What is a CV? CV vs resume, and how to write one

A CV (short for curriculum vitae, Latin for "course of life") is a document that sums up your education, skills and work experience so an employer can decide whether to interview you. In the UK, Ireland and much of the world it is the same thing as a resume; in the US and Canada, a resume is the short job-application document and a CV usually means a longer academic record.

The UK's National Careers Service describes a CV as "a summary of your skills, achievements and experience that you use to apply for jobs". Prospects, the UK graduate careers site, notes that in North America the same document is called a résumé.

CV vs resume: which word, and how long, by country

Rules on length are guidance, not law, and they differ by country and by sector. Here is what official and career-service sources say, checked on 2 October 2026.

In India, job ads and forms use "CV" and "resume" for the same short document, and some government and academic posts ask for a CV in their own "prescribed format". If a form gives you a format, use it.

Is a CV a resume?

Outside North America, yes: an employer asking for your CV wants the same one-to-two page document a US employer would call a resume.

In the US and Canada, they differ. A resume is short and tailored to one job. An academic CV is a full record of your academic work, with sections a resume doesn't have, such as research experience, publications, conference presentations, grants and awards (UCSB Career Services). You would use one to apply for a faculty post, a research job or graduate school. If a North American ad asks for a CV and you can't tell which kind it means, check the rest of the ad or ask.

What to put on a CV

The National Careers Service lists five sections: contact details, an introduction, education history, work history and references. Most CVs also have a skills section.

• Contact details: name, phone number, email address and a link to a profile such as LinkedIn.
• Introduction: "a few short lines that sum up who you are and what you hope to do", just under your name. In the US this is usually called a resume summary or professional profile.
• Work history: most recent first, with the employer, job title, dates and what you did, usually 2 to 3 lines per role.
• Education: qualification names, where you studied and the dates. Put it before work history if you are early in your career.
• Skills: the skills the job ad asks for that you really have.
• References: don't put other people's contact details on your CV; you can write "references available on request".

What to leave out

What counts as personal information you shouldn't include varies by country:

• UK: don't include your age, date of birth, marital status or nationality (National Careers Service). Leave out a photo unless you are applying for acting or modelling work (Prospects).
• Ireland: only supply a photo if the form asks for one (EURES).
• Canada: a photo "is not the norm", and you should leave out age, weight, height, marital status, religion and political views. Never include your Social Insurance Number (Job Bank).
• US federal jobs: you must add more, not less: start and end dates (month and year) and the hours you worked per week for each job (OPM).

How to write a CV, step by step

1. Read the job ad first. Note the job title, the skills it asks for and the words it uses. The National Careers Service advises writing your CV to match each job.
2. Add your contact details at the top.
3. Write a short introduction of a few sentences: your title or field, your strongest skills for this job and one result. Our resume summary generator drafts one from your job title, skills and best result.
4. List your work history, newest first. Under each job, write what you achieved, with numbers where you can, rather than a list of duties.
5. Add education and skills. Use the ad's own words for skills you have. Some employers use applicant tracking systems (ATS) that scan applications for keywords (UC Davis Career Center).
6. Format it simply. Use a clear font such as Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri in size 11 or bigger, and headings and bullet points (National Careers Service).
7. Check it and save it. Ask someone to proofread it, keep to your country's usual length and save it as a PDF unless the employer asks for another format.

You can do all of this in a word processor such as Word or Google Docs; most have ready-to-use templates (WorkBC). Or use our free CV maker: it follows UK, Irish, European, Australian and New Zealand conventions, has three ATS-friendly templates with standard headings and a live preview, and saves an A4 PDF without sign-up. For a US or Canadian job, the resume builder uses the same templates and also saves on US Letter paper. Then run the finished file through the ATS resume checker to see whether the text can be read and which keywords from the job ad are missing.

Common mistakes

• Sending the same CV to every job. Tailor the introduction and skills each time.
• Making it too long. Outside academia, two pages is the usual upper limit in the UK, Ireland and Canada, and it is a hard limit for US federal jobs.
• Listing duties instead of results. "Cut invoice errors by a third" says more than "responsible for invoicing".
• Adding personal details you don't need, such as your date of birth or a photo, where the country's norms say leave them out.
• Typos. Job Bank warns that one spelling mistake can give a negative impression.

Quick answers

Is a CV the same as a resume? In the UK, Ireland, India and Australia, yes. In the US and Canada, a CV usually means a longer academic document.

How long should a CV be? One to two pages for most jobs. Academic CVs can be longer.

Should a CV have a photo? Not in the UK, Ireland or Canada, unless the employer asks for one. Elsewhere, follow the job ad.