Table of Contents
Name & Contact Information
Qualifications
Education
Additional Content Sections
- Honors, Awards, and Fellowships
- Publications
- Presentations
- Teaching
- Research
- Leadership
- Service
- Skills
- Professional Memberships
Other Section Headings for Consideration
Listing Your References on Your CV
Formatting Your CV
Name & Contact Information
Your name and contact information appear at the top of your CV and there is no section heading. Your CV should simply begin with your name, located on its own line, without any degrees or credentials following it. You can decide how many lines you are going to dedicate to your remaining contact information. A few options follow.
When using your CV to apply for a faculty job application include the following content:
Your Name (Slightly larger font than the rest of CV & bold)
University of Connecticut | Name of your department
Complete mailing address for your department
Your phone number / Your email / URL for scholarly digital presence
When using your CV to apply for an industry opportunity you do not use your academic department address, instead include the following:
Your Name (Slightly larger font than the rest of CV & bold)
Your phone number | Your email | LinkedIn URL and/or one for scholarly digital presence
Pro Tips for your Contact Information:
- Keep It Simple: Include only one email, phone number, or address to ensure easy communication. If you include links to digital profiles (LinkedIn, personal website, Google Scholar, etc.), keep content up to date.
- Optimize Space: Arrange contact details on one or multiple lines, combining elements when necessary to maximize room for other important content.
Strategic Decision:
Consider including the state and city or city and country (if international) in which you live, if it is located in proximity to the opportunity to which you are applying. (e.g. Internship is in Connecticut, and you live in Vernon, CT then consider including Vernon, CT in your contact information section | Job is in Naples, Italy and you have a residence in Sorrento, Italy then consider including Sorrento, Italy in your contact information section.) Employers often prefer to hire candidates who reside in closer proximity to a position than those farther away. Knowing this, you will only want to include your location if it is near the role to which you are applying.
When deciding to include your location on your CV for jobs in industry, government, non-profits, etc.:
Your Name (Slightly larger font than the rest of CV & bold)
Vernon, CT | Your phone number | Your email | LinkedIn URL and/or one for scholarly digital presence
Qualifications
Use “Qualifications” as a section heading to include 3-5 bullet points that show a few ways you are qualified for the position to which you are applying. Make sure you include keywords from the position announcement in your bullet points. This is not a generic summary.
Example 1: Qualification Bullet Point Statements
- 3 years of experience informing public policy and community development practice through applied research and analysis
- Expertise in engaging with external stakeholders to solve problems
- Proficient in monitoring and analyzing policy research pertaining to economic rights
- Programming knowledge in R and Python
Example 2: Qualification Bullet Point Statements
- 5 years of research experience in polymer chemistry and materials science
- Strong background designing and producing lab-scale tools for desalination/filtration research projects
- Proficiency conducting synthesis, characterization, and property optimization of various polymer-graphene nanocomposites
- Strong cross-functional team communication skills with industry collaborators
Pro Tip for the Qualifications Section:
The reader of your document should be able to gather that you are a qualified candidate without even reading your entire CV. As they skim the rest of your CV, they should encounter content that reinforces and provides evidence of how you are qualified for the specific opportunity.
Education
Use “Education” as a section heading and include your college education and any college-level certificate(s) you have acquired that are relevant to the position to which you are applying. The organization within this section is by institution and in the order from most recently to least recently attended. Certifications that are required in, or essential to, your field of study should appear in this section. Other types of certifications can appear in a designated skills section.
Example of a format for an entry in the education section:
| Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT Subfield: Public Law Dissertation: (including title or topic is optional) Advisor: (include if a known entity to where you are applying) | Expected May 20XX |
| M.A., Political Science, Department of Political Science, California State University, Long Beach, CA Thesis: (including title or topic is optional) Advisor: (include if a known entity to where you are applying) | June 20XX |
| B.A., Economics, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India | June 20XX |
Example of a format when you have more than one degree from the same institution:
| University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT Master of Science (M.S.), Statistics, Department of Statistics, GPA: 3.67/4.00 Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Mathematics, Department of Mathematics, GPA: 3.02/4.00 | Expected Dec. 20XX Jun. 20XX |
Pro Tips for the Education Section:
- If you are pursuing your doctoral degree or already have a doctoral degree, it is not common to include your GPA. The exception to this would be if a position to which you are applying requests that you include it.
