Crafting Effective CVs and Résumés for Graduate Students

1. CVs & Résumés for Graduate Students Ian Robertson Lynn McCaughey

2. Learning Objectives By the end of the session, you will be able to… • Differentiate between a CV and a résumé • Describe the key principles of effective CV’s and résumés • Identify the types of information commonly included on CV’s and résumés • Describe how information is commonly organized on CV’s and résumés • Identify the types of experiences you already have that will be helpful to include on your CV and résumé • Identify gaps in your experience that you can begin to address

3. Out of Scope • Cover letters • Interviews • Work search • Career planning

4. What do you already know? • What is a résumé? • What is a CV?

5. A Few Notes on Terminology • CV = Curriculum Vitae = Latin for “course of life” • Résumé = French for “summary” • In this part of the world (western North America)… • CV = a document with a university teaching or research focus • résumé = a document with a non-academic focus • In many parts of the world, both terms are often used synonymously and the terms “academic résumé” or “academic CV” are used to differentiate

6. Some Commonalities Both CV’s and résumés are… • Summaries of your education, experience and accomplishments • Documents that support your professional career development, in particular, during the work search process • Formatted to be scanned by the person looking at it rather than carefully read through from beginning to end

7. Some Differences Résumés… • Are focused on non-academic work with an emphasis on related competencies (skills, knowledge and attributes) • Aim to summarize key information • Are generally 1 to 2 pages maximum CV’s… • Are focused on academic work with an emphasis on research and teaching • Aim to provide comprehensive information • Are often long – 5, 10, 20 or more pages

8. Key Principles Common to Both • Content is organized into relevant, clearly defined sections, generally with more relevant information higher in the document • Formatting choices (fonts, margins, bullets, etc.) are consistently applied, make scanning easy and highlight critical information • Document is free from grammatical mistakes or typos • Content and format decisions are made with the reader in mind • There are few, if any, absolute “rights” and “wrongs”

9. Résumés • What kinds of information do you typically find on a résumé? • What is necessary and what is optional?

10. Résumé Content Optional information • Objective • Summary or Profile • Community Involvement • Additional Training and Certification • Professional Memberships • Interests Core information • Personal Contact Info • Education • Work Experience • Competencies (skills, knowledge and attributes) • References

11. Résumé Formats Skills-based • Fairly common format • Competencies are organized into thematic groups relevant to the work objective • Some employers are more open to this format than others • More difficult to write than a chronological résumé Chronological • Most common format • Competencies are listed under the relevant experience • Generally preferred by employers • Easier to prepare than a skills-based résumé

14. CVs • What kinds of information do you typically find on a CV? • What is necessary and what is optional?

15. CV Content Optional information • Objective • Summary or Profile • Professional Service • Non-academic Work Experience • Competencies (skills, knowledge and attributes) • Additional Training and Certification Core information • Personal Contact Info • Education • Awards & Distinctions • Research Interests • Research Experience • Teaching Experience • Publications & Presentations • Professional Affiliations • References

16. CV Format • CV’s are generally organized according to a chronological résumé format • Competencies, if they are expressed at all, are probably listed under the relevant experience or summarized in a Summary or Profile section • However… there is no rule against following a skills-based résumé format and including an extended competency section organized thematically

17. ADD CV TEMPLATE HERE

18. For New Master’s Students • Your résumé and CV may closely resemble one another • A Research Interests section is probably the easiest section to add in right away to differentiate your résumé from your CV • Look for opportunities in your program to gain experience building key sections of your CV: Research Experience, Teaching Experience, Publications, Presentations, Professional Affiliations • Talk with your supervisor and other faculty members about CV building opportunities

19. For Completing Master’s & PhD Students • Your résumé and CV should be clearly differentiated documents • Be meticulous in compiling all your experience in the key sections of your CV: Research Experience, Teaching Experience, Publications, Presentations, Professional Affiliations • Ask your supervisor and other faculty members for feedback on your CV

20. Services and Support • Résumé and CV resources are available on the Co-operative Education and Career Services website • The Career Educators at Co-operative Education and Career Services are available to review your draft résumés and CVs We look forward to working with you!