Understanding the Differences: How Do Resume, C.V., and Bio-Data Serve Different Job Applications?

People use the words RESUME, C.V., and BIO-DATA interchangeably for the document highlighting skills, education, and experience that a candidate submits when applying for a job. On the surface level, all three mean the same. However, there are intricate differences.

RESUME

Resume is a French word meaning "summary," and true to the word meaning, signifies a summary of one's employment, education, and other skills, used in applying for a new position. A resume seldom exceeds one side of an A4 sheet, and at the most two sides. They do not list out all the education and qualifications but only highlight specific skills customized to target the job profile in question.

A resume is usually broken into bullets and written in the third person to appear objective and formal. A good resume starts with a brief Summary of Qualifications, followed by Areas of Strength or Industry Expertise in keywords, followed by Professional Experience in reverse chronological order. Focus is on the most recent experiences, and prior experiences summarized. The content aims at providing the reader a balance of responsibilities and accomplishments for each position. After Work experience come Professional Affiliations, Computer Skills, and Education.

C.V CURRICULUM VITAE

C.V is a Latin word meaning "course of life." Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) is, therefore, a regular or particular course of study pertaining to education and life. A C.V. is more detailed than a resume, usually 2 to 3 pages, but can run even longer as per the requirement. A C.V. generally lists out every skill, job, degree, and professional affiliation the applicant has acquired, usually in chronological order. A C.V. displays general talent rather than specific skills for any specific positions.

BIO-DATA

Bio Data, the short form for Biographical Data, is the old-fashioned terminology for Resume or C.V. The emphasis in a bio data is on personal particulars like date of birth, religion, sex, race, nationality, residence, marital status, and the like. Next comes a chronological listing of education and experience. The things normally found in a resume, i.e., specific skills for the job in question, come last and are seldom included. Bio-data also includes applications made in specified formats as required by the company.

A resume is ideally suited when applying for middle and senior-level positions, where experience and specific skills rather than education are important. A C.V., on the other hand, is the preferred option for fresh graduates, people looking for a career change, and those applying for academic positions. The term bio-data is mostly used in India while applying to government jobs or when applying for research grants and other situations where one has to submit descriptive essays.

Resumes present a summary of highlights and allow the prospective employer to scan through the document visually or electronically to see if your skills match their available positions. A good resume can do that very effectively, while a C.V. cannot. A bio-data could still perform this role, especially if the format happens to be the one recommended by the employer.

Personal information such as age, sex, religion, and hobbies are never mentioned in a resume. Many people include such particulars in the C.V. However, this is neither required nor considered in the US market. A Bio-data, on the other hand, always includes such personal particulars.

Thanks
Raj

Very true... we are usually unaware of these facts and write conventional resumes, which is, in fact, very funny. When an organization is at an institute for campus placement, it receives all resumes in the same format, even with minor differences.

This is definitely a VERY APT posting, Raj. And I agree with Sasidhar. But that's how life and generation gap is, Sasidhar.

I remember a quote here: "I don't know how the world will survive when the younger generation takes over." And want to know who said this and when? Socrates, way back 2100 years ago (around 100 BC)!

Regards, TS

Informative one. But add one more point in the CV, where 'course of life' depicts changes already happened in life as of a particular date, say the date on which the CV was prepared. So why talk about the objectives of life to be achieved? Generally now the applicant starts a CV with objectives. So this has to be eliminated while preparing a CV.

Gopan

Thank you for the useful information. I am working in a placement consultancy, and these terms come in front of me very frequently. Now, I have come to know the basic difference. Good work.

M. Nadeem

Dear Raj,

I am reproducing my comments made to you in the private message, as you have said it's ok to publish it.

I remembered to have seen this script before. Hence, I made a search on the web and found these:

http://helium.com <link updated to site home> (Search On Cite | Search On Google) by Nayab Naseer

http://www.mail-archive.com/mta0406@googlegroups.com/msg00144.html by Jagadeesh Nair on Tuesday 14

They are identical to yours. Are you the author of the script? If not, it would have been better had you indicated the source (even to say that you got it by email).

The next one is different and gives more evidence about the different use of the terminology in different parts.

http://www.rightattitudes.com/2008/07/22/resume-curriculum-vitae-difference/

22 Jan 2008 says it depends upon the geographical area.

If you have no objection, I would like to post the above comments in the general forum.

Simhan
A retired academic in the UK

Resume is "a summary, as of one's employment, education, etc., used in applying for a new position."

Curriculum vitae (C.V.) is noted as "a regular or particular course of study of or pertaining to education and life."

Bio-data: information relating to a particular person and his or her financial, professional, or educational history, stored in a database and used, e.g., in banking, job recruiting, and marketing (takes a singular or plural verb).

Regards,
Shijit

Dear Raj,

Thank you very much for your valuable input on sharing with us the subtle differences between a CV, Resume, and Bio-Data.

Thanks & Best Regards,
R. Srinivasan :-P

People use the words RESUME, CV, and BIO-DATA interchangeably for the document highlighting skills, education, and experience that a candidate submits when applying for a job. On the surface level, all three mean the same. However, there are intricate differences.

RESUME
Resume is a French word meaning "summary," and true to the word meaning, signifies a summary of one's employment, education, and other skills, used in applying for a new position. A resume seldom exceeds one side of an A4 sheet, and at most two sides. They do not list out all the education and qualifications, but only highlight specific skills customized to target the job profile in question.

A resume is usually broken into bullets and written in the third person to appear objective and formal. A good resume starts with a brief Summary of Qualifications, followed by Areas of Strength or Industry Expertise in keywords, followed by Professional Experience in reverse chronological order. Focus is on the most recent experiences, and prior experiences summarized. The content aims at providing the reader a balance of responsibilities and accomplishments for each position. After work experience come Professional Affiliations, Computer Skills, and Education.

CV - CURRICULUM VITAE
CV is a Latin word meaning "course of life." Curriculum Vitae (CV) is, therefore, a regular or particular course of study pertaining to education and life. A CV is more detailed than a resume, usually 2 to 3 pages, but can run even longer as per the requirement. A CV generally lists out every skill, job, degree, and professional affiliation the applicant has acquired, usually in chronological order. A CV displays general talent rather than specific skills for any specific positions.

BIO-DATA
Bio Data, the short form for Biographical Data, is the old-fashioned terminology for Resume or CV. The emphasis in biodata is on personal particulars like date of birth, religion, sex, race, nationality, residence, marital status, and the like. Next comes a chronological listing of education and experience. The things normally found in a resume, that are specific skills for the job in question come last and are seldom included. Bio-data also includes applications made in specified formats as required by the company.

A resume is ideally suited when applying for middle and senior-level positions, where experience and specific skills rather than education are important. A CV, on the other hand, is the preferred option for fresh graduates, people looking for a career change, and those applying for academic positions. The term bio-data is mostly used in India when applying to government jobs or when applying for research grants and other situations where one has to submit descriptive essays.

Resumes present a summary of highlights and allow the prospective employer to scan through the document visually or electronically to see if your skills match their available positions. A good resume can do that very effectively, while a CV cannot. A bio-data could still perform this role, especially if the format happens to be the one recommended by the employer.

Personal information such as age, sex, religion, and hobbies are never mentioned in a resume. Many people include such particulars in the CV. However, this is neither required nor considered in the US market. A bio-data, on the other hand, always includes such personal particulars.