Learn English – Difference between “résumé” and “CV”

differencesmeaning

What's the difference between résumé and CV?

When is résumé used? And when is CV used? Are they equivalent?

Best Answer

In modern English and in the HR sense, they are pretty much used interchangeably and most people assume they mean the same thing.

If you look at their etymology, though, "curriculum vitae" should technically describe what happened over the course of your life, i.e. who your parents were, when and where you were born, upbringing, education, etc., before going into your work experience, while "resume" should sum up your relevant experience and is arguably targeted to your audience, i.e. if it's for an IT job, you'd leave out that you worked as a waiter during your Uni years and you wouldn't think of mentioning your parents (unless maybe their names are Bill Gates or something).

So I would always call what I send for a job application a "resume", but recruiters in my space (IT) typically say "please attach your CV" and mean the same thing. I suppose which you use depends on how pedantic you want to be....