CV vs. Resume

I've been asked for a copy of my CV, and fortunately I have one available that is only about (ahem) a year behind, so I can update it and whip it out without too much fuss. I am once again kicking myself for not keeping all this in a database that could then be used to populate the document, but that's not what this post is about.

I don't like submitting a CV, because it's so--so--sparse, I guess, compared to my resume. My resume is full of job activities and action verbs, and I feel like it is an authentic representation of my work life. The CV makes me feel inadequate, with its emphasis and teaching, publishing, and presentations. I feel like a lot of what is there is padding (small articles, presentations at local conferences, etc.).

My resume is substance; my CV is air. I don't like that.

But then again, one thing that my CV highlights about me that my resume almost totally misses is my commitment to sharing in the library field. Sure, I did a lot of my presentations under the roof of the NNLM, but I've been a private citizen for a year now, and a third of my CV content is from 2005. I present (and am trying to publish more) for the same reason I blog: I have all these thoughts up here, and it helps me clarify and understand to share them with someone else. It is a huge added bonus that maybe hearing my thoughts can help someone else think on their own.

So, maybe my CV is more substantive than my resume after all; from this perspective, the resume is about what I do while the CV is about who I am, and there is nothing airy about that.