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 in Interstride, an online database of industry trends, job search information, and other resources useful for both international students and those who want to work abroad. Visit this page for Interstride login info.

  • 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?
  • Resume and CV Samples
    For resume and CV samples, please visit our Career Guide for Undergraduate Students and Career Guide for Graduate Students. The Undergrad Guide contains a variety of 1-page resume samples, while the Grad Student Guide contains both 1-page grad student resumes and longer CV samples.