1. What is a Curriculum Vitae?
A curriculum vitae (singular form, noun), meaning “course of (one’s) life, (vee-tie or vi-tee) is a document that gives much more detail than does a resume about your academic and professional accomplishments. Curricula vitae (plural form, noun) are most often used for academic or research positions, whereas resumes are the preferred documents in business and industry.

2. How can a Web Resume CV help you?
First off, you need to look at the problems with a CV. A CV is basically a 20 page document listing out your experiences, education, fieldwork, publications, grants received, awards, and the list goes on… yes for 20 or more pages! So, when you convert your curriculum vitae to a web resume CV your reader does not fall asleep. You are going to list your experience with links to the company or school that you were employed. You are going to link in PDF documents of your publications. This is one of the most exciting things you can do with your web resume CV; you can have your future employer clicking on all your publications and read a little snippet of your work.

3. CV versus Resume
Both CVs and resumes introduce you to the reader. Whereas a CV is comprehensive, a resume is brief. Both promotional documents include information about skills, experience, accomplishments, and education. Both CVs and resumes detail your credentials for obtaining funding or a job interview. A CV can be compared with a videotape that you produced over the years, while a resume can be likened to a snapshot.
In general, a person who has obtained a master’s degree or a doctorate and has published papers uses a CV, especially if applying for a position in a research and development (R&D) organization or for an academic position.

This handout provides an overview of strategies for writing an effective curriculum vitae. This topic is particularly important for graduate students who are entering the academic job market for the first time. Although there is some overlap between the two resources, this handout should serve as a supplement to the suggestions available from Purdue’s Center for Career Opportunities.

What is a Curriculum Vitae?

Also called a CV or vita, the curriculum vitae is, as its name suggests, an overview of your life’s accomplishments, most specifically those that are relevant to the academic realm. In the United States, the curriculum vitae is used almost exclusively when one is pursuing an academic job. The curriculum vitae is a living document, which will reflect the developments in a scholar/teacher’s career, and thus should be updated
frequently.

How is a CV different from a resume?

The most noticeable difference between most CV’s and most resumes is the length. Entry level resumes are usually limited to a page. CV’s, however, often run to three or more pages. (Remember, however, that length is not the determinant of a successful CV You should try to present all the relevant information that you possibly can, but you should also try to present it in as concise a manner as possible.) A more subtle but equally important distinction is that whereas the goal of a resume is to construct a professional identity, the goal of a CV is quite specifically to construct a scholarly identity. Thus, your CV will need to reflect very specifically your abilities as a teacher, researcher, and publishing scholar within your discipline.

What should I include?

Your CV should include your name and contact information, an overview of your education, your academic and related employment (especially teaching,editorial, or administrative experience), your research projects (including conference papers and publications), and your departmental and community service. You should also include a reference list, either as part of your CV, or on a separate page. Also, if you have a dossier containing confidential references available, you should mention that on your CV as well.

What comes first depends both on your background and on the job for which you are applying. Typically, the first item on a CV for a job candidate directly out of grad school will start with the candidate’s education listed in reverse chronological order. Frequently the title and even a brief description of the dissertation will be included in this portion. After that, you will want to determine both what the jobs that you are interested in require and where your strengths lie. When determining what comes after your educational credentials, remember that the earlier in your document a particular block of information comes, the more emphasis you will be placing on that block of information. Thus, the most important information should come first.

If you are applying at a research university, research projects, conference presentations, and especially publications become very important. If you are applying to a liberal arts college or community college that strongly emphasizes teaching, then showing your teaching background is of paramount importance. In any case, you will want to be sure that the information that will be most helpful in determining your qualifications for the job for which you are employing comes before information that will be less helpful.

Is there a standard curriculum vitae format?

One of the most important things to remember when working on your curriculum vitae is that there is not one standard format. There are different emphases in each discipline, and a good CV is one that emphasizes the points that are considered to be most important in your discipline and conforms to standard conventions within your discipline.

So how can you find out what these conventions are? A good place to start is to find as many examples as possible of CV’s by people in your discipline who have recently been on the job market. You can find these by asking other grad students and junior faculty in your department if you can have a look at their CV’s, and you can also make use of the Internet to find CV samples in your discipline.

Resources such as The Curriculum Vitae Handbook by Rebecca Anthony and Gerald Roe (Rudi Publishing: Iowa City, 1994) also include sample CV’s for various disciplines. One caveat to remember regarding examples, however, is that they should never be used as models to be followed in every detail. Instead, they should be used as sources of strategies for how to present you own information most effectively. The most effective formatting for you will likely be distinguishable from the most effective formatting for someone else because your experiences and strengths will be different, and you will thus will benefit from formatting adapted specifically to your situation.

