A curriculum vitae is a written description of your work experience, educational background, and skills. It is also called a CV, or simply a vitae and it is more detailed than a resume. A curriculum vitae is also used by someone looking for a job.
The Differences between a Resume and a CV
There are several differences between a curriculum vitae and a resume. A curriculum vitae is a longer (up to two or more pages), more detailed synopsis of your background and skills. A CV includes a summary of your educational and academic backgrounds as well as teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honors, affiliations, and other details. As with a resume, you may need different versions of a CV for different types of positions.
Like a resume, a curriculum vitae should include your name, contact information, education, skills, and experience. In addition to the basics, a CV includes research and teaching experience, publications, grants and fellowships, professional associations and licenses, awards, and other information relevant to the position you are applying for. Start by making a list of all your background information, then organize it into categories. Make sure you include dates on all the publications you include.
What to Include:
Basic Information
- Your name as you want to be referred to professionally
- Current address and phone number with area code (where you can be reached now!)
- Your e-mail and web-page if you have one
- It is not necessary to include other personal information such as Social Security Number or Marital Status
Objective
Including an objective in this type of resume is optional. A career objective should answer this question, "What do I want to do?"
Some example objectives are:
- Acceptance to the graduate program in Physics
- Research position in biochemical laboratory
Educational Background (for each degree conferring institution) - Institution
- City, Country
- Dates attended or graduation date
- Degree or certification obtained
- GPA (if proud of it)
- Major/minor/emphasis area
- Relevant coursework
- Specialized instruction
Experience
This part may include several sections such as work experience, volunteer experience (internships, community service, student teaching), campus leadership, and any other area in which you may have significant experience, such as computer knowledge.
Briefly describe each position:
- Title, dates, organization name, location
- Responsibilities
- Use action words and verbs inactive form to describe situations and achievements
- Include scope of responsibilities
- Concretely outline any outstanding results
Honors/Activities/Leadership/Special Skills
Front-load these with those most important or most pertinent to your objective. You may want to use specific headings such as professional organizations, computer skills, and leadership positions. Include any honors, scholarships, or recognition awards that you've received. If you were actively involved in many clubs, teams, or committees while in college, those may be included also. The key to this section is to keep it brief. If you feel you need more detail, use the guidelines for Experience and make it a complete section.
Interests
List some of your interest which shows you as an interesting and well-rounded person. Also bright up your past jobs and duties performed. Often they are looking for someone who wants to learn and who has transferable skills like:
- Leadership skills;
- Can do-will do mentality;
- Ability to communicate;
- Ability to multi-task;
- Hard work ethics;
- Creativity;
- Problem-solving ability.