Office of Career Development
CV Guidebook
LaGrange College Career Center, located on 1st Floor of Smith Hall
Phone: 706-880-8177
Fax: 706-880-8013
Revised November 2009
Creating a Professional Vita
What's the difference between a résumé and a CV?
The primary differences are the length, the content and the purpose.
§ A résumé is a one or two page summary of your skills, experience and education. A goal of résumé writing is to be brief and concise since, at best, the résumé reader will spend a minute or so reviewing your qualifications. Also, a brief synopsis of a person's work history and a summary of skills and abilities are included.
§ A Curriculum Vita, commonly referred to as CV, is a longer (two or more pages), more detailed synopsis. It includes a summary of your educational and academic backgrounds as well as teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honors, affiliations and other details. Roughly translated, it means "academic life." A comprehensive listing of your accomplishments.
Many of the suggestions in the preparation of a CV follow along the same guidelines for the preparation of a résumé. For example, your CV should be clear and concise; presented in an inviting and organized format; and must be absolutely perfect regarding spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Revise your vita frequently. Remember, faculty CVs are not the best models to follow for students in preparing a CV. Why? Because faculty members have additional responsibilities and opportunities for building their academic credentials compared to students. For instance, most students would not need a section on their CV for Textbooks Written, Book Chapters, Journal Reviewer/Referee, Program Reviews, or Grants Received. Students and faculty members alike try to "grow" their vita, the longer the better. However, students need to be careful not to pad their vita with irrelevant materials.
When to Use a CV
§ In the United States, a Curriculum Vita is used primarily when applying for international, academic, education, scientific or research positions or when applying for fellowships or grants. As with a résumé, you may need different versions of a CV for different types of positions.
Getting Started:
· You cannot go wrong with Times New Roman. Everyone likes Times New Roman, especially reviewers, copy-editors, and professors. And remember, Times New Roman, not Times.
· Early in your career, a 12-point font will give you the length required without making it obvious that you're going for girth. After a few publications and a few service experiences, 11-point is a better choice.
· 1-inch margins all around.
· Number pages at the bottom or top-right hand corner with your name. Make sure that you include your phone number on the extra pages under the page number in case your CV gets separated. Use the same font type and size for the page number, header or footer, and document text.
· Résumé paper only.
· If possible, print the original copy of your vita using a laser printer. You want your text to be crisp and sharp.
· Do not make too many copies at any one time. Make just enough copies to meet your needs at the time. Keep in mind that you will be frequently updating your vita. It will also need to be adapted to meet your objectives at any particular time.
· Staple your vita on the top left-hand corner. If your copy machine will do it for you, all the better.
· Paperclips are cumbersome and easily come undone.
ORGANIZATION OF AN ACADEMIC VITA
As you prepare to begin page 1 of your vita, you realize that you need to make decisions regarding what to include and how to include it. First, you will need to decide what categories to use, the order in which to use them, and what information to include (and, just as important, what information to leave out). Do not use category subheadings that are more ambitious than their content (e.g., "Articles, Publications, and Grant Proposals" followed by only one grant proposal). Later in your career, you can add some of these sections (for example, "Professional Activities" might include editorships, memberships in academic or grant-reviewing committees, consulting work, and so on).
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Not really a heading but one of the sections that gets the most mistakes. You MUST keep your contact information current! Never include your SS number, or information about how you look (eye color, weight, etc.)
o Include:
§ Name: Your name should be in bold type and larger than the rest of the type on the page. Give your formal first and last name.
§ Telephone Numbers Always list your telephone number and area code. If it is a cell phone, you should identify it is a cell phone number on your résumé (e.g. (Cell) 555-555-5555). Most companies prefer the convenience of contacting applicants by phone. If you have roommates, let them know when employers might be calling you so they can answer the phone appropriately and take good messages. If you have an answering machine or voicemail, make sure you have an appropriate message for greeting employers and that you check it regularly.
§ E-mail Addresses: Include your preferred e-mail address in the heading if you are able to check it on a daily basis during your job search. If you check one e-mail address regularly, center it below your name so it is clear that it is your preferred address. If you use two separate e-mail accounts, it is acceptable to list both, but be certain that both are appropriate, professional addresses.
