The CV and the resume are both short "summaries" of a person's career, qualifications, and education.A resume (or résumé) is generally a one or two-page document that presents key facts about your educational and professional background. It is generally used when seeking a job. As such, the resume is meant to comprise only relevant experience / skills, and is often curated according to specific job requirements. On the other hand, a CV or "Curriculum Vitae" is a longer, more comprehensive document listing all of a person's career experience, qualifications, and education, including publications and other information. It can run for more than two or three pages. A CV is used more often in academia, or for the purposes of scholarships, grants, and bursaries. Note that a shorter version of the CV, commonly referred to as a "short CV" in some countries, is very similar to a resume, and the terms may at times be used interchangeably. In India, usually, an application for a private-sector enterprise calls for a resume, and an application for public sector establishments calls for a CV. However, there may not be a very stark difference between the two documents.

The resume is usually one of the first items, along with a cover letter and/or an application, that a potential organisation reviews when considering a candidate. This may be considered the first step of the candidate's assessment since organisations typically use CVs/resumes to screen applicants and determine whether or not they are eligible for the next stage of the recruitment process (usually an interview).

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a software application that scans CVs/resumes for keywords such as skills, job titles, and educational background. If your CV/resume template is ATS-compliant, the chances of your CV being reviewed by employers increase significantly. An ATS organizes information into specific sections based on the most commonly used keywords, making it easier for recruiters/employers to sift through the multitude of CVs they receive so that they can review only the relevant ones.

For freshers, organisations may prefer receiving resumes, particularly if you are applying for a technical job e.g., in the IT sector as a software developer, or in the creative field, e.g. as a content writer or graphic designer. At this stage, recruiters are not generally interested in your diverse experiences and exposure. Instead, they would seek basic information on your academics, relevant working experience (if any), while placing more weight on whether you have the appropriate technical skills for the job. On the other hand, for supervisory or senior roles, organisations may seek more details on your overall experiences, to determine whether your personality and experiences equip you with the appropriate soft skills and managerial/administrative capabilities. In this case, you may submit a CV instead of a resume. Similarly, a CV (as opposed to a shorter resume document) may be more acceptable in the legal fraternity for freshers and senior professionals alike. In this case, recruiters may wish to view the candidate's complete exposure to various fields of law as well as the specific tasks performed. Therefore, it would be helpful to provide brief details of all internships/work experience, moot competitions, publications, and research methodology.

The key rule is to make your document concise and reader-friendly. Focus on simple summaries and keywords to highlight the relevant information. It is recommended that one uses shorter sentences, in the "active" voice, rather than the "passive" voice. A well-written, and well-formatted document briefly outlining the necessary information can go a long way in helping you get hired for your desired job.

Generally, organisations look out for all those aspects that highlight the potential and caliber of the candidate. If you are a fresher or a recent entrant in the workforce, with limited experience, the hirer's major focus may be on your educational qualifications, skills / certifications, internships / work experience, awards / honours, and competitions.

For resumes - since these are specifically curated for a particular job / assignment, you may not need to update them regularly. For a long CV, it is advisable to update it every three to six months at least. Alternatively, if a new skill or accomplishment occurs, it may be added as and when it occurs. For a short CV, which is general in nature and not specifically curated, one may wish to update it on a real-time basis, i.e. to include the most recent or the most important educational, working experience, skills, and achievements; and remove outdated work experience, awards, and publications, e.g. those which are more than four to five years old. Also, regularly updating your CV can make you more aware of any skills or experience gaps that you currently have and need to fill in order to take the next step in your career. As a general rule, please check the contents of your CV to ensure it is properly updated before submitting it.

Your skills summary is a bulleted list of your transferable skills that relate to the role you apply for. These skills and relevant professional qualifications / certifications can also be referenced in the personal statement / objective and employment history sections of your CV/resume. For example, you may wish to include soft skills like communication and management skills, different computer languages (like React, Javascript, C++, Angular, etc), Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, etc.

In case you have any diplomas, correspondence programs, or incomplete degrees towards your bachelor's degree, list them. It also helps to list any online courses or skill-building workshops / certifications you may have attended. More importantly, list all of your professional / working experience in a detailed manner. Your professional accomplishments and exposure will play an important part in demonstrating your capabilities.

