Résumé Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
A résumé (perhaps in American English) or resumé (perhaps everywhere else, although it's not verified that location has anything to do with which version is used) is a document containing a summary of relevant job experience and education with the intent of securing a new job. The word is directly from French and means "summary" (but the French never use it with the same meaning as Americans and Canadians; they say CV, see below). Typically the résumé is the first item a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker, and therefore a large amount of importance is often ascribed to it.
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Different forms
In most contexts, a résumé is short (usually one page), and therefore contains only experience directly relevant to a particular position. Many résumés use precise keywords that the potential new employers are looking for, are self-aggrandizing, and contain many action words. Other résumés may run to more than one page, but very rarely more than two, as potential employers will typically not give that much time to read for each applicant.
An exception is an artist's résumé, which may run longer as it will contain a list of solo and group exhibitions (and will typically exclude any non-art-related employment) which may be more or less extensive.
Résumés for people applying for academic careers (university professor, research scientist...) are generally long, for they include detailed lists of publications and contributions, and even some short summary of major works such as theses. Such an extended résumé is often called a curriculum vitae.
Outside of the United States
Outside the United States and Canada, a résumé is called a curriculum vitae or CV (or resumé with one acute?).