RESUME v/s BIODATA

Case I :A diligent & hard working student, Rohit Rai wanted to intern in one of the leading hotels of the country. When he approached the hotels, they asked him for his C.V. but Rohit didn’t have it. He sat down to make one for himself but he just couldn’t understand how it was to be made. He surfed the internet but got confused between Bio Data, Resume, C.V. He wondered what these terms were and why were they important in securing an internship.

Case II: Tulika Shastri was searching for a job. As a fresher , she was clueless about the entire process of securing a job. When she approached a company, she carried her mark sheets along but instead they asked her for her C.V. She had no idea of what it was and returned home without securing a job.

Both Rohit & Tulika exemplify the ordeal faced by almost all college going students and freshers who wish to procure jobs in today’s world. This blog post is an attempt at clearing the confusion regarding these terms and at the same time to understand the what, why and how of the same.

Bio Data/ Resume/C.V. are often used interchangeably and denote a particular kind of an official document comprising of a person’s personal as well as professional information. This document is a necessary pre-requisite for securing an Internship/ job for one and all. Although Bio Data, C.V. & Resume are used for the same purpose yet they are minutely distinct from each other. Their description is as follows :

BIO-DATA or Biographical Data

 It is one of the oldest type of document which is made while applying for a job.

 It gives a detailed account of a person’s personal information followed by his educational qualification and work experience.

 It is an archaic( outdated) form of Resume/ C.V.

RESUME

It is a French word that means summary .

It is a summary of a persons education, skills and employment experiences when applying for a new job

It does not include all the details, but specific skills related to the target job.

Since it focuses on specific skills of the applicant, it is not more than 2-3 pages long. It is always written in the third person narrative.

C.V. or Curriculum Vitae

It comes from Latin Language and means Course of Life

 It is more detailed than a Resume

 It includes all the details –each and every skill of a person, all jobs done till date etc.

 It focuses on general professional skills of an individual

A candidate should use Curriculum Vitae only when he/she is a fresher and has no previous work experience . A Resume is ideal for a person having work experience in a particular or various fields. A Bio Data is outdated and is hardly utilised in today’s age.