How should I construct my work description entries?

Two common strategies that apply to CV’s as well as resumes are gapping and parallelism. Gapping is the use of incomplete sentences in order to present your information as clearly and concisely as possibly. For example, instead of writing, “I taught composition for four years, during which time I planned classes and activities, graded papers, and constructed exams. I also met with students regularly for conferences,” you might write, “Composition Instructor (2000-2004). Planned course activities. Graded all assignments. Held regular conferences with students.” By using incomplete sentences here, you cut out unnecessary words and allow your reader to see quickly what you have been doing.

Parallelism is also very important to a strong CV Generally, you will want to keep the structure of your phrases and/or sentences consistent throughout your document. Thus, if you use verb phrases in one portion of your CV to describe your duties, try to use them throughout your CV Particularly within entries, make sure that the structure of your phrases is exactly parallel so that your reader can understand what you are communicating easily.

One distinction between the work description sections of resumes and CV’s is that bullets are very commonly used in resumes and tend to appear somewhat less frequently in CV’s Whether or not you use bullets to separate lines in your CV should depend on how the bullets will affect the appearance of your CV If you have a number of descriptive statements about your work that all run to about a line in length, bullets can be a good way of separating them. If, however, you have a lot of very short phrases, breaking them up into bulleted lists can leave a lot of white space that could be used more efficiently. Remember that the principles guiding any decision you make should be conciseness and ease of readability.

How can I improve my CV?

Purdue’s Writing Lab provides the opportunity to work with one of our graduate instructors in order to get some assistance with your CV, and many other universities offer similar opportunities through their writing centers. Also, consider showing your CV to your dissertation chair in order to get some feedback from him/her. Finally, many departments have job search or job placement committees that provide you with the opportunity to meet with faculty members in your department for extensive editing. If such a resource is available for you, that may be the best source of advice of all.

A Curriculum Vitae (CV) resembles a resume in many ways, but is more specifically focused on academic achievements. A CV summarizes educational and academic history, and may include details about teaching experience, publications (books, articles, research papers, unpublished manuscripts, or book chapters), and academic honors and awards. Use a CV rather than a resume for teaching or research opportunities, applying for fellowships or for further academic training. Some research positions in industry may also prefer a CV rather than a resume.

CV’s are frequently longer than resumes, since the emphasis is on completeness rather than brevity. While there is no single correct format or style for writing a CV, the following types of information are generally included, and typically organized in this way:

• Name and Address
• Education
• Dissertation
• Fellowships and Awards
• Prepared to Teach or Areas of Research Interest or Areas of Specialization or Areas of Competence/ Expertise or Principal Research and Teaching Interests
• Teaching Experience
• Research Experience
• Publications and Presentations
• Works in Progress
• Related Professional Experience
• Languages
• Other
• References
• Dissertation Abstract

Additional Tips

• Fields of Interest or Teaching Competencies: CVs may begin with a short section specifying Fields of Interest or Teaching Competencies (instead of a statement of Professional Objective with which resumes may begin). If you do include this optional section, make your categories as broad as possible to cover a variety of potential opportunities but don’t be so broad that you appear unfocused.
• Teaching and Research Experience: On a CV it is appropriate to describe both teaching and research experience in detail (on a resume this is usually not appropriate). If applying for a position that primarily involves research, describe research experience first; if the reverse is true, put teaching experience first.
• Work Experience: Work experience not directly relevant to research/teaching/academic opportunities should be omitted or described only briefly on a CV.
• Other: This may include miscellaneous personal information such as membership in professional or scholarly associations, travel or study abroad, or personal interests. Include only if you feel that some aspects of your personal history may be relevant and of potential interest to your readers.
• References: If you list references, provide title, university affiliation, and phone number
• Your Dissertation:
  • If you are working on or have recently finished your doctoral degree, at least include a brief, clear summary of your thesis topic in the Education section.
  • Including a separate one- or two- page abstract of your thesis at the end of your resume is recommended, but optional. In this attachment, concisely summarize your thesis work, placing it within its scholarly context, and noting its contribution to the field. Your summary should be comprehensible to people outside your field, but scholarly enough to interest people within your area of expertise. Looking at theses on related topics, in Rotch or Dewey Library, may help you write yours. If you do provide an abstract, write “(See Abstract Attached)” in the Education section of your CV, after the name of your thesis title.
• Cover Letter: A CV should always be accompanied by a cover letter.

