CV vs Resume: What's the Difference (and Which Do You Need)?
"CV" and "resume" are used interchangeably in many countries, but they can mean different documents. Here's a quick, practical breakdown.
The short answer
In the United States, a resume is a short, targeted one-to-two-page summary of your relevant experience, while a CV (curriculum vitae) is a longer, more detailed academic document covering your full history, publications, and research. So in the US the two words mean genuinely different documents. In the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and most of the rest of the world, though, that distinction disappears: "CV" simply means what Americans call a resume — a concise one-to-two-page job-application document. So the honest answer to "which do you need?" is almost always the short one. Unless you're applying for academic, research, or certain scientific and medical roles (mainly in the US), what you want is a focused, results-driven CV of one or two pages — and outside the US, calling it a "CV" is just the normal word for it. The terminology differs; the document most jobs want is the same.
When to use each
Applying to most jobs in the UK, Gulf, Europe, or Asia? You want a concise 1–2 page CV. Applying for academic, research, or some medical/scientific roles (especially in the US)? You likely need a long-form CV with publications and grants.
What both should have
Either way, the fundamentals are the same: a clear summary, results-focused experience, relevant skills, education, and an ATS-friendly layout. write.cv handles both styles and both languages.