In This Section
Top Tips
- Keep it brief. Short, concise and convincing is what works in a resume.
- A good resume is about what you can add to a new employer's business.
- Focus. Ideally, customize your resume to every job application.
Top Blunders
- Do. Not. Lie. So many resumes are exaggerated or have 'white lies.' Don't. It is a career killer.
- Your resume must suit the role you are applying for. Sounds simple, but the majority of resumes fail this simple test.
- Boring, bland and dull. If you have a tedious resume, what does that say about you?
Resume, CV or Bio?
You will come across all of these terms regularly, but what do they mean? Are they all different words for the same thing?
Technically, the answer is no. They are all quite different things. In practice, Resume and CV are used interchangeably, while Bio is something else altogether.
Technically, the answer is no. They are all quite different things. In practice, Resume and CV are used interchangeably, while Bio is something else altogether.
Resume
- Or more correctly résumé, but I do not have those accents on my keyboard. This is the one you will come across most often in Australia and it is (mostly) what this web site is all about.
- A resume is a document you will use in a job application of course. It should be a well-presented summary of all of your strongest claims to the position and nothing else. That will include your career history, but not every last detail.
CV – Curriculum Vitae
- The Curriculum Vitae is a much longer and more detailed document. It will detail and outline everything you have ever done in your career, whether relevant to one particular job application or not. It is not unusual to see fifteen - twenty page curriculum vitae. They are used extensively in academia – where a Professor will list every appointment held, every research post, every academic publication, every academic presentation/ speaking engagement etc.
- In practice in the ‘employment world’, CV has become interchangeable with Resume. It does not mean a fifteen - twenty page document!
- Some countries use one term more than the other. Australia tends to use resume more than CV, the USA uses resume almost exclusively while the UK mainly uses CV. Everybody understands what they are though.
Bio – Biography
- The biography is something entirely different. It is a short (usually only two of three paragraphs) summary of your background that serves a specific purpose (usually marketing related) and is not typically a recruitment document.
- You will have seen biographies frequently: the bio of the author inside the dust cover of a book; the bio of an actor in a theatre production programme or the bio of a sports team member in a match programme. Of more relevance to the business world, the bio of the management of a company, like mine here.
- The key point is that it serves a specific purpose and is designed to be read by a wide audience, unlike a resume/ CV which is more targeted to a narrow audience.