There is a small distinction between CV or resume for people living in European continent. A CV is more common term than resume. On the other hand if you live in the United States the term resume is used. In addition the differences between a Resume and a CV can be huge; A CV in a way is a special type of Resume.  In US, most experts in the business world have a partiality for Resume, being a two pager, stressing the most vital information about the skill sets or the specialization.

Differences in the Length of a CV / Resume

For more purposeful fields like highly academic or research jobs within medicine or parallel, you would most likely know a CV as an arrangement of everything that you have done in your career including, all work experience, educations, diplomas, honours, projects you worked on and concepts created during education or work. A CV will be significantly a longer document surrounding above information. 

Now comes the time to put in the picture about the lengths of resume. There are noticeably more specific differences then how many pages a CV/Resume would contain. Let us suppose that there are listings of business achievements, skills and credentials would be part of a Resume. Thus Resume would be a 1-2 page document consisting of the most vital information, trying to sell you to potential employer.

In Europe, CVs can be very short or extremely long, depending on what you want to realize and what you want to whittle up. It is mostly depending on what position you are applying for.

It can be confusing what to do, but instead of just trying to do the right thing, consider sending an email to the employer and simply ask for what level of details they are asking for and propose them further details on request. The only thing that can happen is that they will remember your name and this might give you an opportunity to be seen as professional because you asked what they were looking for – an interview opportunity might not be as far away as it was if you had not asked or if you had made the wrong suppositions and had send your CV/Resume in the wrong format / level of detail.

You should also be conscious of the fact that the cover letter or the application will be seen as you trying to get the employer to read your CV/Resume to see if your capabilities are the right ones for the position.

Reference guide to the major differences between a CV and a Resume

North America

CV or Curriculum Vitae

•  Typically 6-15 pages (can be even bigger)

• Usually used within academic or science domain
• Complete listing of all achievement and experience
• All elements are thoroughly described
• Must be read thoroughly and not easy to get a simple overview

Resume

• Typically 1-2 pages (max. 3 pages)
• Usually used within business (administration)
• Summary of accomplishments, credentials and achievements
• Highlighting the important elements
• Easy to get an overview

Europe

CV or Curriculum Vitae

• Can range from a simple 1-2 pages to as long as necessary
• Can be used in any area of business
• Depending on what job you are applying for it can be detailed or simple

Resume

     Not used in Europe