- When including the GPA, you will want to note it out of the whole, keeping the same number of decimal places (e.g., 3.6/4.0 or 3.87/4.00).
- Consider writing out and including the abbreviation for your degrees.
- When applying for jobs in academia it is a common expectation to include both your dissertation title and the name of your advisor.
Strategic Decision:
You have an option of mentioning the academic institution or your degree first. The format you choose is really based on what you want to emphasize, and you must stay true to the format throughout the entire education section. This means that if you begin with your degree first you will use that format throughout your education section.
Additional Content Sections
Pro Tip for Additional Content Sections that Follow Education:
The next content section that you include should be a strategic decision. Let’s say you are applying for a teaching position that allows for a little bit of research, but the job description is teaching focused. In this case you would want your next content section to be related to any teaching, tutoring, and/or maybe mentoring that you have done. In a different scenario, let’s say you are applying for a research role at a company. In this case you would want your next content section to be your research and likely followed by your publications.
Honors, Awards, and Fellowships
Title this type of section based on the content you include. If you only include awards and fellowships, then title the section Awards and Fellowships. If you only list honors, then title it Honors. When having received a monetary award, it is optional to put the dollar amount and for what the fellowship or award was designated or recognized. A sample option follows.
| Travel Award, Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT Awarded for presentation travel to national conference. | January 2018 $2000 |
Publications
Use a citation format consistent with your field of study. Consider organizing publications by categories such as Journal Articles, Book Reviews, Monographs, Book Chapters, etc. You might also consider placing publications under sub-headings that could include Works Submitted, Works in Press, Working Papers, etc. Ask your faculty mentors what categories are common to your field.
Presentations
Use a citation format consistent with your field of study. You might also consider placing presentations under sub-headings that could include Invited Talks, Selected Poster Presentations, etc.
Teaching
There is no single best way to structure your teaching section. You will want to think about the skills and knowledge you seek to emphasize and consider focusing on outcomes and accomplishments. Do you want to feature whom you teach, how you teach, number of students, what you teach, etc.? A couple of sample options follow.
Example 1: Teaching with emphasis on skills and outcomes
Instructor of Record, Department of Sociology, University of Connecticut Storrs, CT, Sept. 20XX – May 20XX
Courses taught: Introduction to Sociology (Fall 20XX and 20XX) | Race, Class, and Gender (Spring 20XX)
- Designed curriculum for introductory courses with activities to engage students in critical conversations about social inequality.
- Implemented flipped classroom with debate and idea exchange format, creating robust class participation in weekly discussions.
- Provided undergraduate student advisement and mentorship to 30 advisees, engaging in discussions about graduate programs and guiding through application process.
Example 2: Teaching with emphasis only on topics taught.
University of Connecticut, Department of Chemistry, Storrs, CT, Sept. 2022 – Present
Instructor, Sept. 2022 – Present
Teaching Assistant, Sept. 2022 – May 2024
Organic Chemistry Laboratory | Physical Chemistry
Example 3: Teaching with identification of courses taught and consolidation of tasks among all teaching
University of Connecticut, Department of Educational Leadership, Storrs, CT, August 2022 – Present
Lead Instructor: Educational Leadership (2 semesters)
Teaching Assistant: Sports Marketing (2 semesters) | Contemporary Social Issues in Sport (online and 3 semesters) | Sport Law (1 semester)
- Plan and deliver course content for classes up to 45 students using a combination of lecture, small and large group discussion, and collaborative work
- Facilitate online course and develop and manage the course site via Blackboard
- Hold office hours, meeting with students to address academic issues and concerns
- Incorporate student feedback as weekly class feature to adapt course content to students’ needs
- Oversee and provide mentoring to first year graduate student teaching assistant
Pro Tip for the Teaching Section:
Choose which details to add based on the relevancy of teaching to the opportunity to which you are applying. If you are applying for a research position in industry you will include your teaching but first decide whether to include bullet point statements. If you include bullet point statements consider what aspects of teaching you want to focus on (e.g, communication skills, mentoring, managing course logistics, etc.).
