A curriculum vitae (CV) is often used to apply to research or academic positions. It includes academic credentials and achievements, research experience, and other relevant leadership or extracurricular experiences and skills.
How does a CV differ from a resumé?
Although the overall content with regards to experiences and skills is similar for both CVs and resumés, a CV more often includes detailed credentials relevant to academia and research, such as publications, presentations and references. The CV presents a full history of your academic credentials and accomplishments, so the length is often variable. In contrast, a resumé presents a concise picture of your skills and qualifications for a specific position, so it tends to be shorter (typically 1 page for undergrads).
When might I use a CV as an undergraduate?
You may be asked for a CV when you are applying to a research position, fellowship, or graduate program in STEM. If you are applying to a research position in industry, pay attention to whether they ask for a resumé or CV in their posting, as they may prefer the latter.
What should my CV look like as an undergraduate?
As mentioned above, unlike resumés (1 page), undergraduate CVs are typically 2 pages, but they both often contain similar information. Important and relevant sections should be on page one. As an undergrad, the sections on your CV will depend on the relevant experience you have had so far with a focus on academic achievements and research experience (if applicable).
Start with these mandatory sections:
CONTACT INFORMATION
Include your name, address, phone number, email address, and professional website or profile (if applicable).
EDUCATION
Include the degree-granting institution and school (if pertinent), the degree you are receiving, your major or concentration, minor, GPA and your expected graduation date. If you are writing an honors thesis, include the title and name(s) of your thesis adviser(s) here. You can also include relevant coursework and a brief list of academic accolades here (Dean’s List, etc.). Latin honors (e.g., summa cum laude) go with the degree. If you have many academic honors and awards, it might be more helpful to have them in a separate section.
If you have additional higher education, you can also include it. If you have studied abroad, you can include the institution name, dates, and relevant coursework for the program.
Your CV may include some of the following sections:
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
This section should occupy prime real estate in your CV. Include the position you held, name of the lab/PI or department and institution, location, and dates of involvement. We recommend including a brief description of the project, your role, the primary methods used, and key outcomes (publications, etc.). You can also use bullet points to separate key projects.
PUBLICATIONS
Scholarly publications include journal articles, book chapters, and published conference proceedings. Format each bibliographic entry according to your discipline’s style guide. Include authors in publication order, bolding your name. Include publication status if the piece is not yet published—e.g., in preparation, under review, accepted. We recommend listing the DOI if the article has been accepted but does not yet have page numbers.
PRESENTATIONS
Presentations usually refer to scholarly presentations in symposia or conferences. Include the author(s) and title of presentation, the conference or symposium name, and the location and date (or month) of the presentation. Specify the format of the presentation—e.g., poster or oral presentation.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Include the name of the institution, location, department, position you held (e.g., Teaching Assistant, Laboratory Instructor), and month-year range of the engagement. Although specific course numbers are informative, mentioning whether the course was introductory, intermediate or advanced is more meaningful. We encourage you to include a brief description of your role or some bullet points to describe what you did.
LEADERSHIP OR VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE/EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Include the organization/club, your position, location, and dates of your involvement. You can include a brief description of your role and accomplishments or 1-2 bullet points. If you bundle this with the section above (e.g., Teaching and Leadership Experience), try to be consistent in the way you describe or highlight the specific details of the positions.
GRANTS/AWARDS/ACADEMIC HONORS
List any academic awards, fellowships, grants, or funding that you have received. For each entry, include the award name, award-granting institution, and year of the award. Latin honors (e.g., summa cum laude) go with under the degree in the Education section. If the nature of the award is not clear based on the name, you can briefly clarify or give context. Likewise, if the award is exceptional, you can mention that too (e.g., 1 of 5 national recipients in the year 2022).
ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
On a CV, you may include recent and relevant professional experience. You can title this section by the job area, e.g., Additional Engineering Experience. Include the name of the organization, your job title, location and month-year range of the experience. You can include a brief description or bullet points to highlight pertinent transferable skills.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS OR AFFILIATIONS
List any professional organizations that you may be a member of. Many scholarly associations have free or low-cost student memberships.
CERTIFICATIONS
Include any relevant certifications or licensures.
SKILLS
Break down your skills into categories, e.g., laboratory, technical or computer (software, hardware, programming), and language. Within each category, list the relevant items. It is ok to use acronyms for commonly used techniques in your field (e.g., SDS-PAGE, IHC, PCR, HPLC). For languages, we recommend indicating your proficiency level (e.g., fluent, conversational, elementary).
REFERENCES
This includes a list of relevant references, including their name, title, institution, and contact information (phone and/or email).
How should I describe my experiences on my CV?
Typically, undergraduate CVs include short descriptions of your experience focusing on field-related content such as descriptions of research projects and methods used. It is ok to use technical language in CVs, but it is better to avoid too many uncommon jargons or acronyms. It is not unusual to display these descriptions in paragraph form, but some prefer bullet points. It is always a good idea to include action verbs and focus on your projects, contributions and accomplishments within each position. We also recommend adding quantitative data whenever possible (e.g., Taught 30 students, Reviewed 120 journal articles within 2 weeks). Current experiences should be in present tense, and previous experiences should be in past tense.
How should I format my CV?
CVs tend to have a much simpler format than resumés. All the relevant information should be within the main body of the document. The content is usually left-justified with 1-inch margins all around, and a size 11 or 12 font, no smaller than 10. We recommend using more commonly used fonts, such as Times New Roman, Arial, Garamond, and Calibri, which are easy to read. Bold and italics should be used sparingly, and extra design elements should be avoided. A right-justified header with your last name and page numbers (#/#) add a nice finishing touch to the document. As always, be sure to proofread the document and ensure consistency throughout.
Add as much white space as you can to help the reader scan through quickly. Be wary of inconsistent spacing before and after dashes. Use larger spaces between sections than those within sections. For periods at the end of bullet points, either use them throughout or don’t.
Sample undergraduate STEM CV
For a sample STEM CV, please click on the image to the left or here. Please note that this sample does not have all the sections listed above, which is not uncommon. Similar formats can also be used for master’s CV. Finally, no sample is perfect, so use a template but make it your own.
Image courtesy Vecteezy.com
Who can help me with my CV?
You can usually refer to CVs from your advisor or post-docs or graduate students in your lab to get an idea of the things to include and the type of language to use. When you have a draft, we recommend seeking feedback from mentors in your field, as they will be able to offer discipline-specific insights and tips. You can also schedule a 30-min pre-grad document review appointment with our office for more general advice on format and language.