A curriculum vitae (singular form, noun), meaning “course of (one’s) life, (vee-tie or vi-tee) is a document that gives much more detail than does a resume about your academic and professional accomplishments.

Curricula vitae (plural form, noun) are most often used for academic or research positions, whereas resumes are the preferred documents in business and industry.

The informal shortened form, “vita” standing alone, meaning a brief biographical sketch, is singular, while “vitae,” is plural.

The abbreviation is often used: CV or CVs.

Note about pronunciation:

If you prefer a variation different than those provided by Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, that’s fine. Or feel free to consult your favorite Latin teacher.

Curricula vitae are commonly used in applying for the following:

• Admission to graduate school or as part of an application packet for a graduate assistantship or scholarship.
• Grant proposals.
• Teaching, research, and upper-level administrative positions in higher education.
• Academic departmental and tenure reviews.
• College or university service appointments.
• Professional association leadership positions.
• Speaking engagements.
• Publishing and editorial review boards.
• Research and consulting positions in a variety of settings.
• School administration positions at the superintendent, principal, or department head level.

While your resume – even for most graduate students – should be kept to one page, vitae are usually two pages at the shortest, and can be many pages in length. Common lengths for curricula vitae are one to three pages for bachelor’s and master’s degree candidates; two to five pages for doctoral candidates; and five or more pages for an experienced academician or researcher. Even though it’s a longer document, write it concisely and give it a clean, easy-to-read layout.

A curriculum vitae includes information about professional publications, presentations, committee work, grants received, and other details based on each person’s experience.

You can include:

• Education
• Master’s thesis or project
• Dissertation title or topic
• Course highlights or areas of concentration in graduate study
• Teaching experience and interests
• Research experience and interests
• Consulting experience
• Internships or graduate practica
• Fieldwork
• Publications
• Professional papers and presentations
• Grants received
• Professional association and committee leadership positions and activities
• Certificates and licensure
• Special training
• Academic awards, scholarships, and fellowships
• Foreign study and travel abroad
• Language competencies
• Technical and computer skills

Although curricula vitae are often similar to resumes, the preferred style, format, and content varies from discipline to discipline.

Before writing a CV, you should become familiar with the requirements of your academic field. To do so:

• Visit your department’s web site; faculty CVs are almost always posted in some manner.
• If you are applying to academic positions, it is essential to become familiar with each department to which you are applying (viewing their website being an essential first step), so you’ll have ample opportunity to seek out faculty CVs as you do that research.
• The websites of professional organizations with which you are affiliated are good sources for career advice, which can include CV advice.
• The Chronicle of Higher Education is full of career advice for prospective new faculty (and others) in academia. (This and other advice is contained in our job search information for graduate students.)
• Your advisor and other trusted faculty members in your department may be sought for advice and feedback as you finalize your CV. Your future success reflects positively on your department, so your department is interested in supporting your efforts toward future career success.

Curriculum vita or vitae (CV) literally means “course of your life.” A CV is a comprehensive, formal, professional summary of your educational and academic background, employment, accomplishments, and activities. In addition, it serves as an important job-hunting tool. A CV should capture and stress your strengths; market you, the product; be honest; make a good first impression; and be convincing that you deserve a job interview.

All information included in a CV must be defensible and may be a topic of conversation in an interview.

CV versus Resume

Both CVs and resumes introduce you to the reader. Whereas a CV is comprehensive, a resume is brief. Both promotional documents include information about skills, experience, accomplishments, and education. Both CVs and resumes detail your credentials for obtaining funding or a job interview. A CV can be compared with a videotape that you produced over the years, while a resume can be likened to a snapshot.

In general, a person who has obtained a master’s degree or a doctorate and has published papers uses a CV, especially if applying for a position in a research and development (R&D) organization or for an academic position.

Format

Your CV should be concise, accurate, and informative. Update it on a regular basis, at least annually or more frequently if you have education, training, accomplishments, or publications to add.

Be sure that there is ample white space by allowing 1 inch margins on all sides. Use a serif font such as Times Roman, Bookman Old Style, or Palatino. Many serif font options are available. Do not make the reader struggle to see the text. A font size of 10 in some fonts can be difficult to read, as it is quite small. The bottom line is to be certain that the text is large enough to be very readable. Choose both the size and the font wisely.

