Tuesday, February 6, 2007

BETWEEN CV AND RESUME

Though the terms are often used interchangeably, there’s a big difference between a curriculum vitae and a resume.

A CV is an exhaustive and strictly chronological lists of facts about your professional life. You may need one, but don’t expect it to serve your cause in a period of career transition.

If you want to give your credentials narrative shape, use a resume- and understand that you will almost certainly need more than one version. Each will highlight and interpret your experience differently in light of the job or career alternative you are exploring.

The process of putting together a resume entails drafting your story. Build in three parts:

First, describe the position you want.

Second, create a bulleted list of experience that clearly demonstrate your ability to do that job

Third, summarize your professional work. This section of your resume has the experience of a CV, and includes all the relevant positions you’ve held. For each job, it shows dates of employment as well as your responsibilities and accomplishments.

Follow these steps, and your resume will tell a coherent story.