Skip to main content

In Writing a Curriculum Vitae as a Graduate Student: Part I, we covered several main topics of writing a Curriculum Vitae as a Graduate Student.

In Part I we covered:

Primary Materials

Applicant Info

Education

Honors and Awards (Grants, Fellowships and Patents, etc.)

Research Experience

Teaching Experience

Publications and Presentations

In Part II, we will cover:

Related Professional Experience

Languages

Optional Sections

References

Supplementary Materials

Cover letter

Dissertation Abstract

Statement of Research and Scholarly Interests

Teaching Interests

Course Lists/Transcript

Related Professional Experience

This is a category that allows you to show any experience that is related to teaching, research, and administrative qualities. Topics that would fall under this category could be conference organizing, tutoring other students, and committee work that you have done through college.

Languages

This category is great for expressing any knowledge of other languages. If you are native to another language, fluent, proficient, or have working knowledge of languages other than the primary languages in your area.

Optional  Sections

This information is optional and does not have to be included. However, the topics that are covered in this section can be very helpful in landing a position.  The optional sections are Memberships of Professional Organizations, Scholarly Associations, and Travel or Study Abroad.

References

The majority of academics tend to function in a small click or informal network of people. The names of your references will convey a lot of information to most readers.  When you list your references, they should be at the end of your CV and you should include:

Full Name

Title

Institutional Address

Telephone number

Address

Email

Fax

There should be at least three references, but adding more can provide significant information to your readers. Before including references, make sure they know to expect a phone call.

Supplementary Materials

In addition to the information included in your CV, most academic jobs searchers would contain the following supplementary Materials.

Cover Letter

A cover letter should be straight to the point and no longer than one page. You should simply state why you are applying, why you are interested in the position or the school, and your relevant background. Make sure they know with an “Enclosure(s)” note at the bottom with the titles of the documents you are including. The only mention that you should have on these documents is the name listed in the enclosures portion. Do not discuss information that the documents contain. Use a letter head from your department and your professional address. Do not use a plain document head or your home address.

Dissertation Abstract

A dissertation abstract is a clear and short summary of your work. This should place it within scholarly context and noting its contribution to the field. The summary should be comprehensible to people outside of your field, but hold the attention of those inside your field. Have a faculty member in your area and outside of your field read this. This summary should be 1 to 2 pages and should be appended at the end of your CV. It should be clipped together with previous pages.

Statement of Research and Scholarly Interests

People in scientific fields typically are asked to submit a “Statement of Research.” This means that to be 2-4 page statement of past, current, and future research interests. You should describe your past and present research methodology, lab skills, and results. For the future section, tell the reader what you hope to do for the next 3- 5 years and how you might involve students (undergraduates, graduates, and post-docs) in the work. Normally, this work will follow on the momentum of your own postdoctoral studies, but if it does not (this would be rare) be sure to explain why.

Teaching Interests

A “Statement of Teaching Interests” is typically required as part of the application process for an Assistant Professor position. Tell the reader what you feel competent to teach. If you are applying for a job where teaching biochemistry is one of the requirements as stated in the job ad, then you better be sure you tell them you want to teach biochemistry. This may sound trite, but you would be amazed at the number of people who fail to follow this seemingly self-evident step.

Course Lists/Transcript

Occasionally, applicants are asked to submit a list of their graduate courses or a transcript.

Leave a Reply