A resume or CV serves as a professional summary that highlights an individual’s skills, qualifications, work experience, and education. It is designed to provide potential employers with an overview of your ability to perform in the position. A well written cover letter, resume, and/or CV are the key to the interview stage. These documents are essential for making the case for why you are qualified for the experience.
Did you know the Office of Graduate Studies provides Resume and CV reviews for Graduate Students?
Curious to learn more about graduate level application materials?
- Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV), which do you need?
- What are the differences between Graduate and Undergraduate Resumes?
- How to Transform your academic CV into a Resume?
Looking for additional resources?
How to write a Resume
Your resume is often an employer’s first impression of you. It is a dense, fact-based document that provides information on your educational background, details your most relevant experience, lists your top skills, and showcases your achievements. Recruiters spend just a few seconds on average looking at a resume, so it is crucial to use a format that makes relevant information immediately visible. Resumes should be tailored to the specific position you are applying. Resumes are subjective. Individuals and industries will have unique preferences on resume writing.
Format
- Use a standard size font (10 to 12 point)
- Use standard margins (1 to .65)
- Keep the design simple & consistent. Use white space. Use line breaks or spacing in between sections.
- Avoid stock templates, graphics, text boxes, Comic Sans or other unprofessional fonts
- Make sure your bullets are listed in order of importance according to what's required on the job description.
If specific skills are requested, make sure those skills are listed first in their category within your skills section.
Layout
Header:
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- City and State (no need to list full street address)
- LinkedIn or other websites to demonstrate projects or portfolio
Education: List your most recent degree first and move backwards in reverse chronological order. Include your degree, program, and expected graduation date.
Experience: Tailor your experience section according to the position you’re applying. Emphasize experiences where you can show relevant or transferable skills. Include all applicable experience, whether you were an employee, intern, volunteer, researcher, or member of a team.
Skills: Only include objective, measurable skills like languages, computer programs, laboratory procedures, programming languages, etc. Softer skills like communication, teamwork, etc. should be illustrated through your experience descriptions.
Descriptions
Summarize relevant experience to demonstrate your duties, with an emphasis on what you were able to accomplish in the position. Write using P-A-R statements to communicate your key accomplishments. P-A-R is an acronym that stands for Project, Action, Result. In each bullet point, you should address the project you were working on, an action you completed while working on that project, and the results of the action you carried out. Use strong action verb phrases and make every word count. Use keywords from the job description to show you are a good fit for the job.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What skills did I use?
- Are there any quantifiable details that could provide context, scope, or demonstrate impact?
- What was I proud of or what were my accomplishments?
- Did I use specific programs/software?
- What were the outcomes related to what I did?
- Did I improve something? Create something new? Present information? Lead or manage a team? Take initiative? Problem solve? Analyze data?
How to write a Curriculum Vitae (CV)
A curriculum vitae, also known as a CV or vita, is a document that provides a summary of your entire academic background typically including your degrees, research and or teaching experience, awards, publications, and other achievements and credentials.
Formatting
- CV should be well-organized and easy to read.
- Choose an effective format and stay consistent throughout the document. (Pro tip: Professors often post their own CVs on their university’s website and can be a great way to look at different formatting styles!)
- Utilize bolds, italics, underlines, and CAPITALIZATIONS to draw attention to specific sections/details.
- List all relevant items in reverse chronological order (most recent to oldest) within each section.
- Be strategic by placing the most important information/sections near the beginning of your CV and/or on the left side of the page.
- In general, place the name of the position, title, award, or institution on the left side of the page and associated dates on the right.
- If submitting a hard copy or printed version of your CV, it is recommended to include a footer with page numbers and last name, in case pages get separated.
Sections to Include
Heading
- Name
- Email address
- Location (city, state, ZIP code; no need for street address)
- Phone number
Education
- List academic degrees, with degrees in progress or most recently earned listed first.
- Name of institution, city and state, degree type and major/minor/concentrations, month and year degree was/will be awarded
- Thesis title and advisor, if applicable
Relevant Experience
- List positions that demonstrate your skills and expertise. You can group experiences into relevant categories to help tailor your CV (e.g., research, teaching, and administration). For each position include:
- Title, organization name, city and state, and dates position was held.
- Bullet points that summarize activities, duties, skills, accomplishments, and successes. Use action verbs in the correct tense (present tense for active experiences, past tense for completed experiences).
- Note: Assistantships may also be included in the experience section.
Publications
- Provide bibliographic citations for articles, pamphlets, chapters in books, research reports, or any other publications that you have authored/co-authored. Use the format appropriate for your field/discipline for a clean look (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).
Presentations Oral or Poster
- Give titles of professional presentations
- Names of conferences or events, dates and locations
- If appropriate in your discipline, include brief descriptions. Use the format appropriate for your field/ discipline for a clean look (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).
Honors and Awards
- Receipt of competitive scholarships, fellowships, and assistantships; names of scholastic honors; teaching or research awards. Assistantships may also be included in the experience section.
Other Sections to Consider
Qualifications/Skills
- A summary of relevant strengths or skills which you want to highlight. Typically, this is not included as a separate section, but addressed throughout other sections. Occasionally, it may be appropriate to list special computing or language skills.
Grants Received
- Name of grant
- Name of granting agency
- Date received
- Title or purpose of research project
Institutional Service
- List institutional committees you have served on
- Offices held
- Student groups you have supervised
- Special academic projects you have assisted with
Certifications and Trainings
- All relevant certifications and/or training
- Year received
Professional Associations
- Memberships in national, regional, state, and local professional organizations.
- Significant appointments to positions or committees in these associations.
- Student memberships in professional associations are appropriate.
Recent and Current Research
- Description of research projects recently conducted or in progress.
- Include the type of research and a brief description of the purpose.
Community Involvement
- Appropriate and relevant volunteer work, church work, community service organizations, etc.
References
- Depending on field/discipline, references could be included in your CV; however, most applications will include a separate area to submit this information.
Additional Considerations
- Much like a resume, you will want to tailor your CV for the specific position you are applying for, and place more relevant sections earlier in the document.
- Example: If applying to a teaching-focused position, then the CV will strongly emphasize teaching. If a position is more research-intensive, then the CV will emphasize research experience.
- Formatting for CVs can vary by field and discipline. It is recommended you seek disciplinary-specific advice from advisors, professors, and other field professionals.
- Unlike resumes, CVs do not have restrictions around document length.
Cover Letter
A cover letter is your opportunity to introduce yourself and showcase your qualifications. Unless otherwise instructed, always send a cover letter when applying for an internship or career opportunity. It should contain the following four sections.
Top of Page
- Your contact information
- Date
- Salutation addressed to a specific individual and position.
Introductory Paragraph
- Introduce yourself.
- Specify why you are writing; if you are responding to a job posting, be sure to include the title of the position for which you are applying.
- Identify the individual(s) who referred you or any previous point of contact if applicable.
- Provide an overview of the remainder of your letter.
Body of Letter
- Explain what makes you qualified for a specific job in full paragraphs.
- Demonstrate your interest and knowledge of a specific position and organization.
- Highlight your skills through two or three examples of past experiences to showcase you are an ideal candidate.
Conclusion
- Reiterate your interest in the position and the organization.
- Provide additional contact information.
- Express your sincere appreciation and enthusiasm.
Additional Cover Letter Guidance
Choose a font type that is easy to read such as Arial, Helvetica, Century Gothic or Times New Roman.
Match the tone of the job description and the organization’s website.
Be thorough yet concise, keeping it to one page if possible.
The cover letter serves as a writing sample.
Submit your application materials for review!