Most of people get confused between resume and curriculum vitae (CV); we also hear words such as portfolio and bio-data. All four terms describe presentation of particulars of an individual.

A resume is a synopsis of the most relevant professional experiences you have for the particular job for which you are applying. It is snapshot and hence not more than one or two pages in length. Resume word is originated from the French word “resumer” which means a summary of an individual’s educational background, relevant work experience, history and achievements. A resume is mainly used when seeking a new job and is sent to the employer in order to introduce an individual, depending on the detailing he/she gets a chance to meet the recruiter or the employer. A resume is ideally sent when applying for middle and senior level positions, when experience and related skills are more important than educational details.

A curriculum vitae, normally called a CV or curricula vitae, is derived from a Latin word which means “course of life.” A CV contains a detailed narrative of an individual’s work experience in details listing the achievements, educational background, skill set, languages known, awards won etc. A CV is a more elaborate description than a resume. CVs are accepted internationally and are used to apply for executive, academic, managerial, medical and many other senior posts jobs.  In my opinion, a CV is a marketing tool which can be used by an individual to endorse himself.

The primary differences between a resume and a curriculum vitae are length, while both are used in job applications. A resume is brief summary and a CV is a detailed document.

Portfolio originates from the Italian word “portafoglio” meaning to carry and ‘foglio’ meaning leaf or paper. Portfolio is an album of work samples shown to prospective employers, usually in creative fields such as photography, art and graphic design. It so happens that work pieces comprised of art and design cannot be explained theoretically. As a result, presenting pictures, designs and samples is the best way to tell a recruiter about your work. Hence, unlike a resume or a CV, a portfolio may contain pictures, documents, and onsite media details, screen shots of a website, and notes or letters of praise from distinguished clients.

Portfolio is a typically a large, thin, flat case for loose sheets of paper such as drawings or maps; it is a variety set of photographs of a model or actor intended to be shown to a potential employer; it can also be a range of investments held by a person or organization; it describes a range of products or services offered by an organization which called ‘product portfolio’ in marketing; it also describes the position and duties of a Minister or Secretary of State. Painters, graphic artists, journalists, advertisers, authors, poets and other creative types of work profiles  can use career portfolios successfully while job-hunting,

Let us try understanding the term of portfolio with the help of an example. Let’s say there are two candidate shortlisted for a post, who possess the same strengths and experience for a job profile. Candidate number 1 sends his resume to the employer, theoretically stating his skills, achievements, past experiences, and a list of renowned people for references who praise his work. Meanwhile, candidate number 2 sends pictures and samples of his new art work along with letters of appreciation from clients and a collection of tweets admiring his work. Who do you think will get the job? Obviously candidate number 2, because in his case, the recruiter can see the exact work, along with certificates of people who have accepted his work in the market.

The term bio-data, which is rarely used these days, stands for biographical data, is commonly used in the medical field. A bio-data, is usually was used only in hospitals on a prescription pad hung on a patient’s bed side. It mentions the patient’s name, age, sex, weight, disease, medicines given pulse rate, blood pressure, diet given and other relevant details. This form is now used in a few countries, particularly in government institutions, or when applying for grants. Emphasizing an individual’s particulars such as date of birth, religion, sex, race, nationality, address, and marital status. This form is different from a resume and a CV, which focuses more on an individual’s qualifications. Typically in a bio-data factors such as educational qualifications and past job experience take a back seat.

Rarely do we see resumes and CVs tailored to fit a job. Sure, many of the background and academic details tend to remain the same but in a good CV/resumes the tone and accent changes. Rarely people pay attention to what they write in their resume. While you remain the same person, but your description, narrative changes with a new perspective depending on the job you are applying for. It is therefore advisable to constantly re-examine and refine your resume and CV because it speaks volumes about you in absentia. Remember your presentation skill and technique for language matter a lot. Your resume or CV should express your natural self-confidence; keep refining what you say and how you say it in the most concise way. Your CV especially evolves your perceptions on different dimensions in a practical manner. Keep your resume handy with you. Because it is a running list of everything you have accomplished so far. And, you never know a bright opportunity might come your way any time. Keep your CV short and sweet. Put only what is relevant. You don’t need to include everything. Remember, you are advertising yourself for a job, not giving them your life story.

A well written cover letter is essential to be sent with your CV/resume/portfolio or bio-data. Your cover letter should be used to expand on your past achievements, and explain why you think you are the ideal candidate for the role. Use the covering letter to clearly outline your objectives, underlining particular projects or interests that you think will make you stand out. Get straight to the point, employers appreciate an honest approach and keep your document current and up-to-date.

