Anyone have CV samples?

[t_ruth]

I have found samples for Ph.D. candidates already in school and for faculty of course, but haven't found any good samples for anyone applying. I'd love some links if you can share!

Thanks!

[timuralp]

Hey, I'm a first year student, so my CV is pretty much the same as when I applied. Hope it helps.

[t_ruth]

Thanks!

Can I ask why you didn't write more about your research experience, like the tasks you completed?

[rising_star]

Can I ask why you didn't write more about your research experience, like the tasks you completed?

Okay, so one of the key differences between a CV and a job resume is that you DON'T list tasks you completed or accomplishments or that sort of thing. Mostly you list project names with maybe a one line description of what the project was about. My CV lists the titles of my research projects (including my thesis) but doesn't say anything else about them. If someone wants to know, they'll ask. As you'll see, that's what faculty tend to do on their CVs, even though they may list dozens of projects.

As an applicant, your CV will probably be fairly brief. Include your research experience, any publications, conference presentations, and any related job or teaching experience. I also list some skills that are relevant to research in my area (statistical packages, data analysis techniques, etc.). I think when I applied to MA programs, my CV was about half a page. When I applied to PhD programs, it was just barely a full page. The adcom probably doesn't want to see a long CV where you describe the details of every research project you've ever undertaken. Brevity is fine (normal and expected).

[t_ruth]

understood, thanks.

I've seen both detailed and non-detailed CVs. I figured that since I was such a non-traditional student I'd have to describe how my 'relevant work experience' was actually relevant (not sure if someone in psychology actually knows what a Judicial law clerk is, kwim?). Also, mine is super long any way because of tons of teaching experience. Is it important to keep it short (right now it is three pages)?

[timuralp]

Usually there is a space requirement on these. If there isn't one, just submit what you have. I think you should elaborate on the relevance of your experience, etc in your SOP. That seems like the most appropriate place for it. Once again, I'm not in your field or remotely close to it, so take the advice with a grain of salt

[t_ruth]

thanks again! I loved that you included details on a paper you were acknowledged in. I have two of those, so I followed your format and included an "acknowledged in" section.

[academiccricket]

If your C.V. is three pages long, you must've done a lot of publishing.

Really, it should only be 1 (maybe...and that is only if you're exceptional...2) pages long. Only the most decorated academics I've seen have C.V.s longer than two pages.

It is a challenge to condense your life experience in academia into a page. I played around with mine, and came up with this format:

Name / Contact Info (I put my name into English and a foreign language graphic, because I'm going into advanced language study)

Education:

College A - most recent grad program (year)

Awards listed:

College B (undergrad) (year)

Awards listed:

College C (community college) (year)

Awards listed:

Teaching Experience:

Adjunct Prof. - XYZ College (year)

Courses taught:

Tutor - XYZ College (year)

Subject

Tutor - College C (year)

Subject

Professional Experience:

Summer Abroad - Institution sponsored - year

Brief summary.

Docent Education program - participant (year)

Brief summary

Language Experience:

Language 1 - year - institution

Language 2 - year - institution

Language 3 - year - independent study

Language 4 - year - institution

Language 5 - year - institution

---

You really need to pick and choose what you highlight. I chose language experience. Go figure.

[t_ruth]

It's not publications making it long, it's teaching and work experience. I've held lots of varied teaching jobs, and have been out of college for 11 years (plus I started teaching before I was in college). Should I just condense them into general categories of teaching?

Oh, and do you list all your scholarships under "awards"? That makes it a bit long too...

[academiccricket]

What kind of teaching have you done? If you provide a bit more info it might be easier to give more helpful advice.

This may not be what you want to hear, but you should only include teaching experience if it is relevant.

Relevant - teaching /TA ing for college courses, et cetera. Anything that would make you look like you're responsible and can talk about your field of study.

Not relevant - teaching high school, el. ed., preschoolers, teaching at a non-profit organization, et cetera. These should only be mentioned in your SOP if they helped inspire you to study what you study.

[t_ruth]

I'm going for Educational Psychology, so I'm thinking all teaching is more relevant in this field than others, that's the challenge. But I've had over ten different jobs teaching workshops, college students, and working as a teaching assistant.

