CV, Biodata, and Resume – How Do They Differ?

With many home-based careers available, becoming a virtual assistant has seen a major boom. A virtual assistant is generally a self-employed individual who provides professional assistance to clients remotely from a home office.

So how do you actually start off your career as a virtual assistant? Like many jobs, it begins with crafting one very substantial document that includes all of your work-related experiences and academic performance — a bio data, a CV (Curriculum Vitae) or a resume. What exactly are the differences between the three, which one is more significant than the other and how can they boost your career as a virtual assistant?

First, let’s talk about a bio data.

A bio data, which is the shortened form of Biographical Data, is a document that focuses on the personal details of an applicant such as your religion, date of birth, race, nationality, age, marital status, residence and the like. A chronological order of your professional and academic experience shortly follows after, and this is usually a page to two pages long.

Second is a resume.

Resume is a noun borrowed from the French language which means “summary.” It’s usually written in the third person point of view, and as the English translation suggests, it doesn’t need all of your personal details and rather focuses on certain and specific skills that matches the requirements of the particular job or position you are applying for. Resumes are most important when applying for a new job, so best to have this prepared when you’re out there job hunting.

Lastly, you have the Curriculum Vitae.

It’s borrowed from the Latin language, and it means “course of life.” It is a more detailed counterpart of the bio data and the resume, and it lists down, in chronological order, all of the professional and academic achievements of an applicant. The precise purpose of a CV is to highlight the general talent of an individual rather than the skill required by a specific job. A CV is usually 2-3 pages long depending on the requirement asked for.

Now, it would be ideal for any individual to have all of these prepared and updated every now and then for certain
purposes. But if you want to become a virtual assistant, you would need a resume. Why? Because your potential client wouldn’t really mind if you were married, whatever ethnic group you belong to, how old you are, where you live, or other personal information.

In most virtual assistant jobs, the client would prefer to know that your skills match the profile of the work they need you to do.

In a nutshell, clients that are in need of a virtual assistant do not care what else you have done or are doing, as long as they are confident that you can get the job done right.

To build a solid bio data, resume or CV, you should list down all of your work experiences and collate as many supporting documents and referrals that you can. Ensuring that your professional details are updated will help you have an impressive resume to start your career and become a virtual assistant.

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