Read the curriculum

By Edmée Pardo

How do you see my resume," asks a friend who has just sent the document to an international recruiter. I open the file, look it up and down, right to left, left to right: I don't understand, and not because it's in English. I scratch my head. It's an infographic rather than a narrative format like the one I, at least, am used to. A grid with a circle in the center, lots of logos, and over there a list of skills. 

Curriculum vitae means, literally, the career of life. In ancient Rome, the term Cursus honorum was used to refer to the political career of senators and the merits they achieved in the transition from aedile to consul. Those who know say that the Greeks used the word in the sense of career or course, to refer to the discourse of thought. Hence, in the Middle Ages, the word curriculum was used to designate the content of an educational program.