You have probably been asking yourself thousands of times, what is it finally- CV or Resume? And what is the difference?

The primary differences between a resume and a curriculum vitae (CV) are the length, what is included and what each is used for. A Resume is a one or two page summary of your skills, experience and education. While a resume is brief and concise - no more than a page or two, a Curriculum Vitae is a longer (at least two page) and more detailed synopsis.

A Curriculum Vitae includes a summary of your educational and academic backgrounds as well as teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honors, affiliations and other details. In Europe, the Middle East, Africa, or Asia, employers expect to receive curriculum vitae. In the United States, curriculum vitae is used primarily when applying for academic, education, scientific or research positions. It is also applicable when applying for fellowships or grants.

Your resume at most time is the starting point when applying for a job. Employers receive hundreds of applications and they need to sort through all of them. Their narrowing down efforts is from the resumes they collected.

Click here to read about resume writing tips.