Use a CV or a Resume?

[Scanner]

Okay, I guess this is peripherally related to Personal Finance, so humor me.

I am a chiropractic physician and a CT technologist.

I am looking sooner or later to make a career change into becoming a corporate clinical education specialist (within 6 to 24 months - I am attempting to move my practice to a group setting so I can sell and move on - I just made it thru 2 interviews, decided this is for me, but didn't get the job on the first go around). I am gainfully employed but I think the time has come for me to make a career change into something related to education, which I love. I always thought it would be academia, but it seems corporate education may also be a nice niche, that pays pretty well, and has a lot of perks.

So, I would train CT techs on the operations/system upgrades of CAT scan units. Most of it 1 on 1, some classroom.

I know when you are a physician, handing out a CV seems to be a matter of course. I have what I call a vanilla CV. Yet, I get the uneasy feeling that a 5-6 page CV (which is actually small in the PhD world) with a lot of stuff that wouldn't be germane to the position may be overkill. It's the CAT scan knowledge that they are interested in, but also supervisory (which I have with owning a business) and teaching experience (which I also have lecture experience and preceptor experience with chiropractic). I would imagine most submissions will actually be in resume format (since a BA and radiology certification is all that is required and I have more)

Final question - should I retain a resume/CV prep service? Is it money well spent?

I consider myself a decent writer, but this may be one to punt to a pro. I actually took a course in 1989 at U of D (my undergrad) on technical writing and resume writing was a good part of it; however, I would have to admit, some of the concepts may be dated (although some concepts, such as customizing to the job still are pertinent).

My current CV has the following sections (in this order):

Education
Licensure
Professional Experience
Certifications
Internshps/Preceptorships
Teaching Experience
Presentations
Post-Graduate Education
Committee Service
Community Service
Memberships
Current Projects
References

[snafu]

What does the pro offer that makes you feel puts yo in a better position for an interview? Corporate world prefer two pager, succinct wording, customized to their search criteria. Perhaps term it as 'Summary' full CV available on request. Corporate HR take no more than 3-4 minutes per CV to make a yes/no recommendation. Summary respects their time. Make it as easy as possible, all uni together; professional training, certificates, awards at the end.

Cover letter brief, keywords correlated from ad, not repeating anything in CV.

Hope this helps transition from practitioner to trainer

[Scanner]

Perhaps term it as 'Summary' full CV available on request.

Snafu,

That's an awesome suggestion!!! Thanks.

[KennySoward]

I agree that you have to create something very short and to the point. Just like anything these days, people want to skim through and get the nuts and bolts of it. They aren't going to read five pages worth of anything for the most part.