I think it is rare to find a person without a hobby. Most people have a hobby and do something interesting in their free time. Some people have common hobbies while some have unusual hobbies; your hobby either stirs up curiosity and delight in some people while many may have aversion for it. And when some people draw a long face and say that they have no hobby, they appear boring and drag. Your hobby provides a glimpse into your personality. It speaks a lot about your character, it allows you to paint a picture of yourself.  Progressive organizations all over world use hobby as key while hiring personnel as they look at the qualities required to perceive a hobby by a person.

For example, if you are a chess player, you might be good at making strategies. If you like fishing, you might be patient because fishing requires lot of patience. If you like playing Scrabble or doing crossword puzzles, you probably have a broad vocabulary and analytics – perhaps some untapped writing skills. If your love gardening, it shows your potential for creativity and endurance. The key is that each hobby shows some skillset a person has deep down in him/her. In a job interview, the moment interviewer asks about your hobby, the atmosphere eases and you feel little becomes hassle-free while it gives an opportunities for the employer to see your unwritten dispositions.  If you believe that your personality is an asset, then you have to get creative.  The employer also uses your hobby to get a broader perspective about you. Your life outside work may tell a lot about you. If you haven’t impressed the interviewer, here is a chance to impress him.

So, should you include your hobbies on your resume?  Well, there are strong arguments in favor of it and against it. While some people feel that hobbies are very personal and they should not be included in CV, others see is as a way to present their creative side as the best fit for the post in an organization.  Job seekers sometimes make the mistake of including hobbies that reveal too much about their dogmatic or religious beliefs that may cause the employer to have concerns about their regime or character.  However, if you never lose sight of the fact that you are trying to make the employer want to hire you, then it shouldn’t be difficult to stay on track.  There are some ways that your hobbies can make you stand out above your competitors. I think presentation matters.

Hobbies reveal your passions.  It is often said that you can tell a lot about a person by what they do in their spare time. Employers may look to find out your or to get a sense of your values.  Are you passionate about a particular cause?  Are you aware of surroundings? Are you concerned about what is going on in world around you?  Do you use your spare time to network, or instead you just like to relax? What are you, what kind of a person are your, your ethos, your interests and everything you are made of is of a great concern to the employer.

Your hobbies determine your skills.  You acquire skills from everything you do.  If you think back, you may find that you gained some of your most important skills through your hobbies. I know of this young lady who used go as an instructor in a summer camp without fail each summer, kids liked her and loved to be in her company, she was hired by a FMCG in their Human Resource Department where she rose to level of HR Director. Her hobby made her people’s leader. I think we need to review our target job and try to identify the key skills and personality traits which hobbies help us to build. If you have such hobbies which befit your job profile, then it is worth putting them on your resume.

Employers like to hire candidates who are involved in their community.  Employees who are loners and not social tend to singularly focus on their jobs, this is not healthy and may not work for the employee in networking with others. If you demonstrate through your hobbies that you are a go-getter and a friendly person, you may find that it makes your resume even stronger. Never forget that people are at the heart of the hiring process.  In addition to the required skills and experience, the employer is trying to find the right fit for a job profile.  There is a lot more to you than your professional skills.  If you allow the employer to get to know you, they will surely connect with you and decide that it’s you that they want on their team.

Yes, besides a job interview, if you have no hobby it is a sad thing. In fact it’s an alarming symptom. Probably, you just do not know how to organize your time and energy. Psychologists persistently recommend people to do some creative work besides work and house chores. Hobbies fill up our lives with new meaning and develop our creative abilities. A hobby should not distract you from your main profession or resolution of life. Don’t look at it as time killer. After all, a hobby helps you to grow in life, to broaden your mind and train your intellect.

Rarely do we see resumes tailored to fit a job. Sure, many of the background and academic details tend to remain the same but in a good resumes the tone and accent changes. Rarely does peole pay attention to while writing their resume. You remain the same person, but your description, narrative changes with a new perspective depending on the job you are applying for. It is therefore advisable to constantly re-examine and refine your CV. A CV speaks volumes about us in absentia.

Over some time and with experience, while looking at your CV your presentation skill and technique for language will improve. Couple this to the natural self-confidence you develop during spells of employment and your CV should for sure reflect that. It’s all about refining what you say and how you say it in the most concise way, and you’ll be surprised how your perceptions evolve on different dimensions in CV.

