Resume / CV - what's the European standard? (What's the American academic standard, for that matter?)

[SeriousSillyPutty]

I am in contact with someone at CERN about doing a summer internship with the education department. Since they don't normally have such internships, I'm not going through the normal application process that physics/engineering students would be doing, which I imagine is more formal.

Anyway, he asked me to send a CV, so I have a few questions I'm hoping someone here can answer. (For what it's worth, the person I'm in contact with is German, though CERN is a very international environment, and I don't think any country's norms would be that new to him.)

1) I know that in the UK (and I assume most of Europe) they use the term CV for what Americans call a resume. But for Americans, a CV is the term for something slightly different -- an academic resume that lists publications and such. Since I have no publication to brag about, I end up submitting a resume instead of a CV anyway, so this is perhaps a moot point, but which do you think he is referring to?

2) Are there any "do"s or "don't"s for a European CV that might be different than the American version? (For instance, I would advise people to not include salary information on an American resume, though I have seen that on some international ones.)

3) In Europe, British English terms/spelling and A4 size paper are standard, right? (I love me so me theatre, but graduating with "honours" makes me feel like a poser.)

3) Regardless of the country it's for, I'm curious how I should adjust my resume now that I'm in grad school. My old resume listed my undergrad GPA... in general, should my new resume also list my grad school GPA? And do GPAs mean anything in a European context anyway? Should I drop my UG GPA and other information, just as one drops any mention of high school once college is commenced?

Thanks for any/all tips. I'd also be interested more generally on what people do or do not put on resumes/CVs in their countries.

[Usmivka]

(I love me so me theatre, but graduating with "honours" makes me feel like a poser.)

Me too! I think it is the "our" thing specifically, because I feel similarly uncomfortable with "colours".

I'm also curious about this one. There are a couple Germans downstairs, I'll go find them and see if I can wrangle a CV. No promises though.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Usmivka

[Usmivka]

No luck, they are both at sea.

 

Perhaps you should use the spellings you prefer and put a line at the top that says you are using the American spellings that appear on your degrees/are used by the institutions? I would hope that no one will hold it against you if it is clear that different spellings are not misspellings.

 

And I think major fellowships and your degrees from your undergrad ought to be listed (eg BS in Fantastonomics, with honors or BA in Concrete Sculpture, cum laude). I do think the GPA is superfluous now.

[ohgoodness]

I can voice for Sweden and say that GPA is superfluous and would be considered uncouth and braggy.  Swedes, however, frown upon these sort of things and like it more implicit (going to a good school or working for a good/famed company is the way of saying "look I have a 4.0 but why ever would I say that".)

 

My CV contains all of my professional achievements.  Employment, School, and Volunteering.  There is, however, zero room for bragging as it is very very descriptive.

 

The only thing that I would say is different is that you should be less pushy and direct in Europe but otherwise - your standards will transfer well. American or British spelling - meh.. Same language, different name.  

Edited January 14, 2013 by cherub

[SeriousSillyPutty]

Thanks for the tips!

What's your definition of bragging?

Here they tell us to describe accomplishments like, "Earned $20,000 grant to improve student literacy" or "Supervised 10 employees," or "Received Nobel Peace prize for supervising employees and improving student literacy."

Is that an acceptable part of the description, or is it to boastful?

[bamafan]

Just submit it the same as you would here. I honestly don't think there's much of a difference content-wise and the language thing is trivial. No one is going to think, "well, I was going to accept him but damn, he used the American spelling for honors."

[SeriousSillyPutty]

Haha I agree, no one is going to reject me because of which spell check I use -- and they deal with so many Americans that it wouldn't phase them anyway. On principle, though, I want to minimize distractions, and unusual spelling is a small and easily avoidable distraction. (Likewise, when I'm teaching kids here, I will talk about a "soda can" even though I grew up in strong "pop can" territory, because I want them to focus on the activity, not the word choice.)

My bigger concern is watching out for cultural/professional norms. Again, they're exposed to Americans enough that it's probably not a big deal, but I don't want to make the wrong impression if I can avoid it -- especially given the "ugly American" stereotype that already exists.

[uromastyx]

There are notable differences between a CV and a resume - content, structure, language. Indeed, the CV will underscore experiences related to academia. Education, professional experiences, publications, service/outreach, conferences, grants, awards, languages, etc. It will typically lack the definitional elements of a resume, i.e. descriptions, skills, etc. There is more than one way to skin a cat, but you should definitely familiarize yourself with the explicate differneces as well as the nuances. I suggest looking at many and finding a few that you find appealing. Also, I have both an American and a German CV. There are vast differences.

[SeriousSillyPutty]

There are notable differences between a CV and a resume ....

Also, I have both an American and a German CV. There are vast differences.

In the US context, I know the difference between a CV and a resume. However, when I was in Ireland, they used the term CV for (non academic) job situations where Americans would use the term resume. Ireland tends to follow British English, and, in my (limited) experience, so does the rest of Europe. So in other parts of Europe, are both terms used, or just CV? And if only CV is used, does one just base the content of it (i.e., would it be more similar to an American resume or an American CV) around context clues, or is there another way to distinguish academic vs professional summaries.

What are some of the differences between the American and German CV?