A brief guide on preparing a curriculum vitae (CV) for your academic career; by Chih-Horng Kuo (chk@gate.sinica.edu.tw)
Target audience: undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs (in biology)
Considerations
Critical: similar to the principle of applying for faculty Jobs, the most important steps of preparing a strong CV begin WAY BEFORE you start writing the document.
As such, it is beneficial for you to start preparing a CV as early in your career as possible. Comparing “what you have” with “what you want to have” on the CV can provide some guidelines for your career development.
For example, are your “Grants” and “Teaching” sections strong? If not, what can you do as a graduate student or postdoc to strengthen those aspects?
Latin for “course of life”; a short summary of a person's career, qualifications, and education
Who are you? (now); who were you? (before)
Provide information regarding who/when/where/what/why/how to answer these questions
For example: for your MS degree; who = advisor; when = year started/finished; where = department & university; what = thesis topic; why = motivation & relevance to career path; how = techniques and skills related to thesis
Obvious gap(s) in record? Better to explain by yourself, rather than let people wonder.
Career stage and purpose?
How far back? Depends. For example, do I list high school info? Probably normal for undergrads applying for MS/PhD programs, but not necessary for postdocs applying for faculty positions.
Length?
Long form (comprehensive information): maintain an up-to-date copy (with version control); basis of customized versions
Short form (selected information for highlights): for specific purposes
Usually one or two pages.
Even for undergraduate students, you should be able to provide materials sufficient for filling one page & tell people who you are; use the space well.
Order of components: variable, depends on the purpose. Put what you would like to emphasize first.
Key Components
Name
Contact Information (email, address, phone, etc)
Email: usually institutional/work email addresses are preferred. However, for people in early career stage, the work email address may change every few years, so it is okay to use personal email addresses (e.g., Gmail). If personal email addresses are used, make sure that the addresses look professional (or at least neutral).
Employment; Professional Experience
Education
Note: for early career stage (e.g., postdoc), you may merge “Employment” and “Education” into “Professional Training”, then start with your current position so it is immediately clear what you are doing now.
Other Components
Personal Information (optional; be careful about privacy issue) (gender, date of birth, citizenship, martial status, etc)
Photo (usually no for academia; discrimination issues; if included, be professional)
Personal Statement (and/or Research Interests/Statement) (optional)
Often provided as a separate document, rather than a part of CV; sometimes okay to have a short statement with 1-3 sentences)
Particularly important when moving into a new field
Awards and Honors
Publications
Representatives or a full list?
If only the representatives, provide a link to the full list (ORCID, Google Scholar, WOS, personal website, etc)
Highlights?
Citation statistics? Probably no need to list for individual publications unless there is something worth emphasizing. May be helpful to to provide summary statistics such as the total number of citations and the h-index; specify the source (e.g., WOS or Google Scholar)
This is a very important section. In your early career stage, likely you have none or only few publications to list. If you have none, then strengthen other sections (e.g., thesis for graduate students and internship projects for undergrads). If you have one or more, you can add some brief descriptions to explain the significance of the publications and your contributions.
Presentations
Seminars and conferences; in separate sections
Domestic or international; in separate (sub-)sections
Oral or poster? label clearly or put in separate sub-sections
Invited? Highlight!
Grants
Teaching Experience
Service
Reviewers/editors for journals; a WOS profile is useful
Activities that can demonstrate service and leadership
Student representative
Volunteer
Professional Organization (memberships in domestic/international societies)
Skills (Certifications) (more common for resume)
Language
Computer/programming
Research-related
Think about the purpose of preparing this CV. Would listing these help? How to make the information relevant?
Be specific and convincing. For example, for non-native language and computer skills, provide some certifications. Research-related lab skills should be consistent with thesis, publications, and/or internship projects.
Some “soft” skills (e.g., leadership) are extremely important, yet difficult to convey and be convincing. Better to provide some specific achievements (perhaps in other sections) to demonstrate these.
Some computer skills (e.g., Microsoft Office) are considered standard these days; listing these may not be beneficial.
References: people who may write recommendation letters for you. Make sure to obtain their permission first!