CREATING A CURRICULUM VITAE
When applying for academic jobs, international jobs, or some fellowships, employers frequently require a curriculum vitae (CV) rather than a resume. A CV should summarize your education and experience relevant to the academic world. It should be tailored to the job you are applying for, rather than listing every job and experience you have ever had.
CVs typically use headings and sub-headings to guide the reader.
The following is a list of common categories and potential information to include.
Personal information
Educational Background
Research Experience
Teaching Experience
Professional Experience
Research Interests
Teaching Interests
Grants Received
Scholarships
Publications (include proper blue book citation)
Presentations
Fellowships
Dissertations, theses
Training
Continuing Education
Volunteer Experience, pro bono
Honors & Awards
Professional Affiliations
Professional Service
Dissertation
Internships
Certifications, licenses
Bar Memberships
Programs & Workshops
Languages
Study abroad
References (include name, title, address, telephone number, email, and context of the reference.)
You should generally NOT include:
Age
Ethnicity
Political affiliation
Religious preference
Marital status
Sexual orientation
Photographs
Physical characteristics such as height, weight, or health issues
Tips:
- As with resumes, make sure your style is consistent and your content is free of spelling and grammatical errors. Use action verbs. Make sure the information is accurate and up-to-date.
- Emphasize content, rather than form. The style of a CV is generally very plain. Do not overuse boldface, italics, and underlining.
- If your CV is more than one page, put your name and page number on each page. This is called a “cumulative footer” and should tell the reader what page he is on, out of how many total pages. (ie: Page __ of __)
- Margins should be at least one inch – there is no need to compress them because CVs are expected to exceed one page.
- If your CV is multiple pages, do not print on both sides of a sheet of paper.
- Do not list minor honors or repetitive entries.
- A CV is usually written in paragraph style, instead of breaking up the text into bulleted lists. Paragraphs should list responsibilities from a first person perspective.
- List publications and works in progress in reverse chronological order. Provide a brief summary of each listing.
- CVs generally do not contain an “objective” section.
- If you have given numerous presentations (workshops, lectures, etc.), you can list “Selected Presentations” as a category on your CV.
Resources
The University of Chicago has a good article with helpful tips about preparing an academic CV - http://caps.uchicago.edu/resources/pdfs/vita.pdf.
Sample CV’s
Link to Sample 1 (PDF)
Link to Sample 2 (PDF)
The Penn Law faculty web pages also contain CV’s for our entire standing faculty. These are excellent examples for you to work from.
Link to Faculty Web pages: http://www.law.upenn.edu/faculty
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