Research
When choosing a format for your research section consider what you seek to feature. Do you want to highlight the focus of your research, the techniques or approaches you use, etc.? Share enough of a context that your content does not appear generic, while also honoring the need to not reveal proprietary information. A couple of sample options follow.
Example 1:
| University of Connecticut, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Storrs, CT Dissertation Research/ Research Assistant Topic: Bulk Freeze-Thaw Process and its Impact on Protein Stability | 2023 – Present |
- Apply a DoE approach to investigate the effect of freeze-and-thawing (F/T) process parameters on the concentration, native conformation, enzymatic activity, and subvisible particle formation of a model protein.
- Investigate pH shift, ice surface area (BET analysis after lyophilization), and concentration polarization as potential perturbing conditions to proteins after F/T.
- Perform statistical analysis of response data through model fitting.
- Develop a physics-based computer simulation to predict solid-liquid phase transition kinetics and thermal/solute transport during F/T processes.
Example 2:
| University of Connecticut, Department of Political Science, Storrs, CT Research Assistant Research Focus: Voter behaviors and political party affiliation | May 2024 – May 2025 |
- Performed qualitative research on voting behavior of residents of Vernon, CT between the ages of 19 -35, using LexisNexis and compiling results into Excel spreadsheet
- Trained 10 callers and conducted public opinion polls over the phone and at town hall event, regarding political party affiliations and voting habits
- Recorded and transcribed the content of all opinion polls and produced data overview with visualizations to be included in future book chapter on voting trends
Leadership
You can determine if you wish to list your leadership involvement or also add bullet point statements to describe your role and accomplishments. Many times, the leadership section includes experiences where you can feature skills that are not reflected in other areas of your CV. Not everyone has a leadership section. A sample option follows.
| Treasurer, Graduate Student Senate, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (Consider adding bullet point statements) | 8/2023 – 5/2025 |
| Program Chair, Department of History, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (Consider adding bullet point statements) | 9/2022 – 5/2024 |
Service
Consider including volunteer involvement, committee work, etc. within your department and also in the external community. Perhaps you have served on a faculty hiring committee or have been part of a departmental team updating the curriculum. On a CV for academic positions the service section most often features service to the department or institution. Choose examples that are the most relevant to your field or in which you want to feature specific skills you have utilized. Your service experience can include bullet point statements and follow a similar format as a leadership section. Not everyone has content to include in a service section.
Skills
Choose and list your skills that are relevant and important to the work you would be doing and/or career field(s) to which you are applying. You will want to tailor this section for the jobs to which you apply. Consider creating subheadings within the skills section to categorize what you seek to feature. A couple of sample options follow.
Example 1:
Software: Stata, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Programming: Python and R (Proficient)
Languages: Portuguese (fluent), Spanish (proficient), Italian (introductory)
Example 2:
Freeze and Spray Drying: Designing freeze-drying cycles using lab scale freeze-dryers, Controlled ice nucleation using ice fog technology and pressurization-depressurization technology, Spray drying of proteins on lab scale spray dryer
Solid State Characterization: Differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray powder diffraction, Polarized light microscopy, Freeze-drying microscopy, Specific surface area using BET gas adsorption, Mercury intrusion porosimetry for porous structure characterization, Karl Fischer titration, Mechanical strength testing, Contact angle for wettability, Surface texture analysis using optical scanning interferometer profilometer
Protein Characterization: Size exclusion chromatography (SEC-HPLC), Capillary isoelectric focusing (cIEF), Rheology, Circular dichroism (CD), UV and Fluorescence spectroscopy, ELISA, SDS PAGE, Particulate analysis using HIAC
Professional Memberships
It is sufficient to identify the name of the organization/society in which you are a member and the duration of your membership. If you have held a leadership role within a professional organization/society, you have the option of entering that in a leadership section or including the title of your role, perhaps with bullet point statements in the professional memberships section. A sample option follows.
