CV vs résumé: what's the difference?

The same document has different names, lengths and rules depending on where you apply. Here is how to tell which one an employer expects.

“CV” and “résumé” describe the same idea, a written summary of your work history, education and skills, but the words carry different expectations depending on where you are applying. Getting the name wrong rarely costs you an interview. Getting the format wrong, by sending a five-page academic-style document to a US company or a single dense page to a German employer, can make you look unfamiliar with the market.

The short answer

• In the US and Canada, a résumé is the standard job application document: short, selective and focused on achievements. A CV means a long, complete record used mainly in academia, research and medicine.
• In the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and most of Europe, CV is the everyday word for the standard job application document. “Résumé” is understood but less common.
• In India, “CV”, “résumé” and sometimes “biodata” are all used, often interchangeably. Follow the wording in the job ad.

Curriculum vitae is Latin for roughly “the course of one’s life”, which explains why the US uses it for the complete version. Résumé is French for “summary”. You will also see it written as “resume” or “résumé” without any difference in meaning; the accents just help readers tell it apart from the verb.

How the two differ in practice

These are conventions, not rules, and they vary by sector. A senior engineer in London may have a three-page CV that nobody minds; a US investment bank may insist on a strict single page even for experienced candidates. When in doubt, look at what the job ad asks for and at examples from people in your field.

Which one does an employer want?

Use this decision rule:

1. If the job ad names the document, use that word in your file name and covering email (“Please find my CV attached”). An ad asking for a “résumé” usually expects the North American short format.
2. If the role is academic, research or clinical (lecturer, postdoc, research scientist, physician), expect a full academic CV regardless of country. See the academic CV guide.
3. Otherwise, follow the country of the employer, not your own. A Canadian applying to a Dublin company should send an Irish-style CV on A4. A British applicant to a New York startup should send a US-style résumé on Letter.
4. For multinational companies, follow the location of the job itself. If it is remote and unclear, a two-page document on the employer’s head-office paper size is a safe middle ground.

Tip: The content barely changes between the two. Most of the work in converting a UK CV into a US résumé is trimming it to fit, switching to US Letter and US spelling, and removing anything the US considers personal.

Converting a UK CV into a US résumé

Here is a concrete five-minute conversion for an experienced applicant:

1. Switch the paper size to US Letter (8.5 × 11 in). See A4 vs US Letter.
2. Cut to the last 10 to 15 years of directly relevant experience. Older roles can go into a one-line “Earlier experience” entry or be removed.
3. Trim each role to three to five bullets that show results, not duties.
4. Remove personal details such as date of birth, nationality or a photo if any have crept in. See personal details.
5. Change spelling and terms: “organise” to “organize”, “CV” to “résumé”. UK-specific qualifications such as A-levels may not mean much to a US reader; for experienced applicants they can usually go, and graduates can keep them with the subjects listed.
6. Rename the profile: “Profile” is fine in the US, but “Summary” is more common.

Before and after, for the opening of a role:

Before: Responsible for the day-to-day management of the customer services team and all associated reporting to senior leadership, as well as organising the weekly rota.

After: Led a 14-person customer service team; cut average response time from 26 hours to 9 hours by redesigning the weekly rota around peak demand.

The “after” works in both countries. That is the point: a strong bullet is portable, only the packaging changes.

Converting a US résumé into a UK or European CV

Going the other way is usually easier because you have more room:

1. Switch to A4 (210 × 297 mm).
2. You may expand to two pages. Use the space for an extra role, a projects section or a short languages section, not for longer bullets.
3. Change spelling to British English if applying in the UK or Ireland.
4. For Germany, Austria and Switzerland, look at local conventions: a date column, a more formal layout, sometimes a photo and date of birth. The continental template is built for this, and the European CV conventions guide explains the details.

What about Europass?

Europass is a free CV format provided by the European Union. It is accepted across the EU and is sometimes requested for public-sector jobs, EU institutions or study applications. Many private employers find the standard Europass layout long and form-like, so unless an ad asks for it, a normal CV in the local style usually reads better.

Keeping one source, two outputs

If you apply in more than one market, keep a single master document with everything in it, then produce trimmed versions per country. In CV Once you can save your CV as JSON, re-import it, and change the template and paper size without retyping anything. The builder also checks your length against the page count usually expected for the region you choose, and flags personal details such as date of birth when you pick a US or UK setup.

Next: how long a CV should be in each country, and A4 vs US Letter.