Yes, your CV speaks volumes about who you are, how you think, your strengths and weaknesses – though we do not present our weaknesses. It gives an image of your finesse, your capability, your background, your skills, intelligence etc. Your CV should be confident. Employers not only want to hear about your appropriate successes but also why and how you’ve achieved them. This confidence however should not be presented in an over-stating manner. Nobody can ever be great without any substance. Avoid wordy jargon, exaggeration or buzzwords. Let your CV stand out by giving the helpful facts and figures. Give those hard evidences those which are self-explanatory.  Don’t clutter your CV with too many things about yourself. Don’t lose the purpose in the midst of it. A good CV remains sharp and snappy for quick reference. Adopt the right tone throughout the CV.

Avoid pessimism: If you have had to face adversities, mention it with words such as “challenge”, faced. Also, do not shy to mention how you faced them. Avoid words such as “hate”, “quit”, or “disagreed” Alternative suitable phrases would be “overcame”, “influenced”, or “re-approached.”

If you are applying for a journalist’s job then your skills such as editing, writing, fluency over languages, your grasp to understand things, an eye for detail etc should be highlighted. Remember, one size doesn’t fit all; you will need different versions of your CV depending on whom it is aimed at. I often suggest people to avoid using standard templates. Instead, write it uniquely.  Focus on relevant experience and transferable skills from previous jobs which you have learnt.

The HR manager looks out for some of these traits in your CV: they are enthusiasm, because enthusiasm drives employee engagement and innovation.  Communication skills – no organization is able to compromise on importance communication in today’s globalized marketing environment.  Next is creativity. Organizations crave for creative people. Thinking out of the box is an extraordinary quality. If you have it, write it foremost in your CV.  In today’s age of entitlement and instant gratification, the critical concept of commitment stands out in a CV. Do present it in good words. Team spirit is very important in any field of life because it binds people together of different temperaments, different attitudes. If you can lead and activate people in group, trust me you have again an extra ordinary quality. Highlight it. HR managers look for another quality and that is openness to new ideas, new processes, and new people and so on. As corporations are ever changing entities, your ability to change with it is crucial. Your CV must speak how you adapted in the past and how you can do it again, if required.

One most important advice is keeping your research on; examine not only the work you want to do but where you want to work. When you find a job that you want to do and feel qualified to do, investigate the company, its culture as well as what is said and left unsaid about the company. Be sure about the work culture of the company. You should not land in soup.

And, also one of the hallmarks of your personality is emotional Intelligence. It is your ability to match the communication style with the organization through your CV, on email, on mobile or social media. Pay attention to not only the key words being used by the company in describing a position you are applying for but also how they have placed those words. Match their style so that you can spoon-feed them about your brilliance by helping them to see that you have the qualification, talent and experience they need.

So, let your CV have the following:

Contact details: It’s important to provide a range of up-to-date contact options including your home address, your main phone number and your email address to make it easy for employers to get in touch with you.

Employment history: Include the jobs that are relevant to the position you are applying for. If you haven’t had much applicable experience, be honest about it. However, you may express your interest by stating your grasping and learning abilities or you may want to include your entire work history.

Education and qualifications: Your education and qualifications may not be directly related to the job you are applying for, but they’re still important achievements that any employer will want to see. These days’ organizations are not too obsessed with educational qualifications. They prefer practicality of an individual.

Skills and strengths: Strength is something you’re naturally good at. A skill is something you acquire with education and experience. Make sure to express how your skills and strengths will help you to do well in the job.

References: Give references of people who know you fairly well and those who will speak on your behalf.  You don’t have to include references in your CV and leaving them out will save you space, but make sure to state at the end of your CV that they are available on request.

If your CV is shortlisted and you are called for an interview, the interviewer might ask you to “walk him/her through your resume.”  When you are asked to do so – you should be able to talk about each section of your resume in a linear, lucid, and enthusiastic fashion. Do not go too much in-depth into any one item. Do not bore the interviewer and do not remain superficial either. Touch on your academic, professional, leadership, technical, and personal qualifications, concluding with a statement about why these experiences are important for your industry.

 Lastly, use a good simple format. Check and re-check spelling and punctuation. Keep sentences short to avoid confused punctuation and, if you can, give it to a friend to check it over. Spell check should be the very last thing you do before sending it off.

If you are not applying for some time now for a new job, take some time off and work on your CV – it’s worth it.