2 Great Reasons to Have a Curriculum Vitae

All throughout high school and college, you’ve probably heard how great extracurriculars and work experience will look on your resume, yet many people overlook the Curriculum Vitae (CV).  What is Curriculum Vitae?  What does it do?  Most importantly, why would you need one?

First, it’s important to note that CVs may look different in other countries.  Some countries consider the CV to be synonymous with a resume; however, we’re discussing the CV by US standards for this article.

Resume vs. Curriculum Vitae, what’s the difference?

A resume is typically a short (one to two page) document listing:

Often a resume consists of bullet points and short, punchy sentences, leaving little room to elaborate on the details of your experience.  If you have a lot of relevant experience and qualifications, you’ll need to be selective with what you include on your resume, meaning it may be different for each position you submit it for.  Basically, your resume is a 30-second elevator speech of why you’re the best candidate for an open position.  Resumes are the most commonly requested document when applying for jobs outside of the academic or medical field.

A CV, by contrast, is much longer.  CVs typically consist of:

For a full CV, you should include all of your information, experiences, and qualifications.  Unlike a resume, you will generally have more space to elaborate on your experiences and responsibilities within each section.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should be writing an 8-page paper for each experience you list on your CV; however, it does allow you to explore your duties and responsibilities with greater detail and fewer bullet points than on a resume.  As you may expect based on the information included on your CV, these documents are most often used in academic positions; you’ll submit a CV when applying for various teaching and research positions or when applying to graduate school.

What is Curriculum Vitae? And Should I have one?

You may need to provide a CV if you plan to apply to:

Even if you don’t believe you’ll be applying to a position requesting a CV, it may be a good idea to have one on hand anyway.  Any position where your academic background may hold more weight than your specific work experience could request a CV in place of or in addition to a resume.

Additionally, a CV can act as a running list of experiences so you can have all the information you need for updating and refining your resume in one place.

For my interesting articles like “What is Curriculum Vitae”, visit our

college blog