I have other jobs teaching elementary school, high school and swimming, and I suppose I can condense those...it's a strange area since teaching experience is also relevant professional experience related to my field, right?

ETA: I just took a look at some more faculty CVs in my area w/these particular questions in mind and many of them are ten pages long! Many also include k-12 teaching gigs under their "teaching experience." That makes me a feel a bit better about spelling it out. Probably better to have it there than not, especially with a convoluted background like mine

[academiccricket]

It is possible. I don't know really anything about Educational Psychology, so my comments were a general rule of thumb. What I did was look at grad programs I'd like to be in, and try to find C.V.s of students in those programs, to 1) see what I'm up against and 2) highlight my credentials to market myself just as well, if not better, than they did.

I didn't put a whole "awards" section on my C.V....just listed it under the school that I received them at. For my situation, it made sense, since I really only have school-sponsored awards, and not national ones.

[rising_star]

It's not publications making it long, it's teaching and work experience. I've held lots of varied teaching jobs, and have been out of college for 11 years (plus I started teaching before I was in college). Should I just condense them into general categories of teaching?

Oh, and do you list all your scholarships under "awards"? That makes it a bit long too...

The only "scholarships" I list are the super-competitive ones. So I list competitive awards from the university but not anything smaller. I've never listed the scholarships my college gave me because I didn't apply for them. Honestly, faculty have 10 pages because they're faculty. You don't need to list everything you've ever done (like why is teaching swimming relevant?). You pick the most relevant things and you put them on your CV.

[t_ruth]

I'm certainly not listing everything, but in my case, some of my swimming teacher jobs were relevant because they were for profoundly mentally handicapped students in public school and as part of my job I developed an appropriate curriculum. Almost all my teaching jobs were special projects that are different from what most people have, so I feel they need to be there to present a complete picture, especially given my intended area of study. I think I've decided on that

As for the scholarships, that's a good point. I have one smaller one from undergrad that I probably will take out. Not sure if I should list my undergrad's "faculty scholars" which was a full tuition merit scholarship? I didn't apply for it (it was an automatic). Does that take it out of the realm of notable?

Thanks!

[ampersand]

Since the value of some of your experience is very specific to your field, maybe you should look through the CVs of professors in your field and see what kinds of things they include.

[hartshorneBoy]

My CV is on math.uga.edu/~tkelly

[ec86]

Reviving this thread so I don't clutter the forum with a new one. I have a few questions regarding CV material:

1. Are acknowledgments in publications CV inclusion worthy? I am under the impression they are not.

2. Let's say you presented at a conference and also had your abstract from that conference published. I've seen people with an "abstracts" section and "conference presentations" section. Is it the norm to include both the presentation and published abstract in your CV or just one of the two?

Thanks!

[rising_star]

I wouldn't list things that you were acknowledged in. And, I'd list the conference presentation under a heading like that and the note along with the title that the abstract was published.

[t_ruth]

I saw others list acknowledgements, so I figured why not...at this stage in the game especially. I thought it was a good way of informing the reader about the content of my RA experience. When I start having actual publications of my own I will remove them.

They are clearly marked "acknowledged in:" so as to avoid any confusion. Hope it is ok!

[MAN]

When I was looking for CV smaples, I looked at the department websites for the schools I was applying to. I looked at the various teachers' CVs as well as the listed grad students. It gave me a good idea of the standard format in my field.

[purplepepper]

About including something that you were acknowledged in (and I dont have any inside knowledge of this by any means)

I would really think it depends on the circumstance (what kind of publication and what your role was). For example, I was acknowledged in a publication based on a symposium once, but didn't include it because I didn't present. Only helped out with some logistic stuff.

But I was a major researcher for another project and was acknowledged in the subsequent book that came out. I did put that on my CV, with a brief explanation becuase I ended up getting a recommendation from that professor.

So, my opinion..just use your judgement. No need to pad a CV afterall, I get the impression that adcoms just like to see an applicant's committment to the discipline and their readiness to pursue further study.