Re: Resume vs. cv

["Chas. Bosdet" <WLFTRIX -at- AOL -dot- COM>]

> I just got a poke in the virtual ribs ... for requesting a "cv" from =

> job applicants.  Should I have said "resume"? Is there a =

> difference in meaning ...?  Are there many qualified hunters of =

> writing jobs who don't know what a cv is?  Would people expect =

> to see "cv" or (capitalized) "CV"?
>     ||- Mark L. Levinson

Merriam Webster assigns the same definition to resume and curriculum vita=
e:
"a short account of one's career and qualifications prepared typically by=
 an
applicant for a position."
All the same, IMHO, I think there's a distinction worth considering.

"Resume" typically suggests the customary one-page or two-page summary
document.  This is in line with the French root, which (as I understand i=
t)
translates loosely as "to summarize."  (Can any French-speaking editors o=

writers help us out?)

"Curriculum vitae" translates from Latin as the "course of [one's] life,"=

lending itself to usage that reserves the term for fuller treatment of th=

individual's background.

FWIW, at Lexicorps a resume is prepared as a summary document no more tha=

two pages long, while a curriculum vitate is not held to any particular
length (the longest one I recall was seven pages=97and apparently just wh=
at the
customer's employer wanted). We don't abbreviate curriculum vitae, but if=
 we
did we'd use "CV," consistent with the way we treat other initialisms.

  Chas. Bosdet
  Lexicorps=99 Associates
  Buena Park, California
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