An excellent academic CV requires a good design as much as a website, which functions based on backend technicalities and frontend designs. It should look pleasant for the audience. Against that backdrop, I suggest three critical CV formatting elements: templates, fonts, and styling.
1. It takes time to master your skills in building a good academic CV.
Writing an academic CV may seem straightforward, but It isn’t all that easy. One aspect is doing things (like writing papers and presenting at conferences), and the other is knowing how to present them.
Both of them matter. Let’s say your CV presentation is good, but if there is nothing in it, there is a problem. If you have done things, and your CV is haphazard, there is a problem.
2. When creating your academic CV, always remember its purpose.
Ask yourself: What do you intend to achieve out of it? It means you need to know why you want this CV. If you are applying for an academic position, your CV should reflect that.
If you are applying for a research position, your CV should reflect that. This means that your formatting should allow people to make sense of your competency. Therefore, constantly tailor your CV for its purpose.
3. Never include your biodata.
When I first began writing my resume and CV in 2018, many people I knew used to include whether they were married. I say, nobody cares. Some even add all the details about their family, brothers, sisters, and everyone else they know.
We should avoid this. More importantly, we should refrain from using these details as they seem unprofessional. This information does not serve any purpose.
4. Understand the difference between a resume and an academic CV.
At the outset, organisations request both these documents for different purposes. When I was working in a data firm, briefly, I used to maintain a resume.
But there are differences between a resume and a CV:
- Length: A resume is about one (or at max two) pages long, whereas a CV is substantially long.
- Scope: A resume broadly works to fit the company to which one is applying, but a CV is broad in scope.
- Format: A resume formats everything in reverse chronological order, while a CV is formatted in detail.
- Purpose: A resume is typically used to land a job, whereas a CV can be used for various academic positions, grants, and fellowships.
5. Your academic CV should speak for itself.
As a student, you should list all your academic qualifications properly. Ideally, you should include all your degrees, institutions, and graduation dates in reverse chronological order.
You should highlight all your research experiences. It may be your RA positions, internships, or writings. You must make sure that you know things in your field. Detail all your research papers, projects, and publications.
If you have any teaching experience, it is a big add-on. You should add them all. Detail all the courses you have taught so far, in what institutions, and in what capacity. You should all flaunt your research skills. If you know STATA, R, and other statistical tools, FLAUNT IT! (In my case, I don’t have any!).
REMEMBER: as students, it is difficult to list all this at graduation. And it’s OK. But, if you intend to start an academic career, you must contribute to these elements.
6. Use a good formatting style.
You should always use a suitable format for your CV. You must use a good font. There are many out there. You should look at other people and their CVs. They can be a good source for formatting. More importantly, your headings and subheadings should all follow the same format.
One pro-pro tip for academic CV: Visit Oxford or Cambridge University, graduate student listing. Many would have their CVs listed in their profiles. If you don’t find them there, you can always Google those students’ names and see if they have a personal website. And trust me, many do have their websites. You should look at their CVs listed on their sites. Download them, and use those CV formats for your own CV.
7. Keep Your academic CV concise.
There are many elements in a CV. Each of these elements requires you to explain parts of it but, at the same time, skip parts of it. Therefore, you need to be concise. You should not detail too much when writing about your educational qualifications and professional experience. Instead, you must briefly summarise your degrees, roles and responsibilities, achievements, etc.
8. Make sure that you proofread your academic CV.
It can be embarrassing not to finish well. Your CV must be proofread. Trust me, you can never really be sure about using terms the first time. It gets even more complicated the second time, and so on… But that is about making a CV. It requires you to be careful. Therefore, y
9. Choose a good template for your academic CV
When choosing a good template for your CV, you must never forget that it should be clean. It should be readable. It should follow a certain logical structure.
There are various websites where you can look for a good CV template. For instance, you may refer to Zety, Canva, or other CV-making sites. Some of these require you to purchase a good template. Others, you don’t need to do anything.
You may take a look at them!
10. Choose a good font for your academic CV
Some fonts are ideally best for academic CVs than others. I have experimented enough with font styling for CVs. Ideally, you need two font styles—one for the headings and the other for content. The best font styling will include one sans-serif font and the other serif font.
Here are some font styles you may use:
- Times New Roman + Arial
- Georgia + Helvetica
- Garamond + Verdana
- Cambria + Calibri
- Book Antiqua + Trebuchet MS
- Didot + Lato
[ Pro-Tip: The ones I use on my CV are Adobe Garamond Pro and Cochineal]
11. Choosing a good style for your CV
Each CV should have its own style. Again, several online resume builders offer templates to help you create a professional-looking resume. Zety, for instance, provides tips on building different CV styles. It offers several resume styles you can use to create your resume. Big companies may refer to Zety for enabling their employees to build their CVs. It can also be helpful for colleges to allow students to build their CVs quickly without much hassle.
Cover Photo by Resume Genius on Unsplash