Résumé or CV? Formats in the US, UK, EU and Türkiye

Two words, three documents

In the United States and Canada, a résumé is the one- or two-page document you send for a job, and a CV (curriculum vitae) is the long academic record of publications, grants and teaching used in universities and research. In the United Kingdom, Ireland and most of Europe, CV is the everyday word for the job document and résumé is rarely used. In Türkiye, CV and özgeçmiş mean the same thing.

So the real question is not which word you prefer but which market you are applying in. The conventions below are what employers in each place are used to seeing. None of them is law, except where noted, and a strong candidate is not rejected over a page size. But a document that looks foreign to the reader costs you attention you would rather spend on your experience.

United States and Canada

One page for most people with under about ten years of experience, two pages for longer careers; rarely more. Paper size is US Letter (8.5 × 11 inches), which matters because an A4 document opened or printed on Letter reflows and may push a line onto a new page.

No photo, no date of birth, no marital status, no nationality. Anti-discrimination law makes employers wary of receiving information they are not allowed to consider, and some will discard a résumé with a photo rather than keep it on file. References are not listed and “references available on request” is not written; the employer will ask. Sections: contact details, summary, experience, education, skills. Experienced candidates often omit graduation years. Canada follows the same pattern; postings in Québec may expect French.

United Kingdom and Ireland

The document is a CV, two pages is the norm, and the paper is A4. No photo. Date of birth is now routinely left off: age is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 and employers prefer not to see it. Nationality is omitted; right-to-work status can be stated in one line if it is an advantage.

A short personal statement or profile at the top is standard. Education is given in more detail than in the US, especially early in a career: degree classification (First, 2:1), A-levels or equivalents. A short interests section is common and harmless. “References available on request” still appears on many British CVs; it is optional.

Continental Europe and Europass

Conventions vary by country, but across most of continental Europe a photo is common and generally optional: expected by many employers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain and Italy, less remarked on elsewhere. Date of birth and nationality still appear on many CVs, though the trend is away from both. Two pages on A4 is typical; a dated signature at the end survives in some countries.

Europass is the European Union's standard CV format, free to produce on the EU's Europass site. Every EU employer accepts it, and EU institutions and agencies, some public bodies and mobility programmes such as Erasmus+ often ask for it specifically. Private-sector recruiters tend to find it rigid and generic, so unless it is requested, a well-structured CV of your own is usually the better choice.

Germany: the Lebenslauf

The German Lebenslauf is traditionally tabular: dates in a narrow left column, content on the right, reverse chronological, one to two pages on A4. A professional photo in the top corner is customary but not required; since the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) of 2006 employers cannot demand one, and some large companies run anonymised processes. The personal data block once gave date and place of birth, nationality and marital status; nationality and marital status have largely disappeared, date of birth is still common but optional.

German employers expect a gap-free account: periods of unemployment, parental leave or travel are listed with dates rather than hidden. The Lebenslauf is one part of the Bewerbungsunterlagen, together with a cover letter (Anschreiben) and copies of certificates and employer references (Zeugnisse); references here are documents, not phone numbers. A place, date and signature at the foot of the CV remain customary in PDF applications. For online systems, a single-column version with dates on the first line of each entry parses better than the two-column original.

Türkiye

CV and özgeçmiş are interchangeable; the paper is A4; one to two pages. A photo is common and often expected, though not a legal requirement: many postings say “fotoğraflı CV” and Kariyer.net profiles have a photo field. A personal details block (Kişisel Bilgiler) frequently carries date of birth, driving licence class and, for men, military service status (Askerlik durumu: Yapıldı, Tecilli or Muaf). Employers ask about military service because conscription is compulsory for male citizens and affects availability; stating it saves a question.

Languages are listed with a level, usually CEFR (A1–C2) or an exam score such as YDS, TOEFL or IELTS. References with names and phone numbers appear more often than in the US or UK; under the data protection law (KVKK) you should have the referee's consent before you share their details. Postings in English, common at multinationals, expect an English CV; many candidates keep both versions. Kariyer.net exports and Turkish templates include fields (marital status, nationality, military status) that should be removed for applications abroad.

The academic CV

For research, teaching and some clinical posts, every market uses a long CV: education, positions, publications, conference talks, grants, teaching, supervision, service. There is no page limit; completeness is the point. Follow the discipline's conventions for citation order and keep a separate one-page résumé for industry applications. In Türkiye, universities commonly ask for the YÖK Akademik profile or their own form alongside the CV.

One document, many markets: what to change

Keep one master document and adapt a copy for each market.

• Page size: Letter for the US and Canada, A4 everywhere else; check line breaks after switching.
• Photo: off for the US, Canada and the UK; on or optional for continental Europe and Türkiye.
• Personal details: remove date of birth, marital status, nationality and military status for the US, Canada and the UK; keep what is customary elsewhere.
• Dates: write the month as a word (“Mar 2021”) to avoid the day-month and month-day ambiguity.
• Spelling: US or UK consistently (organisation/organization, programme/program).
• Degrees: give the local name and an equivalent in brackets: “Lisans (BSc)”, “Yüksek Lisans (MSc)”, “Diplom (MSc equivalent)”.
• Language levels: use CEFR letters (B2, C1) rather than national exam scores, with the score in brackets if it is strong.
• Do not title the document “Résumé” or “CV”; your name is the title.