Resume vs CV: What’s the Difference and Which Do You Need?

In the USA and Canada a “resume” is a concise one-to-two-page summary of your experience, and a “CV” (curriculum vitae) is a longer academic record of publications, research and teaching. In the UK, Ireland, Europe, the Gulf, South Asia and Australia, “CV” simply means what Americans call a resume.

Which should you send?

• Applying in the USA or Canada outside academia: a resume.
• Applying for academic, research or medical posts in North America: a CV.
• Applying almost anywhere else: a CV — which is, in practice, a resume.

What stays the same everywhere

Clear structure, honest achievements with numbers, standard headings and a clean, readable layout. Our templates work for both — pick a country format to get the right conventions automatically.