UK CV vs US resume: what changes and what doesn't

Plenty of jobs now cross borders. Remote roles are open to applicants in other countries, US companies hire in London, and UK companies recruit from everywhere. That means many people end up sending the same document to employers who expect slightly different things.

The good news is that a UK CV and a US resume are much closer than their names suggest. Both are short, focused summaries of your work. The differences are mostly in length, wording and a few personal details. Get those right and your application reads as if you know the market.

First, the names

In the UK, the document you send with a job application is a CV (curriculum vitae). In the US, it is a resume.

In the US, "CV" usually means something else: a long, detailed record of an academic career, with publications, grants and teaching. If you are applying for a job outside academia in the US, send a resume, and call it that. In the UK, "resume" is understood but sounds American; "CV" is the normal word.

Length

This is the difference people notice most.

• US resumes are traditionally tight. One page is common for early-career candidates, and two pages is generally fine once you have several years of relevant experience. Recruiters in the US tend to expect you to have been selective.
• UK CVs are commonly two pages. A third page is sometimes acceptable for senior or contract roles with a long history, but two is a sensible target for most people.

Either way, the rule underneath is the same: every line should earn its place. For a US version, that usually means trimming older roles to a line or two, cutting skills that are not relevant to the job, and tightening bullet points.

Spelling and vocabulary

Use the spelling of the market you are applying to. A US resume should say "optimized", "analyzed" and "color"; a UK CV should say "optimised", "analysed" and "colour". It is a small thing, but it signals care, and inconsistent spelling looks like a document that was not checked.

A few words change too:

• "Mobile" in the UK, "cell" in the US, for your phone number.
• "University" in the UK; in the US, "college" is also common for undergraduate study.
• "Programme" in British English for a scheme or course, but "program" for software in both.

Do not respell proper names. If your employer was the "Digital Transformation Programme" or your title was "Programme Manager", keep it as written.

Paper size

It sounds trivial, but it shows up when a recruiter prints your CV or opens the PDF.

• UK: A4.
• US: Letter, which is slightly wider and shorter than A4.

A CV designed for A4 and opened on Letter can end up with cramped margins or text pushed onto an extra page. Export a separate PDF for each market if you can.

Personal details

Both markets have moved away from personal details that have nothing to do with the job, largely because of equality and anti-discrimination laws. In practice, in either country:

• No photo. Photos are normal in some countries, but not in the UK or US, and many recruiters prefer not to receive them.
• No date of birth or age.
• No marital status, children or nationality.

What you should include:

• Your name, email, phone number and a location. A city and country, or "Remote, UK", is enough; a full street address is not needed.
• Links that help: LinkedIn, GitHub, a portfolio or personal site.
• Your right-to-work status, if it is relevant. If you are applying from abroad or need visa sponsorship, saying so clearly ("Eligible to work in the UK", "Requires H-1B sponsorship") saves everyone time. Employers often ask this in the application form anyway.

You also do not need "References available on request" in either market. It is assumed.

Structure and summary

The structure is almost identical in both:

1. Name and contact details.
2. A short summary at the top.
3. Work experience, most recent first.
4. Skills.
5. Education, certifications and, where useful, projects.

The summary is called a "personal statement" or "profile" in the UK and a "summary" in the US. In both, it should be two to four sentences about what you do and what you are looking for, not a paragraph of adjectives.

Where the markets differ slightly is in tone. US resumes often lean harder on results and numbers in each bullet. UK CVs can be a little more descriptive. The difference is small: in both, a bullet that says what you did, how, and what happened as a result is the strongest kind.

Dates

Write dates in a way that avoids confusion. The UK writes day/month/year and the US writes month/day/year, so "03/04/2024" means different things on each side of the Atlantic. On a CV you rarely need the day anyway. "Mar 2024 – Present" works in both.

Education and qualifications

Keep your qualifications as they are. Do not convert a UK degree classification into a US GPA, or a GPA into a classification; there is no official equivalence, and a made-up conversion is worse than none. If you think a US reader might not know what a "2:1" means, write it out: "BSc Computer Science, Upper Second-Class Honours (2:1)".

The same applies to certifications and job titles. Changing the spelling of your title to suit the market is fine only if it is a common word, not an official name.

Quick reference

• Name: CV in the UK, resume in the US.
• Length: usually two pages in the UK; one page early in your career in the US, up to two with experience.
• Spelling: British for the UK, American for the US.
• Paper: A4 for the UK, Letter for the US.
• Photo, age, marital status: leave them out in both.
• The summary at the top: a personal statement or profile in the UK, a summary in the US.
• Dates: "Mar 2024" in both; avoid numeric dates.

Keeping two versions without doubling the work

If you apply in both markets, keep one master document with all your experience, then produce a UK and a US version from it for each application. Most of the changes are mechanical (spelling, paper size, trimming), and the content stays the same.

MyCVStack writes each tailored CV for the region you choose: British spelling and A4 for the UK, American spelling and Letter for the US, and it calls the document a CV or a resume to match. It doesn't convert grades or change your qualifications. See how it works.