Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae

A curriculum vitae (also known as a vita or CV) provides a comprehensive description of your academic and professional credentials and achievements. If you have a master’s or doctoral degree you will need to submit a CV when you apply for teaching or research positions at colleges, universities, or research institutions.

As an undergrad, you may use a CV to apply to graduate school or research positions. Outside the United States, many employers use the term CV instead of resume. You can find country-specific resume/CV advice and samples in GoinGlobal, an online database of industry trends, job search information and cultural advice in 40 countries.

  • CV vs. Resume
    The primary differences between a resume and a CV are length, specialized content, and audience. A resume is usually one page while a CV is often two pages or longer. A resume summarizes your skills, experience and education while a CV expands upon these accomplishments and contains more detailed information and descriptions. A CV may have sections devoted to teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, specialized skills and professional affiliations and/or memberships.
  • Evaluate Your CV
    Is It Informative?

    • Is the information in the CV presented in a logical order?
    • Are all of the basic subheadings present: education, teaching experience, research experience, presentations/publications, service?
    • Are your works in progress included? These might include your current degree program, current teaching and research responsibilities, and draft publications.
    • Does the CV contain only essential, relevant information for an academic position?
    • Is the information presented as concisely as possible?
    • Is the information elaborated on in sufficient detail?
    • If you were leading an interview based on this CV, which two questions might you ask? What additional information might you like to have?

    Is It Attractive?

    • Does the CV look neat? Look for appropriate spacing and clear headings.
    • Is the CV easy to read? Are your eyes drawn to important information?
    • Are the sections of the CV presented in a parallel format and style? Look for active verbs; consistent use with typeface choices; parallelism within sections.
    • Are there any distracting grammatical, typographical, or spelling errors?