What Is A Résumé?

A résumé is what is more commonly known as a CV or Curriculum Vitae. Literally translated as a ‘course of life’. It is a summary of your career history that includes details of your previous jobs, qualifications, skills and experience. A résumé and CV are exactly the same thing.

Why do employers ask for CVs and réumés?

Think of it from the employer’s point of view and it makes perfect sense. When an employer has a vacancy the first thing that they do is put together a job description.

The job description points out the key duties the employee will be expected to carry out whilst the person specification will cover the key skills and qualities they should have. Once these have been done a job advert is created and applications are welcomed for the position.

Can you imagine what would happen if they didn’t ask for résumés? They would receive application in a whole host of ways in a whole host of different formats. If it’s for a particularly sought after job, they could literally get thousands of applications. Can you imagine how difficult and time consuming it would be to go through each application and try to find the relevant information to see if the person is suitable for the job?

However, by asking for a CV it speeds the whole process up. Because CVs are generally in a similar format (split into sections such as skills, qualifications and work experience), it makes it much quicker for the hiring manager to read and see if the candidate is worth taking forward for interview.

What should my CV be like?

Firstly, you should check out our article about what makes a great CV. This will give you some useful tips to ensure your CV is formatted correctly. What we would highlight here though is that your CV should be tailored to each role that you apply for and should highlight the particular skills and experience you have that is relevant to the job being applied for.

More generally though, all CVs and resumes should be:

• Concise: Don’t have a CV that is more than two or three pages . Be concise and only give the information that the hiring manager will need to know in respect of your application.
• Accurate: Your CV is a reflection of you so you don’t want silly mistakes, grammatical errors or other mistakes in your CV.
• Readable: We understand that a CV isn’t always going to make riveting reading. Write it in a clear, concise and engaging way to make the hiring manager want to know more about you.
• Marketing you as the candidate of choice. Your CV should tick every box on the job description and person specification. Once the hiring manager has read your CV, you want them to say ‘We HAVE to get this person in for an interview’.

Now you understand what a resume is and why they are used. Take the time to work on yours and let it help you get that job of your dreams.

Main pic from The Blue Diamond Gallery.