A résumé (often spelled resumé or resume) is a document containing a summary or listing of relevant job experience and education, usually for the purpose of obtaining an interview when seeking employment. The word résumé is used especially in the United States and in English Canada; the Latin term curriculum vitae (often abbreviated CV) is used in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries, as well as in the academic fields in North America, and the Netherlands.
Often the résumé is the first item a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker, and therefore a large amount of importance is often ascribed to it.
Traditionally, résumés or CVs have been, like careers themselves, oriented towards what a person has accomplished thus far. In most contemporary career consulting the trend is to fashion the document towards what that person can accomplish in a particular job going forward. This is sometimes called a Targeted Resume.
Different forms
In American English usage, a CV is a longer document than a résumé, and will include a comprehensive listing of professional history including every term of employment, academic credential, publication, contribution or significant achievement. In certain professions, it may even include samples of the person's work and may run to many pages. In contrast, a résumé is a summary typically limited to one or two pages highlighting only those experiences and credentials which the author considers most relevant to the desired position. CVs are the preferred recruiting tool for academic and medical professions while résumés are generally preferred for business employment.
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