By Dare Lasisi, United Kingdom
The primary differences between a resume and a curriculum vitae (CV) are length, what is included, and what each is used for. While both are used in job applications, a resume and a CV are not always interchangeable. That’s the universal truth not known to many job seekers and applicants.
A CV (Curriculum Vitae, which means a course of life in Latin) is an in-depth document that can be laid out over two or more pages and it contains a high level of detail about your achievements, a great deal more than just a career biography. The CV covers your education as well as any other accomplishments like publications, awards, honours etc.
The document tends to be organised chronologically and should make it easy to get an overview of an individual’s full working career. A CV is static and doesn’t change for different positions, the difference would be in the cover letter.
A resume, or résumé, is a concise document typically not longer than one page as the intended reader will not dwell on your document for very long. The goal of a resume is to make an individual stand out from the competition.
The job seeker should adapt and modify the resume to every position they apply for. It is in the applicant’s interest to change the resume from one job application to another and to tailor it to the needs of the specific post.
A resume doesn’t have to be ordered chronologically, doesn’t have to cover your whole career like and is a highly customisable document.
It is very important to know that most employers have no time to waste on any CV or resume with unpardonable typographical errors and distinctive grammatical blunders.
As a job seeker, you must cross-check your application and CV very well as if your life depends on it. You don’t need to be in a hurry to produce either CV or resume.
If you’re jobless, you need to engage in either voluntary works for your community, or charity, just to fill the gaps even if you’re not collecting salaries/allowances from those activities. If you leave too many gaps in your CV, your potential employers see you as unproductive and probably a lazy person.
In a nutshell, you cannot buy work experience in a supermarket. Let me give you my own personal experience with journalism.
I did not have any background in journalism but I love the profession. I am a self-trained journalist from my undergraduate days at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria.
Campus journalism was even one of the bogus reasons for my expulsion from the university during General Sani Abacha military dictatorship regime.
That’s another long story. I don’t wish to re-open an old wound in the new year.
I once worked with the Daily Times of Nigeria(DTN) in Lagos as a freelance reporter(not a staff!), just to gain work experience in journalism with well-trained journalists. I was paid N250 per published story and to earn N1000 per week, I must publish at least 4 good stories per week. I endured the stress shortly after my NYSC programme in Niger state, just to gain experience to add to my CV. No pain, no gain.
Time to apply for Commonwealth Media Internship in London, I knew I could be outrightly disqualified for not having a first degree in Journalism, Mass Comm, or English language. It was clearly stated in the advertisement.
I just took a bloody risk! That was original WABILAHI TAOFEEK.
I boldly stated in the 1-page resume(not a CV, you know why?) about my campus journalism experience plus DTN newsroom training, Habitat Communications(I was the General Editor of Shelter Watch journal for over 2 years), The Monitor and many others.
I also produced some of my published articles and news stories, just to impress the Commonwealth HQ panel members. I was asked to produce 5 articles/news stories, I sent them more than 10.(Over-Sabi dey worry me dat time?).
My mission was to impress them to overlook my Bsc Geography certificate and focus on my unique creative writing skills and years of work experience in the media industry. It worked for me like magic. I was the only applicant selected out of 65 applicants from other Commonwealth countries. That was how I travelled to England without paying one dollar. The rest is now history.
Another possible option is to look for companies or individuals to give you reference letters for your potential employers. I recently searched the web to really understand how to write a good CV and resume for employers and clients. I just shared the outcome with my friends on social media. Knowledge is light.
Many Nigerian graduates cannot write an acceptable corporate-tailored CV or resume to impress potential employers. This is a serious matter. The Internet is a reservoir of unlimited information and knowledge.
Your CV or resume is your selling point to your potential employers and clients. You just need to stand out from the crowd. Applicants and job seekers need to remember the contents of their CVs and resumes, employers are likely to ask many questions during the interviews.
Don’t cook up too many lies (you cannot smartly defend!) in your CV or resume. Don’t appear as a brainwashed fool before your future employers. Loan yourself a digital brain. The world is now a global village. As simple as ABC.
Don’t present forged documents/certificates, if discovered later, not good for your image. Be a good ambassador of your family. Thanks for reading.
*Dare Lasisi, former Commonwealth journalist, writes from the award-winning University of Strathclyde, FACULTY OF SCIENCE, Department of Computer & Information Sciences, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
