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2009 Spring Syllabus
CONVERTING A CV TO AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OR PROSPECTUS
By Page S. Morahan, Ph.D. and Judith Katz, Ed.D.
Among professionals in higher education, medicine and many of the sciences a curriculum vita (CV) is the basic
career document sent in response to ads or search committee requests. And you need to have a clear and
complete picture of your academic achievements.
Step 1: review your CV and put it into the best format to both: (1) highlight your accomplishments, and (2)
demonstrate ALL you have accomplished. We find many academics forget to include activities such as all the
educational sessions you’ve given, all the educational sessions for the public, etc. (Note: Often this CV is NOT
the document required internally by institutions to keep their files up to date)
Even an excellent CV, however, is NOT the best document for presenting your overall accomplishments in a
succinct way. View the CV as a laboratory data book full of raw data. As with raw data, CV data need to be
analyzed and discussed for the greatest impact!
Step 2: prepare an Executive Summary, Resume, or Prospectus. We find the Executive Summary and
Prospects particularly useful for academic and scientist leaders. Whatever the format, this is more than a
door-opening document. When written thoughtfully it becomes a strategic career planning opportunity.
An Executive Summary, Resume, or Prospectus is sent accompanying the more traditional CV. Since any of these
shorter forms are still relatively uncommon in academia or science, they provide candidates with a useful edge.
What are the differences among these approaches? In this column we describe the Executive Summary and
Prospectus. Basic resume writing can be found in most job search books.
Executive Summary
Your opening is an Objective Statement. In 2-3 lines, the Objective provides:
The Executive Summary provides a focused synopsis of background and achievements relevant to your current
career objective. It is particularly useful when applying for leadership positions. Used as an overview to the
traditional long academic CV, it provides the decision makers who are likely conceptual thinkers with pertinent
bottom line information that can be scanned in 30 seconds. The accompanying CV provides any additional
details. Several variations are possible, differing in length, with some having less information in the Experience
and Education sections, leaving those details for the CV that follows. Each Executive Summary opens with clearly
organized contact information: name, address (es), phone number(s), email and fax numbers. (See the Executive
Summary for Susan Boyd.)
• A strong statement of the work you wish to do, or position you wish to hold tailored to each position for which
you are applying.
• An effective, but brief, statement of top strengths, skills and/or talents you bring.
• Brief summary of results the employer can expect from hiring you (e.g., generally one or more of these Profit
improvement; Cost savings; Problem relief; Stress reduction) – in essence, how you can add value to the
organization.
The Objective is followed by a Qualifications Statement. This allows reader to understand why you feel you are
qualified for the work or position your objective claims. Be brief and concise in paragraph form, or a
combination of an opening paragraph followed by specific skills or abilities listed in bullet form.