Creating Your Curriculum Vitae: A Guide to Crafting a Compelling Resume and CV

1. Creating Your Curriculum Vitaecareerlink@grenfell.mun.ca

2. What is a Resume? A document that summarizes your education, experiences, and competencies. It's designed to introduce you to an employer and highlight your qualifications for a specific job or type of work.

3. Resume • Brief, 1-2 pages • Summary of skills, qualifications and experience directly relevant to the position applying for • Résumés are widely accepted • Mostly used for entry-level positions and non-academic fields • Employers generally read them for less than 15 seconds

4. What is a Curriculum Vitae (CV) A more comprehensive document that details ALL your past education, experiences, and competencies, including public presentations, academic writing and professional development. It's designed to introduce you to employers in academics, advanced research, post-secondary teaching and fine arts.

5. CV • Focuses on academic work with emphasis on research and/or teaching • Aims to provide comprehensive information • Long 5 – 10 pages, 20 pages

6. Use a CV when you are … • applying for work and/or contracts in academics, advanced research, post-secondary teaching, and fine arts • applying for graduate school, scholarships, etc. • showcasing your background prior to a presentation

7. Transforming your Resume into a CV • Research Experience • Teaching Experience • Publications • Presentations • Professional Affiliations

8. Components of a CV • Contact Information • Education / Academic Background • Professional Experience • Publications / Works in Progress • References / Recommendations • Additional Headings

9. Contact Information • Use your full name • Contact phone number(s) • Mailing address – home & current • E-mail address - one you check regularly

10. Education • State your education history in reverse chronological order • Indicate graduation dates, degrees, diplomas, certificates, and names of institutions where you have studied • Include major/minor and GPA (if strong) • Highlight significant achievements

11. Professional Experience • Relevant work experience in reverse chronological order • Include title, name of organization, location and dates of employment • List work experience, internships, volunteer and on campus work • Use action verbs to create value-oriented statements

12. Value-Oriented Statements • Choose a key action word • Describe what you did • What value was created because of what you did? • Action Verb • Event • Outcome

13. Publications and Other Creative Works • Publications, presentations, media presentations, inventions • Publications: show full bibliographic information, indicate if co-authored • List unpublished works only if they are being considered for actual publication

14. References/Recommendations • Ask for permission first • Let them know your objectives • Provide them with a copy of your CV

15. Additional Headings • Honours / Achievements / Awards • Relevant Course Work • Thesis / Dissertation Abstract • Research Interests / Teaching Interests • Research and Lab Experience • Teaching interests and Experience • Special Skill / Competencies • Research Proposals • Professional Associations

16. As Important as Content … • Presentation and style/format • Use bullet statements with few, not full sentences or paragraphs • Use bolded headings and consistent spacing • Leave some white space • Adjust the content to fit the purpose • Avoid redundancy (repeating or including unnecessary information)

17. As Important as Content (cont’) • Take the time needed to create a quality product • Assume the person reading the CV knows nothing about you • Stress areas of strength while minimizing areas of weakness; don't be humble but be honest • Have it proof read/critiqued

18. Avoid: • First person pronouns (I, We) • Lengthy descriptions • Vague statements • Graphics, columns, boxes • Additional personal information (gender, age, religion, race, photos, SIN number)