Curriculum Vitae or Résumé

There is a difference and it is a distinct one:
A résumé (usually one or two pages) is a tightly focused summary of personal, education, and experience qualifications intended to demonstrate fitness for a particular position. A résumé promotes an individual's strongest qualifications, as they relate to the specific or general purpose for which the material is provided.
A curriculum vitae (generally three or more pages) is a comprehensive biographical statement emphasising academic and professional qualifications and activities.
As a rule it is a good idea to have both a c.v. and a résumé so that if the need arises you can send the right one.

What is a C.V.?

A Curriculum Vitae or Résumé is a history of your life and career and it should be well presented in a clear and concise way without too many embellishments. At best a flashy looking c.v. is just a flashy looking c.v. A c.v. doesn’t get marks for its flash headings, clever use of colour or font variety. At its worst a flashy c.v. is quite simply very bad, if it is for example full of tables, indents and heavily formatted text it represents a nightmare for a recruitment consultant. What you have to remember is that most reputable recruitment consultancies will first and foremost need to put your details into their own database and then reproduce a new c.v. from that information. (Professional recruitment consultancies will send all c.v.’s to their corporate clients in the same format). If you have contacted a consultancy with a view to attaining their help in your search for a new career, the last thing you want to do is present them with an immediate problem in the form of your c.v.

Of course there are times when you will be sending your c.v. direct to a prospective employer. In this case the recommendations above are even more important. A prospective employer will not be treating your c.v. as a basic document to use for re-presentation in a better format, they will just look at it, and, like as not, reject it. If your c.v. looks disorderly and over embellished, chances are you will be too and so you will fall at the very first hurdle.

What is its purpose?

The purpose of your c.v. is both simple and complex. On a direct and simple level all your c.v. has to do is get you a new job. Of course this isn’t an easy task nor a simple one. There are many things your c.v. can do for you and many things it can do to harm your chances. Remember the task of your c.v. is to get you an interview, not a job. It’s up to you to get the job by demonstrating your suitability for the role when you attend the interview.

Take great care when creating your c.v. – your career may depend on it!

A good C.V.:-

Won't: be a huge document, a 10-page c.v. it is unnecessary and will almost certainly go against you

Won't: include photos - the only people who need to include these are models, actors and actresses, etc.

Won't: include reference to any type of failure as this gives a negative impression.

Won't: provide reasons for leaving each job they are unnecessary and may detract from your application.

Won't: include any salary information on your c.v. as this can only be used to reject your application. If an advertisement specifically requests this information you can include it in your covering letter.

Won't: use tables, fancy patterns and borders as these detract from its presentation.

Won't: include your weight, height, health, or any other personal information that is irrelevant to any application.

Will: be clear and concise in layout and content.

And remember: Once you have a professional looking c.v. document when it comes to submitting it to prospective employers - Don't: send photocopies of your c.v. as this will give the impression that you are sending off your c.v. to lots of companies and that you aren’t really bothered where you get a job.