In general, the S.T.A.R. method is the best way to describe your work assignments, projects and other such experiences. It enables you to clearly express your knowledge and abilities while also providing objective metrics, with specific examples. This enables a potential employer to understand a situation from your perspective while receiving tangible information to assess your capabilities.
Use the S.T.A.R. methodology to articulate your story in a streamlined manner.

• SITUATION
  Recall a positive outcome from a situation in which you were involved.
• TASK
  Describe the tasks that were completed during the situation.
• ACTION
  Mention the steps you took in the situation to finish the task and achieve your goal.
• RESULT
  What outcomes resulted from your actions?

To create a CV/resume using the S.T.A.R. method, review a job description and select two to three key behaviours or skills to highlight in your description section. Use the outline of verbal response to condense it into a few key points under a job title. The best way to do this is to use one or more bullet points that clearly describe all of the components of the S.T.A.R. answer.

Please remember that for working professionals, the description of your employment history should be mainly result-oriented and NOT task-oriented. However, for freshers, who do not have full-time work experience, you may wish to highlight the tasks you have completed during your internship. In case your contributions during your internships resulted in any achievements for the organisation, feel free to mention them.

For example,
Work Experience & Internships description:

1. Executed a business transformation strategy by onboarding 5 clients globally, which generated USD 5 million in revenue and contributed to a 12.5% increase in overall sales. (For Professionals)
2. Underwent a training & development program facilitated by my organisation which maximized my productivity and potential for completing the allotted project.
3. Assisted in filing applications for trademarks. (for Freshers)

1. Designed a solution to raise offshore customer service tickets that resulted in reducing timelines for resolving tickets by 10%.
2. Conducted market research for the fast fashion industry and provided go to market strategy that helped the company increase its month-on-month revenue by 15%.
3. The article on “Legal and social dichotomy with respect to gender stereotyping” is published in the National Journal of Advanced Research- [Volume 6 Issue 2].`

A resume is a much shorter document as compared to a CV. It is generally advisable to provide one of your most prefered contact details (preferably your email address) and highlight a brief summary of your education and skills in a bulleted format. Additionally, you may mention any internship / working experience (as relevant), by listing the latest experience first.

A CV is a more detailed document than a resume which highlights the entire educational and professional background of a job seeker. Therefore, you may provide your complete contact information, all your academic qualifications, work / internship history, honours / awards, and any extra or co-curricular activities such as publications, competitions, additional soft / hard skills, etc. In some situations, you may wish to include your other interests or hobbies as well.

Avoid long paragraphs and irrelevant or unhelpful content in your short CV or resume. The worst mistakes one could possibly make in their CV/resume are spelling mistakes, typographical or grammatical errors, and untrue statements. Read the content of your document very closely before submitting it to a potential employer / recruiter.

Several organisations search for candidates to hire, through various job-search databases. Organisations are able to quickly identify relevant candidates and profiles by inputing "keywords" into these databases. Including keywords also helps ensure clarity about your experiences and the roles you have played. Therefore, including relevant keywords in your CV/resume may make your profile more searchable, and possibly increase the chances of your CV/resume being considered by potential employers. For example, if you seek a job in the field of marketing, then you may want to use keywords such as "marketing executive". On the other hand, if you're looking for an accounting job you may want to use keywords such as "chartered accountant" or "accounting professional".

The applicant tracking system (ATS) assists recruiters in finding the most suitable candidate for the job. Here are some pointers to keep in mind if you want to make your CV/resume ATS-friendly.

1. Use relevant keywords. For instance, if you are mentioning any skills, you can use keywords such as "Assisted", "Trained", "Consulted" and so on.
2. Be specific. Only use specific job-related details.
3. Be clear and well-organised. Write short and concise statements which still highlight the relevant details. It is best to list your information in bullet form.
4. Don't use graphics. The ATS software cannot examine symbols and charts from a CV/resume.

Adding your photograph to your CV/resume is usually your choice. ILA also provides you with the option to upload your photograph while building your CV with her. ILA recommends that you do not add your photograph to your CV/resume, unless your hiring organisation / institution's placement cell specifically requires you to do so.

