Format · 2026-08-22 · 14 min read

Hoja de vida vs CV: differences in Spain and Latin America

Same document, different names. Photo, national ID, RFC, and ATS in Colombia, Mexico, and Spain — how to adapt the PDF you already have.

Hoja de vida versus currículum are not two different genres. They are the same kind of file under the name your market uses. In Colombia (and parts of Ecuador, Venezuela, and Central America) people search “hoja de vida”. In Spain, “currículum” or “CV”. In Mexico, “currículum” and “CV” coexist; “hoja de vida” is less common. A multilatina’s ATS does not reward what you call it. It rewards selectable text, dates, and vacancy keywords. If you already have a PDF, the job is not rewriting your life: it is deciding which fields travel to the destination country.

This guide does not fight “how to make a hoja de vida” against template mills. It maps the names, private format vs Colombia’s official public-employment form, what to strip if you apply to Spain or a US process, and when a photo or ID number helps or sinks you. The technical sibling — columns, Canva, parsers — is ATS-friendly hoja de vida. Document language (Spanish vs English) is CV in English or Spanish. ClarCV (clarcv.com) fits when the file already exists: upload, strip extra fields, regenerate a parseable A4 template.

You will not “translate” hoja de vida into currículum word for word. You will take the ID number off the PDF that gets forwarded, decide the photo by country, and keep the same achievement in one column. The filename (HV_Juan.pdf or Ana_Lopez_CV.pdf) is cosmetic. Parsing is not.

What the document is called (and who searches it)

In the subject line, filename, and internal heading, use the word the ad uses. If Computrabajo says “attach your hoja de vida”, the email can say hoja de vida. If InfoJobs says “currículum”, say currículum. The content can be identical. Mixing an American “resume” into a fully Spanish process only adds noise, unless the posting is in English.

• Colombia: hoja de vida (private) or unique / SIGEP form (public employment). Do not confuse them.
• Spain: currículum / CV. Europass only if the spec or EU mobility asks for it.
• Mexico: currículum or CV. “Hoja de vida” is understood, but not the term on large boards.
• Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay: CV / currículum. Photo and ID follow local habit, not Colombia’s.
• US / UK / Canada: résumé or academic CV. No photo, no ID, no marital status. Cover letter separate.

If you apply from Bogotá to Madrid, the Spanish recruiter does not need the PDF titled “hoja de vida”. They expect a one- or two-page CV, city, international phone, LinkedIn. If you apply from Madrid to Medellín, “currículum” is understood; “hoja de vida” fits the subject better. File body: the same facts.

Colombia: private vs unique form (DAFP / SIGEP)

The “Colombia hoja de vida format” that ranks on Google is often a Word file for private companies: photo, personal data, experience, studies. That is not the official Unique Hoja de Vida form for public employment. If the contest or entity asks for the Departamento Administrativo de la Función Pública form or a SIGEP upload, that spec wins. Do not replace that official PDF with “modern” Canva. They reject on form, not on merit.

For a private company, multilatina, or remote role, the official form is usually worse than a one-column PDF: too many fields, ID on display, tables. Extract achievements and tools into a parseable CV. Keep the official form in a folder for when they require it. Same logic as Europass or a modern CV: the channel picks the container, not your biography.

• Colombian public employment with a mandatory form: use the official one. Do not improvise.
• Private / Computrabajo / LinkedIn Easy Apply: light PDF, selectable text, no ID in the header.
• National ID: the portal can ask in a field. The PDF forwarded to ten people should not.
• Salary expectation: in the ad’s form, not as a permanent line on the file.

Mexico: currículum, RFC, and the photo

In Mexico the private-company document is a currículum. RFC and CURP do not belong on a mass-application PDF; they go into onboarding if you are hired. A photo is still common in many local processes; at a US subsidiary or a global ATS, remove it. Address: city and borough or municipality, not street number. If the ad is in English for a Monterrey or Mexico City company reporting to Dallas, an English file with no photo is usually safer. Photo by country: photo on the CV.

“Hoja de vida” in a subject line to a Mexican recruiter is not a serious error; “currículum” fits better. What is an error is a Canva infographic with the phone as an icon: Mexican parsers use the same rules. See icons on the CV.

Spain: currículum, no DNI, CEFR

In Spain say currículum or CV. Do not put DNI or date of birth on the PDF. Languages as A1–C2, not “fluent English”. Photo: still expected in many local processes; at global consultancies and UK ads, no. Field guide: what not to put on a CV. If your Colombian hoja de vida still has marital status, ID, and three pages, trim before InfoJobs. Spanish ATS is not searching for “hoja de vida”; it is searching for Experience, Education, email as text.

Phone: international prefix (+57, +52, +34). City: “Bogotá, willing to relocate to Madrid” is a useful line; the street is not. LinkedIn as a text URL, not a QR.

Quick map: what travels and what stays

Same achievement and date content. Change the header and the extras. Before sending to another country, run this list on the PDF you already have — you do not need a new document from scratch.

• Document name: whatever the ad uses (hoja de vida / currículum / CV / résumé).
• ID: cédula, DNI, RFC, CURP — off the private PDF; yes on forms or an official public form.
• Photo: often yes in LatAm and Spain; no in US/UK/Canada. An old photo hurts more than none.
• Marital status, children, religion: out in every corporate destination.
• Languages: CEFR (A1–C2) in Europe and at multilatinas; “fluent” alone is not enough in Spain.
• Length: 1 page junior; 2 senior. The official public form can be longer because the spec says so.
• Page size: A4 for Spain and LatAm. Letter if the process is fully US.

Before (private Colombian HV into a Madrid ATS): large photo, ID number, “salary 4.5 M”, three Canva columns. After: Ana López, Madrid (reloc. from Bogotá), phone +57…, LinkedIn; Experience with figures; English B2; one-column PDF. The facts did not change. What the filter and the bias see first did.

How to adapt the file you already have (15 minutes)

Open the PDF. Notepad test: name, email, three bullets. If text does not appear, the destination does not matter: make it parseable first (ATS hoja de vida). Then delete ID and marital status, adjust the photo, add a prefix, rename to Nombre_Apellido_Puesto.pdf. If the ad is in another language, do not blind-translate with Google: align titles to the destination market and keep figures. EN/ES detail: the CV language guide.

In ClarCV you upload the Word or PDF you already use at home. Analysis flags clarity and structure friction (not a magic percentage against a named ATS). You apply an A4 template with standard headings and download. Start free: 3 analyses and 2 downloads / 30 days, no card. Pro €7/month. You confirm ID and photo: the tool must not invent a DNI or a nationality.

Boards: Computrabajo, InfoJobs, OCC, LinkedIn

Each board asks for “its” word. The attachment should be the same kind of clean file. LinkedIn Easy Apply uses the PDF you upload to the profile: keep it parseable, not the fair Canva. If Colombian public employment wants the unique form, do not send the modern CV “just in case” as the only file: send what the spec names. More on which file goes to which channel: CVs for InfoJobs, LinkedIn, and job boards.