what's a "CV"?

curriculum vitae

in other words, what qualifications and experiences in your history make you qualified to write/teach/expound on subject X

In the UK we use Latin - I believe it translates to "Life Story" - whereas in the US you use French. Strange that neither of us use English!

ReallyRong said:

In the UK we use Latin - I believe it translates to "Life Story" - whereas in the US you use French. Strange that neither of us use English!

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Curriculum vitae is used in the US, but it's more common in certain fields than in others.

C.V. is generally different from a resumé in that the c.v. emphasizes a person's educational background first, then employment. It's very very common in higher ed.

It's the same data as a resumé, but it's presented differently. Google for some examples, but look for examples from sites ending in .edu, rather than sites that are likely about PR or selling a career service.

Well whatever (as I keep hearing from my teenage daughter). To my mind, if a British agent has requested a CV then my first thoughts would be that they want your career history. But then I'd be thinking why would they want that? If your work is factual then okay, they want to establish your credentials. Otherwise I'm at a loss..

There's a surprisingly decent discussion, and comparison, and a list of suggested sections for a British / E. U. c.v. on Wikipedia. It's very much like the one British universities request from postgrads applying for jobs.

Curriculum Vita. Story of one's life. I was born in a tiny shack in a swamp and went to school despite the lack of shoes and an early addiction to smoking tobaccee. that sort of stuff

That's a good link but if I were a Brit asked by a Brit to produce a CV, I would interpret it as a request for a history. The average Brit wouldn't have much, if any idea of what a resume is, let alone the succint differences. It's simply not a term that's used in this part of the world. If you've been asked for a CV then they want to know all sorts of meaningless stuff that they can use to filter you out, like where you were born, how old you are, what's your marital status, where you went to school, where you went to College, what qualifications you got, and what your work history is. Sometimes they want a couple of referees who will back up your story. BTW - in my younger days I kept a copy of my cv on the local computer and named the file "lieslieslies.txt" and it didn't do me any harm. ie don't be intimidated - play them at their own game. I'd also say that you should always exagerate (sp?),but don't go beyond the point where you can't explain yourself out of it. Erm, having just proof-read this, I'm not too sure where that bombastic lesson in subterfuge came from, but I must have had a bad experience in the past that I've blocked out...