Marketing Coordinator, Philosophy of Time Society, 2021 – Present
- Manage Instagram account with 11k followers, promoting monthly events, member accomplishments, and collaboration opportunities, increasing engagement by 22%.
Member, American Philosophical Association, 2021 – Present
Other Section Headings for Consideration
The list below includes only a fraction of the section headings that you might consider. The objective is not to have many headings, but rather to look at the content that you seek to include in your CV and to make sure that you have section headings that accurately describe the content.
Industry Employment or Industry Experience – consider including one of these as a section heading if you have relevant industry experience and you are using your CV to apply for an industry opportunity (include bullet points for each experience that you feature)
Research Interests – common to include this section heading before or after your research section if you are applying for a research focused position (include topics of research)
Teaching Interests – common to include this section heading before or after your teaching section if you are applying for a teaching focused position (include course topics)
Professional Licensure – important to include this section heading for jobs that require or value additional licensure, including licensure dates
Clinical Training or Practica – important to include one of these (or similar) section headings for jobs that require or value this type of training (include bullet points for each experience that you feature)
Grants Received – important to include this section heading if you have been awarded federal, state, or other grants for research, identifying the granting agency and amount(s) received, project ID#, etc.
Performances – common section heading for the arts (title of work and/or role, venue, company or ensemble name, location, date(s))
Major Works Conducted – common section heading for the arts (title of work, name of orchestra/ensemble, venue, location, date(s))
Exhibitions – common section heading for the arts (title of exhibition, name of venue, type of exhibition, location, date(s))
Competitions – common to include this section heading when featuring a ranking event (competition name, purpose, award or placement, location, date)
Entrepreneurship – common to include this section heading when wanting to feature a business venture
Patent – common to include this section heading, featuring your patents, to show capacity to innovate
Listing Your References on Your CV
Your list of references on your CV will typically appear on the last and completely separate page of your CV. Maintain an up-to-date list of your references, making revisions to this page as you learn about changes, adding new people as you progress through your degree. Aim to have three to six references available, though you will typically only provide three or four in your application, responding to the exact number requested in the posting of the opportunity to which you are applying. A sample option follows.
Name of reference
Title
Department
Name of Institution/Company or Organization
Mailing address
Contact phone number and email address of reference
How and how long the individual has known you (optional unless requested as part of the application)
Formatting Your CV
- Include your name and page numbers after page one (e.g. Name, Page 2/3).
- Determine the order in which you would like your content sections to appear, knowing that the CV is read from page one onward and the most attention is usually given to the first few pages.
- When applying for an opportunity fully read the description and review your CV, tailoring it to best represent your skills, knowledge, experience, and training in relationship to the qualifications that the employer seeks.
- Try not to split content across two pages, especially a bullet point between pages, but rather adjust your margins to keep as much content intact as possible.
- Learn about CV content that is common or unique to your field from your faculty or mentors.
- Check your professional society to see if sample CVs or tips for writing a CV are provided.
- When adding dates, select a format and stick to it throughout the entire CV. As an example, if you are abbreviating the months then consistently do that. If you are using a numeral format, then use that throughout.
- Strive for .5-1.0 margins and 11 or 12 font size for content with option on using a slightly larger font for section headings.
- Consider using 14-16 font size for your name in the contact section on your first page.
- Sans serif fonts are easier for humans to read. (Calibri, Arial, etc.)