Use a consistent style and format with both headings and sub-headings. When describing your accomplishments, using the past tense of active verbs is quite powerful, for example, “invented,” “formulated,” “collaborated,” “interacted,” or “synthesized.”

The length of a CV can range from 2 to 10 pages. In general, CVs of young professionals are 2 to 5 pages long. A more experienced person will have a CV ranging from 4 to 7 pages. The maximum length is 10 pages. If your publications list is lengthy, you might consider using an attachment to your CV to detail your publications.

It is optional to include the date at the top of the first page. However, if you do so, be certain that you have used the INSERT + DATE function on your computer and checked the box that indicates that the computer will automatically update the date each time you open the document. Otherwise, what is the most recent version of your CV can appear to be outdated.

Be aware that it is important to know in what format your CV should be submitted, either as an .rtf document (plain text often required for electronic submission) or a reader friendly document that can be submitted as an email attachment or as a hard copy. If you are applying using an on-line application form, it may require that you submit very plain text with no bold, bullets, underlines, italics, centering, tabs, vertical or horizontal lines, hanging indents, and other formatting options. Check with the organization to which you are applying to determine the preferred format.

If you are using a reader friendly format, avoid using underlines, all capital letters, or italics (italics are considered to be weak, but fine for book and journal titles in publications lists). Use bold for emphasis and bullets for lists.

Do not staple or fold your CV because doing so will slow down the reader, wasting valuable time that the reader could spend reading your CV.

Use page numbers except for page 1 and repeat your name on each page. By using a header or footer, you can easily include your name and the page number. After creating a header or a footer on a PC document, choose FILE + PAGE SETUP + LAYOUT and then check to “Different first page” box so that the header or footer will not appear on page 1. On the Macintosh computer, choose FORMAT + DOCUMENT + LAYOUT and then check “Different first page.”

References

List your professional references (three to five, or even as many as six) on a separate page of your CV as either the last page or a standalone document that reflects the same style as your CV. Thus, you can carry your reference document with you to an interview.

Ask permission of people who know you professionally to be certain they are willing to serve as references. Contact your references at least once a year to confirm their personal contact information and to update them on your professional activities. In addition, it is a nice touch to send an updated CV to your references annually or at least periodically.

When listing information about your references, include the following: name, their title, professional relationship to you (for example, supervisor, group leader, co-worker, customer), e-mail address, telephone number with area code, and complete mailing address, including zip code. Be sure to include a variety of references¾at least one immediate supervisor, a peer, a customer, and your academic advisor or professor.

Some Helpful Tips

Be certain to define all the acronyms used. Do not submit material beyond what is requested on the job ad. You can certainly take with you to the interview a reprint of two or three recent publications or examples of your work. Recent graduates might consider taking a copy of academic transcripts with them to their interviews. Also, keep copies for you of all the paperwork submitted in case there is any question or lack of information readily available concerning your application materials.

If applying for a position in an area somewhat different from your current work, indicate your current research as well as future research interests or long-term goals.

If you apply for an academic position, you may be directed to submit a 2 to 4 page statement of past, current, and future research interests as well as information concerning professional involvement with undergraduates, graduate and doctoral students, and postdoctoral researchers. In addition, you may be tasked to provide a statement of teaching interests what you are competent to teach including what is stated in the job ad and course lists without course numbers, especially if you are just finishing a degree. Brief course descriptions are optional. For academic positions, it is advantageous to indicate your potential for service because universities usually expect you to be involved in research, teaching, and service.

Possible Sections of a CV

Because there is no definitive protocol for organizing a CV other than including your educational background on the first page, there are many options for possible sections of your CV and for arranging them. Therefore, you have a great deal of flexibility regarding emphasis and detail. Your CV is your document. You can pick and choose what to include.

Keep in mind that you probably will have 30 seconds with the reader. Therefore, you must be powerful quickly!

The maxim regarding CVs says, “More is more.” For resumes, “More is less”

Ask yourself, “What do I want the reader to know?” Be comprehensive, yet concise.

Below is a list of possible CV sections along with a suggested order.

