SEAK faculty member who is a personal branding expert answers the question:  Many people think that a CV and a resume is the same thing. Can you touch upon what the differences are between a CV and a resume and why the distinction is important to a physician applying for a non-clinical position?

The distinction between a CV and a resume is that a CV is typically much longer. It can be short; but typically much longer. There’s a vast difference about the content. A CV is typically, what we call, task oriented, skills oriented, and background oriented. A resume, at least a resume done right, should be much more oriented towards the future. Using what you’ve done in the past to predict your ability to do that type of thing in the future. Always, again, around the bottom line: what’s it going to mean for the employer; translating your physician skills into real-world corporate skills. That’s the biggest part of a resume is to show chemistry and fit by showing your brand and your value proposition.

Your value proposition being what the biggest thing is that you bring to the table. If it’s going to mean something to the employer and then having a resume. The contents of the resume support that value proposition. There is also a confusion because, in Europe and other parts of the world, resumes and CV’s and “CVs”. Here in the United States, a CV is typically something that a doctor or a physician would use and a resume is something that you are going to have to have for that transition. A CV is just not going to get you in the door.