Does it make sense to put age on a CV?

[socioeconomist]

Hi! I am going to apply for PhD programs in the U.S. soon and I am wondering whether it would make sense to explicitly state my young age (22. given that I already have a master degree) in a CV. Could it be an advantage? Or vice versa? Thanks.

PS I know it is not really important, but I am still curious

[ktel]

I think it would be inappropriate to do so. You should be emphasizing all your strengths, I don't think your age is a strength (or weakness for that matter). It should be irrelevant to your application.

[Hillary Emick]

I agree with ktel, it does not matter and would not be appropriate to put in your CV. It may make sense to reference all you have accomplished at such a young age in your statement of purpose.

[pinkrobot]

I agree with ktel. Your age may well be something you're proud of, but it's not an academic qualification in the least. I actually would also refrain from mentioning it in your statement of purpose--it would strike me as irrelevant and thus perhaps immature (and I say this as someone who, in a previous round of applications a few years ago, included irrelevant information that was likely perceived as immature!), which is not the impression you want to give.

Since you mentioned that you're applying for US programs specifically, I wonder if you are not from the US? In that case: US CVs lack a LOT of the personal information that is typical of other countries' resumes and such. Some folks I know from other countries are accustomed to including things like date of birth, marital status, and a photograph, all of which would be out-of-bounds on US CVs.

It might help you to take a look at the Chronicle of Higher Education (they have several articles/blog posts on CVs in, I think the "Advice" section) as well as a website called The Professor Is In (one link in particular you might find useful: http://theprofessori...he-academic-cv/). A lot of this stuff is for people going on the job market (e.g., either ABD or with a PhD already in hand), so most of it will likely not apply at this stage of your academic life, but I found both websites helped give me a sense of what I should be aiming for. I also looked at the (massive and hugely intimidating) CVs of professors at the schools I applied to, similarly to help establish a sense of what is expected and what is inappropriate.

Edited May 14, 2012 by pinkrobot

[emmm]

Agree it looks quite immature.

[buddy16cat]

There is also a question of age discrimination. They may be cautious of your application.

[socioeconomist]

Thanks, guys. I had a feeling that it is not really appropriate in the U.S., but here in Germany some people tried to convince me that the opposite is true.

[ktel]

Thanks, guys. I had a feeling that it is not really appropriate in the U.S., but here in Germany some people tried to convince me that the opposite is true.

Yes, that's because German CVs have a lot of information (such as a photograph) that would be considered extremely inappropriate in the US/Canada.

[TakeruK]

Also, questions about your age, martial status, gender, ethnicity, family status, sexual orientation and similar subjects are illegal job interview questions in Canada (and probably the US; unless the job specifically needs this information, e.g. actors) so it's something you really shouldn't put in a North American CV. Applying to grad school is not the same as a job, but I think these principles would apply (although schools will allow you to choose to disclose gender or ethnicity if it could benefit you).

I've seen some CVs of profs posted with details like "Born 1955, married, 2 children" and stuff like that -- maybe that's something they want to share on their research websites but it's not something that applicants should share when applying for school or jobs. I also see some international CVs be a literal description of the person's whole life (i.e. a biography) with information about elementary school, high school etc. In North America, a CV is less detailed and focuses only on information relevant to your application (i.e. you don't have to include small odd jobs you might have had as a teenager if you don't want to).

Finally, entering a US grad program at 22 years old is not really that unique (no offense). US students that enter a PhD program directly are usually ~21 years of age and the 1-2 years difference for a masters degree is negligible.

[aberrant]

My observation is that some people put their DOB in CV instead of age. I'm not sure if it is because they are more established and therefore they decided to put their DOB in their CV (they are all nobel laureates):

Yes DOB:

http://www.inbevbailletlatour.com/media/misc_media/CV_Roger%20TSIEN.pdf

http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/horwitz/docs/Curriculum_Vitae-2006-7-19-06.pdf

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CGYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kcsnet.or.kr%2Fmain%2Fk_download%2Fdownload.htm%3Ftbn%3Dk_b_ann_notice%26uid%3D411%26fileseq%3D1&ei=Kmy0T43DOumTiQLH-5CkAg&usg=AFQjCNE1FRp87rTgzPZSyM6d9pocS5GAgw

http://www.chem.purdue.edu/negishi/Cv.htm

http://sims.princeton.edu/yftp/vita4web.pdf

https://files.nyu.edu/ts43/public/personal/resume.pdf

https://sites.google.com/site/dalemortensensite/home/cv

http://economics.mit.edu/files/7728

http://groups.haas.berkeley.edu/bpp/oew/OEWCVJan2010.pdf

http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pictures/g-k/krugman/Krugman-CV.pdf

http://home.uchicago.edu/rmyerson/research/rbmvita.pdf

http://www.sss.ias.edu/files/pdfs/maskincv.pdf

http://www.columbia.edu/~esp2/CV2012-5-8.pdf

No DOB:

http://www.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/ribo/homepage/ramak/ramakrishnan_cv.pdf

http://www.weizmann.ac.il/sb/faculty_pages/Yonath/CV-AY.pdf

http://personal.lse.ac.uk/pissarid/CV.pdf

http://www.indiana.edu/~workshop/people/lostromcv.htm

http://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/economists/cv/ecp.pdf