• CURRICULUM VITAE (written at the top of the first page–optional)
• Applicant Information or Personal Contact Information
• Objective (optional) but important if changing fields
• Background (optional)
• Summary of Qualificaions Education
• Certifications or Licenses
• Awards and Honors
• Patents and Inventions
• Grants and Fellowships
• Employment Experience
  • Research Experience
  • Laboratory Experience
  • Teaching Experience
  • Supervisory Experience
  • Mentoring Experience
  • Instrumentation Experience
• Academic and Professional Interests
• Publications
• Presentations
• Professional Affiliations
• Computer Proficiency
• Scientific Instrumentation
• Languages
• Creative Activities
• Volunteer or Service Activities
• Special Skills
• Credit and Non-Credit Continuing Education
• Travel
• Civic or Political Activities
• Interests
• Citizenship (optional)
• References (if requested)

Do not include marital status, children, health, spouse’s work, birth date, birthplace, ethnicity, or religious affiliation.

Descriptions of Specific Sections

You may write Curriculum Vitae (or Curriculum Vita) at the top of the first page if you wish.

Applicant Information or Personal Contact Information

At the beginning of the CV, include your name followed by your Z#, if applying within the Laboratory, your home mailing address only, not your work address (interested staff within the Laboratory can find you using your Z#), your telephone number, and your e-mail address. If you have both temporary and permanent addresses, include them both.

Objective (optional)

An objective is optional. However, it is very important to include an objective if you are changing fields. The objective can be as short as a sentence or as long as a brief paragraph indicating the type of position you are targeting.

State your objective logically and clearly. Be certain that your objective matches the position or the program to which you are applying.

• Objective: A research position in applied mathematics
• Objective: A teaching position in educational psychology
• Objective: A managerial position in a research environment

Background (optional)

A background statement offers an opportunity to provide additional information not requested or appropriate elsewhere. If you would like to clarify your citizenship, an extended residence outside the United States, or unique work or education, a background statement is quite appropriate. In the statement, do not address your age, marital status, gender, religion, political affiliation, race, or ethnicity.

Summary of Qualifications (optional)

A summary at the beginning of your CV can serve as a “teaser” to entice the reader to continue reviewing your CV. If you choose to include a summary, state (1) the amount or number of years of experience you have as numerals, (2) a significant accomplishment that provides evidence that you are qualified for the job, and (3) information concerning your values and/or abilities.

Educational Background

This section, which ideally should appear on the first page of your CV, should start with the most recent degree first. In other words, the entries in this section should appear in reverse chronological order starting after high school. Include any significant academic achievements. If your degree is in progress, you may express it as follows:

Ph.D. in biochemistry, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, expected date of graduation: 2005

1997
Ph.D., Molecular Biology, Biology Department, Green University, Grassville, KY, GPA – 3.85
Advisor: Dr. David T. Smith
Thesis Title: The Effects of . . . . . . .
Abstract:

1993
M.S., Cellular Biology, Biology Department, Green University, Grassville, KY, GPA – 3.9
Advisor: Dr. C. L. Thorn
Thesis Title: Amplification of . . . . . .

1990
B.S., Biology, minor in Chemistry, Department of Earth Science and Biology, Blue College, Bluegrass, KY, GPA – 3.75

Certificates or Licenses

Include the license title, the licensing entity, the date issued, the date of expiration, and the license number (if relevant).

Awards and Honors (both academic and professional)

In this section, consider including the following possible types of awards and honors: departmental, athletic, dean’s awards, scholarships, fellowships, community, and professional. List them in reverse chronological order. Include the name of the honor as well as the following information: name of the granting institution or organization, significance or reason, and date.

Patents and Inventions

List information about patents and inventions in reverse chronological order and include the following information:name of the patent or invention (if pending, so indicate) patent number, date, and significance.

Grants and Fellowships

Again, list information about grants and fellowships in reverse chronological order and include the following information: name of the institution or organization purpose, date, and dollar value (optional).

Employment Experience

When writing about your employment experience, include dates (year only, not month and day) and job titles in reverse chronological order, including beginning and terminating dates, job title, name of company or organization, and location.

Make each entry important by including your skills and accomplishments. Be sure to include work relating to the targeted job or career path. You can choose to emphasize some entries more than others. Detail significant experiences; summarize less important ones.

Write out the Laboratory’s organizations names if applying externally. In general, the Laboratory’s acronyms are meaningless outside the Laboratory.

Use the past tense of action verbs to tell of your accomplishments (for example, “designed,” “developed,” “initiated,” “implemented,” “documented,” etc.). If you submit a reader friendly CV, bullets can be quite effective when describing your accomplishments. Do not fall into the “trap” of describing your duties. Include abilities and skills as well as knowledge gained.

Quantify when possible and appropriate using dollar signs ($), abbreviations for dollar amounts (K, M, and B), and percentage signs (%).

