Resume vs. CV

March 28, 2012 7:47 PM

I'm applying for a community college teaching position, and the application package requires both a resume and a CV. In the past, I've only submitted a CV.

My assumption is that the resume should be a very stripped-down, one page document with education and work history, with the CV going in depth. Right now, there isn't anything on my resume that isn't also on my CV somewhere. Does that seem right? Any hidden expectations that I'm missing?

posted by cute little Billy Henderson, age 4 to Work & Money (6 answers total)

I've read that if the position is academic they usually expect an indepth list of past teaching experience, papers, and so on. Perhaps ask them what they mean? In some places CV and resume are interchangable.
posted by divabat at 8:09 PM on March 28, 2012

Is there a contact person listed on the job posting? If so, call that person; if not, call the main desk number for the department you're applying into and ask for clarification. Many colleges and universities ask that CVs and other application documents be formatted a certain way. They may have templates for you to use; they may require that you use them.

It will not reflect poorly on you to ask for clarification (the admin person for the department whom you probably need to talk to will almost certainly not sit on or have any direct influence on the hiring committee, if you're worried about coming across as unknowledgeable and that hampering your chances of getting the position), but if you submit "incorrect" or incomplete paperwork, your application may get chucked immediately.

Don't assume anything, just ask. I've never seen a requirement for a separate CV and resume; it's not standard, and you probably won't be the first person to call with questions about the distinction.
posted by wreckingball at 10:11 PM on March 28, 2012 [2 favorites]

At many state institutions in the US, there are state HR requirements to collect resumes, even from people who have submitted academic CVs. (The idea being that that way they can compare your work experience with that of the person who oversees campus security or something? Seriously, I don't know, but it's A Thing in many places.)

The resume is for the people in the HR office. The CV is for the hiring committee. That said, I think splitting the difference with a resume that hits the highlights of your CV--even if you have to go to the dreaded second page--is probably the most Solomonic solution. The hiring committee probably isn't going to bother to ever read the resume, and the HR people probably aren't ever going to read the CV, but there it is.

Teaching at a state institution was, in my experience, state bureaucracy times academic bureaucracy, not state bureaucracy plus academic bureaucracy.
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:12 PM on March 28, 2012 [1 favorite]

wreckingball's point is a good one, though; if you call the department administrator, that person can probably answer your question precisely (if they don't actually have a template).
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:42 PM on March 28, 2012

Is this an automated system you're applying through? Most of the schools in my area use an online application system which requires items differently than what the departments require --- and it's rather annoying for people like me who have to look at the information in the system.

If this is the case, then you should be able to upload your CV and/or resume as a document. As someone who works in academia and handles faculty applications, either a resume or a CV is fine so long as your qualifications are accurately reflected. And my boss uses the term interchangeably.

The department assistant can clarify, definitely, but if you're applying through the online system, then it's the online system that is likely requiring a resume and the department requiring a CV. I honestly never look at the information entered into the system because almost everybody uploads a resume or a CV as a document, which is much easier to read than the way the system lays out the information.
posted by zizzle at 6:30 AM on March 29, 2012

I think your comment was backwards: everything that was on my resume is in my CV, but my CV contains way more info than the resume. Particularly, I am expected to include a list of all recent continuing education, so I have 2-3 lines for each conference I've attended, each class or workshop I've attended, and "self-directed learning", which stretches my CV to about 8 pages.

This is my first CV, which I put together using the guidelines written by the committee to which I will be submitting it. I would never have included conferences or classes or workshops individually on a resume, let alone 2-3 lines each?! The resume is just a basic overview with a few bullet points when I have the space to highlight the item itself.

But I agree with others- ask for more clarification. I was also able to ask many of my peers if I could view their CVs when putting mine together, and that helped immensely!
posted by aabbbiee at 9:55 AM on March 29, 2012