Preparing Curriculum Vita

1. Preparing Curriculum Vita

2. What is Curriculum Vita? • summary of educational, professional and academic background • outlines academic credentials of the applicant to the search committee to obtain the position in academia (research assistant, fellowship, post-doctoral, faculty member) • vita is also often used for promotion, reappointment, tenure and grant applications

3. Vita Elements • name and contact information • research (occasionally teaching) interests • education (in reverse order, degree received, institution, years) • professional experience (in reverse order, position, institution, years) • invited presentations/lectures • awards and funding • publications and other scholarly work • books/book chapters/journal papers/conference papers • professional activities: reviewing, chairing a conference, serving on a conference committee • teaching experience: courses taught, students graduated • administrative service: departmental and university committees and duties • maybe references often accompanied by research and teaching statements

4. Research Statement • detailed narrative about past, current and future research projects, expanded description of research interests • past results – describe and motivate problem, describe methodology skills and results • current projects – describe state and expected results • future projects – what you want to do 3-5 years out

5. Teaching Statement • name the classes you taught, excellent place to summarize your teaching evaluation, other demonstration of teaching proficiency • explain your approach to teaching, teaching philosophy and its justification • state what you are competent to teach, be clear

6. Vita vs. Resume • Resume is a professional introduction, somewhat less rigid than Vita • focuses on specific skills, experience (2-years of C/C++, etc.) projects, employment history, certifications (a list of 100-some published papers is not appreciated) • usually a lot shorter – 1-2 pages max (vitas run into 10-pages and more) • if getting too long, switch from chronological to topical

7. Building Vita • Writing a vita is not a simple process. • keep it up-to-date or nearly so. You may need it quickly. (I tend to write down all the significant achievements in a separate list and enter into vita once or twice a year as needed) • keep it neat, clear and spell-checked • ask your advisor or senior colleague to check and comment on it • tailor your vita (research interests/teaching/research statement) to the particular position