This is entirely your choice. In order for the employer/organisation to make a hiring decision, your date of birth may be completely irrelevant (as long as you are above minimum age of 18 years old and are not considered a minor under the law). Mentioning your age in a CV or resume, may have a negative impact in case some employers believe that applicants in a certain age group are more qualified than others. A lower age-group, despite high performance and adequate qualifications may still lead an organisation to believe the candidate to be inexperienced. On the other hand, in some situations, more qualifications / greater experience in a younger candidate may also impress your organisation.

Mentioning your interests and hobbies in your CV is optional. You may include them if you feel they could have a positive impact on your application.

For completeness and transparency, it is recommended that you list all your work experience. If you are fresher or have limited work exposure, you may not have many items to list, and therefore, it would be helpful if you do not omit anything. On the other hand, if you have been working for over 5 years, you may wish to leave out very old roles or projects to save space on your document. In this case, it is recommended that you start by mentioning your most recent working experiences first.

Adding references depends on the type of job application and what your potential employer has asked you to submit along with your application. If you choose to insert references, make sure to mention individuals who are reputed, fairly experienced professionals who have worked directly with you and can provide unbiased opinions. Ideally, these should be your supervisors or senior colleagues whom you can trust.

It is alright if you do not have any working or internship experience, or if you have experience that is not relevant to the role you are applying for. You can still make your resume or CV attractive and demonstrate your capabilities, by mentioning any soft or hard skills you have developed, projects worked on as a part of your curriculum, competitions you may have participated in, articles you may have published, etc. It may also be beneficial to mention the irreleant working / internship experience, to provide your recruiter a better idea of your capabilities, work ethic, transferable skills, and employability. This can include, any volunteer work or a part-time job you had while studying.

It is strongly advised that you include your full name, and your main contact detail (ideally, your e-mail address). You may also include a mobile / telephone number that you can easily be reached at. You may or may not include your entire address, but it's recommended that you mention your location, since this will be relevant to your organisation. If you have a LinkedIn profile, personal blog, or website, you may wish to include a URL for it as well.

Start by eliminating any information that isn’t relevant to the role or industry. You may also want to eliminate any information that is old or outdated. In the event you have too much content to share, it is advisable that you focus on only highlighting the key skills and attributes required for the position in question.

Generally, it is recommended that you include activities that you would want to discuss during your interview round. Employers often prefer to have a holistic understanding of the candidate, especially if the candidate has limited working exposure. Therefore, it is advisable to mention a few hobbies that will demonstrate other useful attributes about you as an individual that may align with those sought by recruiters. This may help bring out your uniqueness and your application may reviewed positively. For instance, team or individual sports, outdoor activities, social service / volunteering at charity events, as well as art and culture related events, can provide valuable insights to those evaluating your candidature with respect to several attributes such as leadership, team-building, dexterity, creativity, patience, social awareness, etc.

This generally depends on your best / unique selling point. The best out of the both should come first. ILA provides different formats / options for both approaches.

In most situations, it is advised that a good cover letter is submitted along with your application. The cover letter not only provides brief context to recruiters / people evaluating your application, but may also give them an incentive to open your CV/resume.

As such, there is no prescribed font, but it is recommended that you use a clear and simple font to create an easily readable CV/resume that looks professional. We suggest the usage of fonts such as Arial, Verdana, and Roboto. In fact, ILA uses "Roboto" as the main font while building your CV/resume document.

As a rule of thumb, always be honest. Be mindful that over 75% of employers have caught a lie on CVs/resumes. Gaps in education or employment are not a bad thing as such, so don't try to conceal it. To be transparent, don't hesitate mention what you did during the time that you weren't working or studying in a full-time program e.g., online certifications / distance learning programs, travelling, personal projects, etc. This helps put a positive spin to the supposed "gap" and also helps you remain true to yourself. If you are unable to justify the gap in the CV/resume itself, you may discuss it during your interviews or mention it in other application-related material (such as your statement of purpose), if relevant. For instance, you may have been unable to complete an educational program in time, or may not have been able to start working immediately after complete your education due to certain health conditions or personal emergencies. Organisations are likely to be respectful of your circumstances, and appreciative of your openness.