Cookie settings

Click on the types of cookies below to learn more about them and customize your experience on our Site. You may freely give, refuse or withdraw your consent. Keep in mind that disabling cookies may affect your experience on the Site. For more information, please visit our Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy.

Choose type of cookies to accept

Analytics

These cookies allow us to analyze our performance to offer you a better experience of creating resumes and cover letters. Analytics related cookies used on our Site are not used by Us for the purpose of identifying who you are or to send you targeted advertising. For example, we may use cookies/tracking technologies for analytics related purposes to determine the number of visitors to our Site, identify how visitors move around the Site and, in particular, which pages they visit. This allows us to improve our Site and our services.

Performance and Personalization

These cookies give you access to a customized experience of our products. Personalization cookies are also used to deliver content, including ads, relevant to your interests on our Site and third-party sites based on how you interact with our advertisements or content as well as track the content you access (including video viewing). We may also collect password information from you when you log in, as well as computer and/or connection information. During some visits, we may use software tools to measure and collect session information, including page response times, download errors, time spent on certain pages and page interaction information.

Advertising

These cookies are placed by third-party companies to deliver targeted content based on relevant topics that are of interest to you. And allow you to better interact with social media platforms such as Facebook.

Necessary

These cookies are essential for the Site's performance and for you to be able to use its features. For example, essential cookies include: cookies dropped to provide the service, maintain your account, provide builder access, payment pages, create IDs for your documents and store your consents.

To see a detailed list of cookies, click here.

Save preferences

CV vs Cover Letter: What’s the Difference?

The difference between a CV and cover letter is like that between PB & J. And just like PB & J, they form an epic pairing.

As seen in:

Before even setting foot in the door, you have a couple of opportunities to show the recruiter your best side.

Those two chances are your cover letter and your CV.

Needless to say, you need to hit a bullseye with both of them if you want to be considered for the job. Otherwise, you’re just another application.

To do that, you need to understand not just the difference between a CV and cover letter, but how they work as an awesome team.

This guide will show you the differences, similarities, and how to make them fight for you like Gregor Clegane.

First look at both documents created in our builder. On the left—a resume, in the middle—a CV for academic purposes, on the right—a cover letter.

Want to save time and have your CV ready in 5 minutes? Try our CV builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ CV templates and create your CV here.

Create your cover letter now

Sample resume, CV and cover letter made with our builder—See more templates and create your CV here.

One of our users, Nikos, had this to say:

[I used] a nice template I found on Zety. My CV is now one page long, not three. With the same stuff.

Looking for CV and cover letter examples? Look no more:

Is a CV a Cover Letter?

A cover letter is brief while a CV is quite detailed and long. A CV includes detailed information about your work experience and academic background while a cover letter is a condensed document that explains why you’re applying for the given job.

But let’s park that for a minute and break it down.

What is a CV?

That actually depends where you are.

In the U.S., a CV (also known as a curriculum vitae) is a very detailed document that lists your work experience, skills, educational background along with other academic achievements and it used be people pursuing a career in academia.

In most of the rest of the world, a CV is for a job and looks exactly like it’s American resume counterpart. It contains information on your work experience, skills, and educational background in reference to a particular job you’re applying for.

For the sake of this article, we’ll be using CV to mean the curriculum vitae used in the academic community within the U.S.

A typical academic CV has the following format:

Contact Information
Research Profile
Education Section
Publications
Awards and Honors
Grants and Fellowships
Conferences
Teaching Experience
Research Experience
Languages and Skills

Impressive, no?

Given the large amount of information academic CVs contain, they can actually go on for several pages and it’s considered standard in academia.

When making a CV in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

Create my CVnow

When you’re done, Zety’s CV builder will score your CV and tell you exactly how to make it better.

So What Is a Cover Letter?

A cover letter is similar to what its name suggests— it’s a letter that covers the key points in your experience and skill set that prove you’re a great candidate for the job.

Unlike the bullet pointed list usually found on a CV, the cover letter reads like a letter and gives you an opportunity to deep dive into concrete examples of your expertise.

The general layout of a cover letter looks like this:

Cover letter header
Cover letter salutation
Cover letter introduction
Secondary paragraph that underlines your experience and expertise
Third paragraph that proves you’re a great fit to the company and role
Cover letter ending with a call to action
Professional sign-off

Compare this cover letter structure with the CV structure above and you can see how different they are.

CV vs Cover Letter—The Differences

Generally, the focus of a CV is your value to academia, while a cover letter goes right for the feels.

But nothing clears things up like a nice table of values.

Have a look at the table below to see a side by side comparison of the major differences between an academic CV and a cover letter.

Difference Between a Cover Letter and CV

	CV	Cover Letter
Content	Specific details	General information
Format	Lists and bullet points	Paragraphs and sentences
Length	May be several pages	Usually 1 page
Content	Facts and data	Examples and ideas
Purpose	Applying for academic jobs	Providing additional background information

But it’s not only the differences between a CV and a cover letter that are important.

Let’s see what makes them such a great pair.

CV vs Cover Letter—The Similarities

Just like it takes two to tango on the ballroom floor, the CV usually takes the lead in the dance across the recruiter’s desk. But without a cover letter, it’s just one dancer swirling around with air.

Together they prove your skills and career experience—the CV lists them and the cover letter describes them in action through compelling examples.

The result is a holistic picture of your expertise and what kind of employee you are.

And think about it—the more the recruiter knows from the get go, the more convinced they can be that you’re the candidate you’re looking for before you even step foot into the interview!

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your CV will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Key Takeaway

Let’s do a quick recap of what we’ve covered today:

In the U.S., CVs are used in academia. In most of the rest of the world, a CV is used to get a job.
Cover letters are letters that accompany CVs/resumes and go more in depth into your job experience and expertise.
CVs are focused on facts and data about your work experience while cover letters are centered around compelling examples of your expertise as well as your character.
A CV and cover letter deliver the most impact when they are tailored and sent together.

Thanks for reading! Are there any other differences or similarities between CVs and cover letters that you noticed? Let us know in the comments below!

Rate my article: cv cover letter difference

Average: 4.78 (9 votes)

How to Write a Cover Letter for a Resume in 2022 (Any Job)

A cover letter (covering letter) is a document attached to your job application that introduces you in a more personal way and compliments the info on your resume or CV, expanding on the skills and achievements, and highlighting a selection of your greatest career successes.

How to Make a Resume: Writing Guide, Tips & Rules for 2022

How to write a resume that will get you the job you're looking for? This step-by-step guide will show you the best resume examples, and you can write a resume in a few easy steps.

How to Write a CV for a Job Application in 2022 (Guide)

A complete guide to writing a CV that wins you the job. 15+ actionable examples and insider tips. Use our CV template and learn from the best CV examples out there. Writing a CV has never been that easy. Read more and learn how to make your own!

Cookie settings

Don't miss out on exclusive stories that will supercharge your career!

Similar articles