How to Write a CV or Curriculum Vitae
A curriculum vitae is different from a resume. A resume is a list of work experience. A CV is an academic glimpse into a person---your specialties, biases, publications and conference presentations. CVs are always academic and serve to show a university or research institute that you are competent to "fit" into a job or position.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Begin with your education. It is extremely rare that a CV begins with anything else. It is customary to include all degrees, starting with your undergraduate. Your dissertation or thesis topic is often listed, but this is usually for younger job-seekers. Older, experienced professors or professionals usually do not mention their years-old dissertation.
-
2
List your professional experience. Usually for an academic job, this centers around the places where you have taught and the specific classes. Do not mention student evaluations or teaching awards in this section. This section should, like all of them, be a coherent understanding of your specific areas of competence and expertise.
-
-
3
Detail your publications. Mention whether or not they are peer reviewed. It is not necessarily the case that a popular publication is somehow "inferior" to a peer-reviewed one, since they must go through multiple copy editors regardless of the publication. Include all book reviews, since these are also academic publications. It is often acceptable to list Internet publications, but this depends on the site. Many are very high-quality academic sites, and there is no reason why these should not be included. Include the name of the journal, issue number, date and page numbers. For web publications, state all available information, including the web address.
-
4
List your conference presentations. This shows that you are professionally active in your field. This is less important for research jobs than teaching ones, but they should be listed on all CVs. Ideally, these presentations should eventually lead to publications, so there will be considerable overlap between the two sections. This is accepted and encouraged.
-
5
Lay out your service appointments. These are often overlooked, but are essential in a tight job market. For academic jobs, all the applicants will have Ph.D.'s and conference presentations. Not all will be active in university or community areas of activism. This is important to search committees. These should be university related if possible, and often includes things like search committee membership, executive positions in the department and university-wide appointments.
-
6
Set out your recommendations at last. These traditionally come at the end of a CV. For younger job-seekers, include all contact information. For established academics, just include an email address or phone. It is rare that experienced and established academics really require references. For academics seeking a professorial job, place your best known references first, your weaker ones last. The notoriety of those with whom you have worked with or under is very important to search committees at universities.
-
1