Feel free to include internships, volunteer work, summer or seasonal jobs, and part-time jobs. Include consulting activities here. In other words, include any employment that is relevant to your work goals. Significance is the key. Ask yourself if the experience is significant to your goal.

1997-99
Graduate Research Assistant
National Park Service, Rocky Mountain National Park
Estes Park, CO

Research Experience. Include both substance and techniques as well as the title of each project, activities, publications generated, names and titles of professors or supervisors, and dates.

Teaching Experience. Address assistantships, field placements, and administration. Include your job title(s), class size(s), undergraduate or graduate level(s), course preparation involvement, grading, name(s) and location(s) of the institution(s), and your title(s), and date(s).

Laboratory Experience. You could include equipment used, outcomes, and dates.

Supervision Experience. Write about your independent supervision of students. You may wish to include level of students, dissertation topics, supervision committees on which you served, and relevant dates.

Mentoring Experience. Include the subject matter you mentored, the number of mentees, the setting (university, high school, or corporate), and the dates.

Instrumentation Experience. Address the state-of-the art instruments, computer hardware, photographic equipment, and audiovisual equipment you used. The names of the instruments used can be listed in columns, a tabbed format, or a table. Include descriptions of state-of-the-art instrumentation.

Academic and Professional Interests

In this section, include a summary of interests and areas of expertise, both within and outside of your institution. If creating a reader friendly CV, you may wish to bullet items and relate them to your target organization.

Publications

Include all, both individual and collaborative (multi-author) works. Use reverse chronological order. Use correct bibliographic format. Be consistent within like publications.

Create separate sections, if appropriate, for various kinds of publications, such as authored books, co-authored books, book chapters, monographs, peer-reviewed articles, conference proceedings, invited papers, work in press, work in progress, creative writing outside your field, etc.

List unpublished materials only if they are being considered for publication!

The order and format of your publications will, no doubt, be governed by your professional organization. Generally, publication lists include the following information: author(s), title, publisher, place of publication, name of periodical, volume, issue number, date, and page(s). Other possible strategies for listing your publications would be Partial Publication Listing, Selected Listing, or Recent Publications with a note indicating that a complete listing is available upon request.

Presentations

For listing presentations, create separate sections for oral, invited, and poster presentations, and include the following information: title, name of the organization (academic society or professional association), meeting or conference title, location, and date.

Professional Affilitations

A listing of your current professional affiliations can be alphabetized or listed in the order of importance. Usually, past memberships (those organizations in which you are no longer a dues-paying member) are not included unless you had a leadership role within the organization, such as president, board of directors, treasurer, in which case you would include the dates of active membership and your title.

When listing professional affiliations, include the name of the organization, offices held if relevant, committee participation, appointed positions, and relevant dates. If your participation produced results, indicate your achievements.

Computer Proficiency

Here is an opportunity to indicate your proficiency with Macintosh and IBM computers as well as larger systems, such as a Sun Microsystem. You can list your hardware and software expertise in two or three columns, a table, or tabbed elements.

Languages

In this section, include information about your fluency in languages and indicate whether you speak, read, and/or write the language and at what level—native, fluent, proficient, or working knowledge.

Creative Activities

This section provides an opportunity for you to relate some of your artistic endeavors. Include information about exhibitions (for example, photography, or water colors), poetry, music, paintings, play writing, acting, and similar areas.

Volunteer or Service Activities

When noting your volunteer or service activities, include university (department, faculty, leadership, and committee responsibilities), Laboratory committees and/or task forces, professional journal responsibilities (referee, editor, or reviewer), and community outreach (significant volunteer activities that show leadership or important service). Include offices held and dates.

Special Skills

Feel free to talk about any of your special skills that you would like to highlight, including interpersonal communication, leadership, organizational ability, analytical aptitude, artistic aptitude, public speaking talent, sales ability, and proposal writing expertise.

Credit and Non-Credit Continuing Education

Including information about your credit or non-credit continuing education highlights your interest in lifelong learning that may compliment your professional credentials.

Travel

Include in this section information about international travel relevant to your professional or academic work, not travel to conferences. You may include your destination, length of visit, and the reason for travel.

Civic or Political Activities

It is certainly acceptable to speak about your involvement in community activities. However, beware of three delicate areas: politics, religion, and fraternal organizations. Consider saying less and being very vague and tactful in these areas that could be controversial.

