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Curriculum Vitae

What is a Curriculum Vitae?

Curriculum Vitae (also referred to as “CV,” or “vita,”) is a Latin term translated as “the course of one’s life or career.” It is a document that summarizes your identity as a scholar and the cornerstone of the job search process for faculty and (sometimes) administrative positions in higher education.

While the CV’s conventional purpose is to provide a comprehensive and detailed description of your educational and academic background and experiences/accomplishments, its strategic purpose is to entice the reader to invite you for an interview. While there is not one standard format, the information that follows is intended to help you design a CV in a way that enables search committees to immediately and easily identify your most relevant and important attributes.

Perspective of the Search Committee

An advertisement for a faculty or administrative position can generate hundreds of applications from interested candidates. Given the volume of CV’s to review at the beginning stages of the search process, search committee members are initially focused on eliminating candidates from the pool. At this stage, each CV will be scanned for about 20-30 seconds. CV’s that are selected from the initial screening process will be of those candidates deserving further consideration for an interview.

While your CV will contain much detail, your challenge is to make it “scannable” so that readers can, within 20 or 30 seconds, see the major strengths and qualities you bring to the position. This can be achieved by the following:

1. Organization
2. Clarity
3. Consistency of Format

Organization

Good organization means presenting the most relevant and important information in a way that pulls the reader’s eye directly to it rather than making the reader search for it. Consider the following example:

2006 Doctor of Philosophy, Chemical Engineering
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Dissertation:
Advisor:

2002 Bachelor of Science, Chemical Engineering
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

In this example, the eye is drawn to degree. As every other candidate for a faculty position will have a Ph.D. or Master’s degree, highlighting degree will not create an impact on the reader. Search committees are more interested in where you received your education.
In contrast, consider the following example:

PhD Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Chemical Engineering, May 2006

Dissertation:
Advisor:

BS Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Chemical Engineering, May 2002

In this more favorable example, the eye is drawn to the institutions from which you received your education. Where you received your education, the nature of your dissertation, and the names of your advisor(s) are the three most important features of your CV. Make sure this information is not visually obscured.

Incorporating adequate white space between categories and text will also make the CV easier to read.

Clarity

Clarity refers to making sure the content of your CV is understood. Use language that is concise and unambiguous and note the following:

Avoid acronyms unless the conventions of your discipline dictate otherwise. Check with your faculty advisors as different disciplines have different rules.

Explain the magnitude/selectivity of honors that may not be familiar to all readers. Make sure the importance can be understood by your audience.
Example:

                    IBM Fellowship for Dissertation Research 2004-2005
               One of three selected from among 2,000 applicants nationally.

In this example, the second line clarifies the selectivity of an honor which may not be familiar to all readers. Honors that are more common, such as Phi Beta Kappa, would not need explanation.

Use formatting options such as bold, italics, and bullet points to set apart sections and sub sections. Don’t go overboard as overuse of these formatting tools can make the CV too “busy” and difficult to read. The goal is to make the document easier to read, not overly distracting.

Consistency in Format

Use consistent spacing, fonts, font size, and use of bold an italics among similar items.

Note: There is not one standard format. Emphasize the points considered to be the most relevant or important in your discipline and conform to the standard conventions of your field. Faculty advisors can provide excellent assistance in this area.

Categories of Information and Order

Your identifying information (name, address, phone, and email address), education, and dissertation information will always come first on your CV. Thereafter, the categories of information to include and the order in which to place them depend on the following:

• The nature of the position to which you are applying.
• Individual strengths.
• What is most important to the institution.

Research institutions, for example, will be highly interested in your research experiences. For this reason, highlight your research experience by placing it toward the top of the CV.

In contrast, four year colleges and community colleges (or other institutions that stress excellence in teaching) will usually place greater importance on teaching abilities. When applying to these institutions, place teaching experiences and abilities toward the top of the CV.

Again, there is not one standard format.
Click here to view a sample CV template (pdf) including typical categories of information.