Resume vs CV: What's the Difference?

The short answer

A resume is a short, targeted summary of your relevant experience, usually one page, written fresh for the kind of role you're applying to. A CV (curriculum vitae) is, in its strict sense, a longer and more complete record of your academic and professional history. But which word means which document depends heavily on where you are, so the honest answer is: it depends on the country and the field.

By country

The same two words map to different things around the world:

• United States and Canada: 'resume' is the default for almost every job; one to two pages, tailored to the role. 'CV' is reserved for academia, research, and medicine, where it means a long, comprehensive document.
• United Kingdom, Ireland, and much of Europe: 'CV' is the everyday word for what Americans call a resume; two pages is normal. Nobody will blink if you call it either.
• Australia and New Zealand: 'resume' and 'CV' are used interchangeably for ordinary jobs.
• Academia everywhere: a CV is a full scholarly record, publications, teaching, grants, conferences, and can run many pages.

By length and purpose

Set the vocabulary aside and the real distinction is length and intent. A resume is selective: you choose the experience that fits this job and cut the rest, aiming for one page (two if senior). A traditional CV is cumulative: it aims to be a complete history and grows over a career. A resume argues for you for a specific role; a CV documents everything you've done.

What goes in each

A resume typically carries a contact header, a short summary, reverse-chronological experience, education, and skills. An academic CV adds sections a resume never would: publications, research, teaching experience, grants and funding, conference talks, professional memberships, and references. If you're applying to industry, you want the resume's discipline, not the CV's completeness.

Which should you send?

1. Read the posting and use the word it uses.
2. If it's a normal job in the US or Canada, send a one-to-two-page resume.
3. If it's a job in the UK, Europe or Australia, send the same document, they'll call it a CV.
4. If it's academic, research or medical, send a full academic CV with publications and teaching.

You can build either one in the same place

Because the underlying content overlaps, you don't need separate tools. Floati's builder produces both: keep it tight and one page for a resume, or include more of your history for a longer CV. It's free, runs in your browser, scores against ATS rules as you type, and exports a clean PDF with no sign-up and no watermark.