A curriculum vitae (CV) and a resume are not the same document in the United States and Canada, but in most other countries the two terms mean exactly the same thing. Whether the distinction matters to you depends entirely on where you’re applying for work and what type of position you’re after.
How They Differ in the U.S. and Canada
In North America, a resume is a concise summary of your qualifications, typically one page long (sometimes two for experienced professionals). You tailor it for each job, trimming and rearranging content to match the specific role. A resume highlights your most relevant skills, work experience, and education, and it leaves out anything that doesn’t directly support your candidacy for that particular position.
A CV, by contrast, is a comprehensive record of your entire academic and professional history. It has no page limit and grows throughout your career. Where a resume is a highlight reel, a CV is the full archive: every publication, every conference presentation, every grant, every fellowship, every course you’ve taught. In the U.S., CVs are almost exclusively used when applying for positions in academia, scientific research, and certain medical or legal roles.
What Goes on an Academic CV
Because a CV is meant to be exhaustive rather than selective, it includes sections you’d never see on a standard resume. A typical academic CV covers education, research experience, teaching experience, publications, presentations, grants and fellowships, honors and awards, professional memberships, and any relevant certifications or language skills. Cornell University’s graduate school describes it as “a comprehensive statement” of professional qualifications, accomplishments, and activities.
The order of these sections is flexible. You arrange them to highlight your strongest qualifications for the specific position. A postdoctoral researcher applying for a faculty job might lead with publications and research experience, while someone applying for a teaching-focused role might put teaching experience and course development near the top. Within each section, items are listed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent first.
As your career progresses, a CV can easily stretch to five, ten, or even twenty pages. That length is expected and appropriate in academic contexts. Cutting it down to fit a page limit would defeat the purpose.
How the Terms Work Outside North America
If you’re applying for jobs internationally, the terminology shifts significantly. In the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and much of Europe, employers rarely use the word “resume” at all. When they ask for a CV, they mean a short, focused document that looks a lot like what Americans call a resume, typically two pages at most.
In Australia, India, and South Africa, the terms CV and resume are used interchangeably for the same type of document. The same is true across much of South America, though “resume” tends to show up more in private-sector job listings while “CV” is more common for public service roles. In parts of Asia, particularly Pakistan and Bangladesh, some employers request “biodata” instead of either term.
This means that when a job posting outside North America asks for a CV, you almost certainly don’t need to submit a multi-page academic document. They want a concise overview of your qualifications, the same thing an American employer means when they ask for a resume.
Which One You Should Use
If you’re applying for an academic position, a research role, or a postdoctoral fellowship in the U.S. or Canada, use a CV. These employers expect to see your full scholarly record, and submitting a one-page resume would look incomplete.
For virtually every other job in the U.S. and Canada, use a resume. Hiring managers outside academia typically spend only a few seconds on an initial screening. A long, detailed CV will work against you because the relevant information gets buried.
If you’re applying for a job abroad and the posting asks for a CV, check the norms for that country. In most cases, a concise, resume-style document is what they want. When in doubt, match the length and format to what the employer’s culture expects rather than defaulting to the American academic definition of CV.
When the Lines Blur
Some fields sit between the corporate and academic worlds, and employers in those spaces may use the terms loosely. Medical professionals, attorneys, and senior-level executives sometimes maintain CV-style documents that are longer and more detailed than a standard resume but shorter than a full academic CV. Government agencies and international organizations may request a CV when they really want an expanded resume with more detail about specific projects or technical expertise.
The safest approach is to read the job posting carefully. If it specifies a page limit or asks you to highlight only relevant experience, they want a resume regardless of what they call it. If it asks for a complete list of publications, grants, or research, they want a true CV.