§ URL Addresses: Include a URL address on your résumé if you have a well-maintained, entirely professional online portfolio. This can be particularly important for those seeking careers in web design, art, music, technical theater, or related fields.
§ Address: List your complete address. Include and label both your current and permanent addresses, if applicable. This will make it easier for employers to contact you during breaks and after graduation.
EDUCATION:
For the recent college graduate with little practical experience, educational credentials are a primary asset, and, thus, should be placed near the beginning of your résumé. You need only to include institutions that have granted or will grant you a degree. You do not have to, but you can include transfer institutions. Your high school education generally should not be included on your résumé once you have begun a college degree. You must include in this section your degree, graduation date, and major/minor. All other elements are optional.
o Include:
§ Name of the College, Location (City, State)
§ B.A. or B.S. in ….
§ Graduation Date
§ G.P.A.: we recommend only listing it if it is above a 3.5
§ If you graduated with honors or Phi Beta Kappa, include this information.
§ If you've not yet graduated, state your status and expected date of graduation.
§ If you are this far into the game, include the title of your dissertation and your committee chair. Don't outline. Simply include the information in a nice tight paragraph. Most recent degrees first.
EXAMPLES:
PUBLICATIONS:
Search committees at research universities are strongly interested in a candidate's publications. Consequently, this section should follow the Education section. If you are just starting out, place all your publications in one section—refereed articles, nonrefereed articles, chapters, book reviews. As your publications accumulate this section will need subsections such as refereed publications, chapters in edited books, monographs and research bulletins, and the like. List publications in order with most recent publications first.
Critical point: present the publications using the format provided by your discipline's Publication Manual.
o In social science, the guidelines of the American Psychological Association- used in education, psychology, most social sciences, most sciences, medicine-www.apastyle.org
o Modern Language Association (MLA)- used in the humanities, English, foreign language studies http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/
o The Chicago Manual of Style-used in history, anthropology http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/DocChicago.html
o American Sociological Association Style Guide http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?name=Quick+Style+Guide§ion=Sociology+Depts
And take care to follow their guidelines.
EXAMPLES:
PRESENTATIONS:
Presented papers, posters, or round-tables at various regional and national conferences? List them here, with most recent presentations first. Perhaps you've done invited talks at professional meetings or have been asked to be a chair or discussant of a particular session. If so, these should be included. Again, take care to follow your discipline's referencing format.
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
If you think through your undergrad or doctoral experience, you will no doubt have taken part in various research projects. List them here. Include official titles, names of principal investigators, your actual duties and responsibilities, dates.
EXAMPLES:
HONORS AND AWARDS:
This section may be a bit sparse at first, but, as will your publications, it will grow. If you received research funds or fellowship funds, include the amount (unless the figure is rather low, in which case leave it off). Think back to your Masters and Bachelors programs.
EXAMPLES:
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Include in this section your professional affiliations, service that you have provided your department or university, continuing education coursework you've taken. Think back to all the committees you served on. Perhaps you have reviewed manuscripts for journals or conference proposals for professional organizations, in which case be sure to include this information. You may want also to include proficiency in statistical or other software programs that a prospective employer may value.
EXAMPLES:
COLLEGE TEACHING EXPERIENCE or TEACHING EXPERIENCE or PUBLIC SPEAKING:
· As part of your doctoral program, you've no doubt been provided with the opportunity to teach.
· Undergraduates: This may not pertain to you; you may have been a TA for one of your professors. Perhaps you've been able to teach your own class. If you were a guest lecturer in someone else's class, you could put this here as well.
EXPERIENCE:
Be judicious as to what to include in this section and to how much information to provide. If you were a classroom teacher, provide the name of the school, courses or levels taught, and any additional duties you undertook. Be brief. There is no need to include the numerous part-time jobs that got you through college, or the pizza delivery job you had throughout high school. Ask yourself, what does my prospective employer need to know about me?
EXAMPLE:
Revisit your vita often! Given enough time, it's easy to forget what you have done and when!
Information gathered from the Career Development Centers of Purdue, Emory University, University of Wisconsin, Duke University, LaGrange College and the Phi Chi Organization