Correct title for CV/Resume

[RNtertainment]

Hi all!

I am starting my PhD program at UNC this fall and was awarded a fellowship. I am confused as to how I write my job title on my CV as with assistantships often times people will put research assistant or teaching assistant. I feel like research fellow is of a more senior status? Do I write PhD student and leave it at that? Also, am I correct in saying PhD student? I read somewhere that PhD candidate is reserved for those that only have to complete their dissertation to obtain their PhD. I'm not even sure if I put this post in the right place on here, but thank you for your time and assistance!

[TakeruK]

Typically, I find that people use different titles depending on the context.

For example, to describe my overall status, I would put "PhD Student" (or PhD Candidate if you prefer) regardless of the source of funding. So for something like a business card, your overall title on a CV, your website etc., I'd use this.

I use "Teaching Assistant" when describing my teaching work under the Teaching section of my CV. And "Research Assistant" when describing my research work under the Research section of my CV. I list my fellowships under a separate section for Awards and Fellowships in my CV. If a fellowship is related to a research position I held, then if it's appropriate, I also mention the fellowship under that position in addition to mentioning it in Awards and Fellowships.

Overall, even if you have a fancy fellowship, e.g. "The Norma E. Jones Graduate Fellowship" or whatever, very few graduate students would use this in their title. This might be different in different fields though. In my field, the only people who use fancy named titles like that are postdocs on highly prestigious fellowships (i.e. those that would be known nationwide) or full professors with an endowed position.

[RNtertainment]

@TakeruK Thank you so much for your response! This was tremendously helpful. I really like how you divided up the titles on your CV to make them all apply as it does seem that they are all sort of interchangeable and necessary. I am on the Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholar fellowship which is pretty good but I think I will just keep it in the awards section and continue using PhD student. A friend said that graduate fellow could work too... all these titles are confusing! Are they REALLY that important to get right on CV's/ cards etc?  

[TakeruK]

I can't say for certain in Nursing, but in the fields I'm familiar with, it really doesn't matter. One issue is that the meaning of "fellowship" varies a lot so even just knowing that you are the Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholar Fellow does not really tell me much about how you compare to someone who isn't a fellow. Especially hard to compare what your fellowship means compared to someone at another school that isn't a fellow, or has a different fellowship name.

As long as you don't misrepresent who you are in your CV or your cards, it should be fine. For most CV and cards needs, what the reader wants to find out is whether you are an undergrad student, grad student, postdoc, staff scientist etc. so that's why I think "Graduate Student" or "PhD Student" (or candidate) is great. When it really matters is when you apply for other fellowships or jobs, and in these cases, you will have way more stuff in your application package that makes the meaning clear.

[Horb]

For me:

 

PhD Student (pre-candidacy)

PhD Candidate (ABD Status)

For fellowships, I don't put a title. I put it under my Awards and Honors section, because that is where it will go after I get a new funding source. The only people I know who use "fellow" or a full title like that are full professors or, like, an Andrew Mellon Fellow.

[RNtertainment]

Thanks @TakeruK and @horb! This was very enlightening and helpful! =D 

[pterosaur]

There was also a thread on reddit about this recently: https://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/comments/4k3fwh/title_for_grad_research_position_on_cv/