Interests

In this section, you may want to speak about your hobbies, sports involvement, types of literature you enjoy, or your pastimes. If nothing else, such information gives the impression of your being a well-rounded person as well as provides an opportunity to talk about something light and fun at the beginning of an interview.

Citizenship (optional)

If you have attended college outside of the United States, have worked abroad for an extended period of time, or have a very unusual name that might suggest that you are not a U.S. citizen, you might like to indicate your citizenship here.

Also, if you are a foreign national studying and/or working in the United States, you might want to share some information about your green card, visa, or citizenship status.

References

How to deal with references was detailed earlier in this document. However, if you are incorporating a reference section in your CV, it will probably be at the end of your CV.

Some folks have placement credentials available through their university and could direct the reader to a specific address to obtain such information.

The statement “References available upon request” seems rather unnecessary at this point because anyone who is serious about securing a job should have references ready to be shared.

Cover Letter

Limit cover letters to one page unless you are detailing matching requirements or required, desired, and education elements as you would do when responding to a Laboratory job ad, for example. In such cases, do not be concerned about the length of your cover letter. However, be certain that your responses to the job ad elements are concise and interesting. Each response should be limited to a line or two and start with the past tense of an active verb as suggested in the Employment Experience section of your CV. Do not ramble. Summarize!

Resources

Books

• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Resume, by Susan Ireland, Chapter 15
• Developing a Professional VITA or RESUME, by Carl McDaniels
• Prepare Your Curriculum Vitae, by Acy L. Jackson

Your personal details

You should include your name, address and contact details. It’s up to you whether you include your age, marital status and nationality – recruiters should be able to make a decision about your skills and abilities without this information.

Your personal profile

Your ‘Personal Profile’ should summarise your:

• skills and qualities
• work background and achievements
• career aims

It should only be a few lines and must grab the reader’s attention. For example, if the job involves working with people, you could say you’re a good team-worker and an effective communicator. Be brief – you can highlight examples of your skills in later sections.

Employment history and work experience

If you’ve been working for a while, you could put your employment history first; if you’re younger and don’t have much work experience, you might like to highlight your education and training.

In this section you should start with your present or most recent job and work backwards. You should include employer, the dates you worked for them, job title and your main duties. Provide more detail on the relevant jobs you’ve had and give examples of the skills you used and what you achieved. Use bullet pointed lists.

Try to relate your skills and experience to the job description or what you think the employer is looking for, if you’re sending your CV on spec. Also include any relevant temporary work and volunteering experience.

Avoid unexplained gaps in your employment history. If you had time out travelling, job seeking, volunteering or caring for a relative, include this along with details of what you’ve learned.

Education and training

Start with your most recent qualifications and work back to the ones you got at school. Using bullet points or a table include:

• the university, college or school you went to
• the dates the qualifications were awarded and any grades
• any work-related courses, if they’re relevant

Interests and achievements

You can include hobbies, interests and achievements that are relevant to the job. For example, if you’re involved in any clubs or societies this can show that you enjoy meeting new people. Try to avoid putting activities like cooking or reading, as these activities are too general and widespread to be of interest to an employer. Make them specific and interesting!

Additional information

You can include this section if you need to add anything else that’s relevant, such as explaining that a gap in your employment history was due to travel or family reasons. You could also include other relevant skills here, such as if you have a driving licence or can speak any foreign languages.

References

At least one referee should be work-related; or if you haven’t worked for a while, some other responsible person who has known you for quite a while. You can list the contact details of your referees on your CV or just put ‘references available on request’. If you decide to include their details you could also state the relationship of each referee to you – for example ‘John Turner, Line Manager’.

A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is a summary of your educational and academic background. Its purpose is to outline your credentials for an academic position, fellowship, or grant. Its length can range from 2-4 pages. Please keep in mind each field has a different standard. Ask the faculty in your department for feedback on your CV.

In applying for an academic position, an applicant is asked to submit a CV along with a Dissertation Abstract, a Statement of Research Interests, and a Statement of Teaching Interests. It is important to present a clear and well-organized application. Your goal is to make the search committee want to interview you.

What to include on your CV:

Primary materials

• Applicant Information
• Education
• Dissertation Title and Advisor
• Awards/Honors/Patents
• Grants/Fellowships
• Research Experience
• Teaching Experience
• Publications and Presentations
• Related Professional Experience
• Languages
• Other- Memberships, Associations, Conferences
• References

Supplementary Materials

• Cover Letter
• Dissertation Abstract
• Statement of Research and Scholarly Interests
• Statement of Teaching Interests
• Course lists

Primary Materials

Applicant Information

Your name should appear on the top of each page. On the first page include your name, address, phone number, fax number, and email address. Page numbers should appear on all pages except for the first. When including your email address consider this communication with an employer to be professional. It is advised to avoid “nick names” or “cute” automatic responses. This also applies for phone messages.

