CV or resume? UK, US and EU formats compared
Last updated July 2026 · Written by the HappyHire team
Short answer
In the UK a CV runs two pages, with no photo, no date of birth and no marital status. In the US a resume runs one to two pages, and including a photo or personal details can actively get your application discarded for legal reasons. In much of continental Europe — Germany, France, Spain, Italy — a photo and date of birth are still conventional and their absence looks odd. The document is otherwise similar; it is these local details that mark you as an outsider.
The differences at a glance
| UK | US | Germany / France / Spain / Italy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name of document | CV | Resume | CV / Lebenslauf / CV |
| Length | 2 pages | 1 page (2 if senior) | 1–2 pages |
| Photo | No | No — actively avoid | Yes, conventional |
| Date of birth | No | No — illegal to ask | Commonly included |
| Marital status / nationality | No | No | Often included |
| Address | City only | City and state only | Full address common |
| References | 'Available on request' or omit | Omit entirely | Often attached, with certificates |
| Spelling | British | American | Local or British English |
| Personal statement at top | Short profile, 3–4 lines | Summary, 2–3 lines, optional | Common |
Why the US is stricter than it looks
American employers are not being fussy about photos and birthdates — they are managing legal exposure. US anti-discrimination law makes it risky to be in possession of information about a candidate's age, race, marital status or national origin during hiring. Some companies instruct recruiters to discard any resume that includes a photo, precisely so they can demonstrate the information was never considered.
So a resume that would be perfectly normal in Munich can be binned unread in Chicago, and the candidate never learns why. If you are applying across both markets, keep two versions of the file rather than one compromise version.
The continental European picture
Germany, Austria and Switzerland run the most formal convention: a photo, full personal details, and often a complete Bewerbungsmappe including scanned certificates and previous employers' written references (Arbeitszeugnisse). Omitting these does not read as modern — it reads as incomplete.
France, Spain and Italy sit in the middle: photo usual, personal details common, one to two pages, with a clear preference for a tidy and conventional layout over anything designed. The Netherlands and the Nordics lean much closer to the UK model, and photos there are increasingly optional.
Europass — the EU's standard CV template — is worth a specific warning. It is genuinely expected for EU institutions, some public sector roles and certain mobility programmes. Almost everywhere else it is a disadvantage: it is table-based (so it parses badly), it is long, and its rigid structure buries achievements under form fields. Use it where it is asked for, and a normal CV everywhere else.
What stays the same everywhere
- Reverse chronological order, most recent role first.
- Bullets that lead with a verb and land on a result.
- Numbers wherever numbers honestly exist.
- Tailoring to the specific advert — the single highest-value thing you can do in any market.
- Clean, single-column, parseable formatting. Every market runs applicant tracking systems.
Spelling and vocabulary
Set your document language before you write, not after. A UK CV saying 'optimized', 'analyzed' and 'program' looks like a US application sent by mistake, and a US resume full of 'organised' and 'centre' looks the same in reverse. It is a small signal that costs nothing to get right.
A few vocabulary swaps matter too: UK 'CV' vs US 'resume'; UK 'mobile' vs US 'cell'; UK 'A-levels' and 'GCSEs' vs US 'high school diploma' — and when writing for a US audience, state the equivalence rather than assuming they know your national qualifications.
Frequently asked questions
Should I put a photo on my CV?
Not for the UK, US, Ireland, Canada or Australia. Yes for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain and Italy, where its absence is noticeable. If you are unsure about a specific country, leaving it off is the safer error — it is mildly unconventional in Europe, whereas including it can be disqualifying in the US.
Is a CV the same as a resume?
Outside the US they are the same document under different names. Inside the US they are genuinely different: a resume is the one to two page document used for essentially all jobs, while a 'CV' means a long academic document listing publications, grants and teaching, used only in academia, medicine and research.
Can one CV work for the UK, US and EU?
No, and trying costs you more than the ten minutes of maintaining separate files. The conflicts are direct — a photo helps in one market and disqualifies you in another. Keep a master document with everything, then cut a market-specific version from it.
Should I use the Europass CV template?
Only where it is explicitly requested — EU institutions, some public sector and mobility programmes. Elsewhere it parses poorly through applicant tracking systems and hides your achievements inside a rigid form. A conventional CV performs better in ordinary private-sector applications.