resume for most jobs, following North American conventions; a CV for academic posts.
• Australia and New Zealand: you will see both words. Conventions differ from the US, so read two or three local adverts in your field before you settle on a length.
• European Union: a CV. Europass, the EU's free tool for learning and working in Europe, lets you create one online in a standard format. Some employers and public bodies ask for it; many private employers are happy with a well-laid-out CV of your own.
• India: employers use "resume", "CV" and sometimes "biodata". Follow the advert, and keep personal details out unless they are asked for.

Turning a UK CV into a US resume

You do not need to start again. Work through your existing CV in this order:

1. Change the page size to US letter and check the page breaks.
2. Cut it to one page if you are early in your career, keeping the most recent and relevant roles in full and reducing older ones to a line.
3. Rename or shorten the personal statement to a two or three line summary, or drop it if space is tight.
4. Switch to US spelling. Words ending in -ise, -our and -re change, and so does programme; run a US English spell check rather than relying on memory.
5. Explain UK qualifications briefly, such as "A levels (final school exams)" or "Upper second-class honours (2:1)". Do not invent a GPA; a US reader will accept the UK classification with a short explanation.
6. Add state abbreviations to US locations and give UK locations as "City, United Kingdom".
7. Remove "References available on request". It is not expected on a US resume.

Turning a US resume into a UK CV

Going the other way is mostly about space and vocabulary. Switch the page size to A4 and let the document breathe: a one-page resume squeezed with narrow margins can become a comfortable two-page CV with room for one more bullet on your best roles. Add a short personal statement at the top that names the job you want in the UK. Change spelling to British English and replace terms UK readers may not know. "GPA 3.7" means little to many UK recruiters, so give your degree, your university and, if you want, a short plain-English note on how it was graded.

If you need a visa to work in the UK, or already have the right to work here, say so in one line near the top. UK employers must check that every new starter has the right to work before they begin, and a clear line saves both sides a phone call. Keep the file name plain, such as "Firstname-Lastname-CV.pdf", because "resume" in the file name will look slightly out of place to a UK reader.

Does the word matter to applicant tracking systems?

No. Applicant tracking systems read what is in the document, not what you call it. What matters is that the text can be read in order, the headings are standard and the words from the advert appear where they are true. A CV and a resume that follow those rules parse the same way, whichever word is in the file name.

Mistakes people make moving between the two

• Sending a US-style one-page resume to a UK employer after ten years of work, and leaving out the detail that would get the interview.
• Sending a 12-page academic CV to a US company that wanted a resume.
• Leaving US letter paper on a UK CV, so it prints with odd margins on A4.
• Mixing UK and US spellings in the same document, usually because one section was copied from an old version.
• Adding a photo, date of birth or marital status because a template had a box for them.
• Heading the document "Resume" for a UK job, which tells the reader you have not adapted it.