Education

In reverse chronological order list all of your degrees from college on, with the name of the institution and date they were awarded. List the date you expect to receive the degree for the program you are currently in. It is standard to list the name of your advisor and your thesis title.

From this point on you have more latitude in shaping the organization of your CV. You should be guided by your strengths, requirements for the job, and conventions of your discipline.

Honors and Awards (Grants, Fellowships and Patents, etc.)

Place Honors/Awards near the top of the CV (unless you have few, then put later or omit). This is a good place to list research-related and dissertation-supported grants, fellowships, awards and patents. Scientists may create a separate section for “Research Grants”, which would probably come later in the CV.

Research Experience

Scientists will briefly describe their postdoctoral, doctoral, and possibly undergraduate research. You should include both substance and techniques employed if relevant. List names of the institution, professor, project, and dates. Along with descriptions note any contribution you made (Some scientists append a “Statement of Research Interests”)

Teaching Experience

Where you place this section depends on the target institution (i.e. small teaching college) as well as your strengths as a candidate. The basic information should include: Where, What, When you have taught and your titles i.e. teaching fellow or lecturer.

Publications and Presentations

Where you place this section depends on the strength of your publication record. If substantial, it may come first. If too lengthy or short it can come at the end of the CV or have an additional page. Some candidates will subdivide this category into:

• Publications (if have you enough, you can separate this into Books, Abstracts, Reviews, other publications, etc…). Use standard bibliographic form for publications.
• Papers and Presentations. Include dates/locations with titles of your presentations.

Avoid listing published abstracts in with papers. List Abstracts as a separate section. Otherwise, it gives the impression of “padding.”

Related Professional Experience

Use this category for any experience that is related to teaching, research, and administration, i.e. conference organizing, tutoring, and committee work.

Languages

Accurately assess your knowledge level of a language: native, fluent, proficient or working knowledge.

Optional Sections

• Memberships of Professional Organizations
• Scholarly Associations
• Travel or Study Abroad

References

Most academics tend to operate within small informal networks, the names of references will convey significant information to most readers. Most applicants will list their references at the end of their CV.

Include:

• Full name
• Title
• Institutional address
• Telephone address/email/fax
• Three references are expected, but you may add more if their evaluations would add significant information

** make sure your references know they are listed and have a copy of your CV**

Supplementary Materials

In addition to the CV, most academic job applications will contain the following:

Cover Letter

A cover letter should be concise and to the point. Certainly no longer than one page. Simply state why you are applying, why you are interested in the position/school, and your relevant background. Let them know you are appending a CV, a statement of research and teaching interests, etc. DO NOT discuss these in the cover letter. Direct them to where they can find the information. Do not bury the information in a three page letter and make them look for it, as they won’t. Use your department’s letter head and your professional address. Do not use plain paper and your home address– that’s a big red flag (at least in Biology).

Dissertation Abstract

A dissertation abstract is a clear and concise summary of your work, placing it within its scholarly context and noting its contribution to the field. The summary should be comprehensible to people outside your field, but scholarly enough to interest those familiar with your area of expertise (HAVE FACULTY IN AND OUT OF YOUR AREA READ THIS). The summary is typically 1-2 pages appended at the end of your CV and clipped or stapled together with previous pages.

Statement of Research and Scholarly Interests

Scientists are customarily asked to submit a “Statement of Research”. This is meant to be a 2-4 page statement of past, current, and future research interests. You should describe your past and present research methodology, lab skills, and results. For the future section, tell the reader what you hope to do for the next 3- 5 years and how you might involve students (undergraduates, graduates, and post-docs) in the work. Normally, this work will follow on the momentum of your own postdoctoral studies, but if it does not (this would be rare) be sure to explain why.

Teaching Interests

A “Statement of Teaching Interests” is typically required as part of the application process for an Assistant Professor position. Tell the reader what you feel competent to teach. If you are applying for a job where teaching biochemistry is one of the requirements as stated in the job ad, then you better be sure you tell them you want to teach biochemistry. This may sound trite, but you would be amazed at the number of people who fail to follow this seemingly self-evident step.

Course Lists/Transcript

Occasionally applicants are asked to submit a list of their graduate courses or a transcript.