CVs

A curriculum vitae (CV; Latin for “course of life”) is a comprehensive record of your intellectual and professional contributions. Unlike a resume, which is a curated highlights reel tailored to a specific job, a CV is a living document that grows with your career. Every publication, presentation, grant, teaching role, and academic honor you accumulate belongs here.

• Applying to PhD programs or postdoctoral programs
• Applying for faculty positions (tenure-track or visiting)
• Seeking research assistantships or lab positions as an undergrad
• Applying for grants, fellowships, or awards
• Submitting to conferences or responding to calls for papers
• Applying for positions outside of the U.S. (see “A Note on International CVs” below)

A Simple Test: The job description itself usually says whether it requires a resume or CV. If not and the role exists primarily within academia (colleges and universities) or research, you probably need a CV. Connect with Career Design if you’re unsure.

In much of the world – the UK, Europe, Australia, South Asia – “CV” simply means what Americans call a “resume.” Expectations for length, format, and content (such as including a photo, date of birth, or nationality) vary significantly by country. Do not assume American CV conventions apply internationally. Consult GoinGlobal (available through NUworks under the Career Design menu → Resources) for country-specific norms

Start with the Non-Negotiables

Every academic CV opens with:

1. Contact information – Name, institutional email, phone, and (if applicable) your ORCID, personal academic website, or Google Scholar profile.
2. Education – Degrees in reverse chronological order. Include institution, degree, field, and date (or expected date). For doctoral students, include your dissertation title and advisor.
3. Research experience – Lab positions, independent projects, collaborative research. Describe each briefly: the question, your role, methods or tools used.

Then Build Outward by Relevance

After the core sections, the order depends on what matters most for the positions you’re targeting and the conventions of your field. A useful framework is the three pillars of academic life – research, teaching, and service – and you should organize your CV to lead with whichever pillar the position values most.

Common sections include:

• Publications (peer-reviewed articles, chapters, working papers – use your discipline’s citation style)
• Presentations and conference activity
• Teaching experience (courses taught, TA positions, guest lectures)
• Grants and fellowships (awarded and applied for, with amounts if appropriate)
• Honors and awards
• Professional service (journal reviews, committee work, mentoring)
• Professional memberships and affiliations
• Skills (languages, software, technical methods – especially relevant in STEM and social sciences)

If you’re an undergrad building your first CV, don’t worry about having short sections or a single page. A CV with two research experiences, a poster presentation, and relevant coursework is appropriate for your career stage. What matters is accuracy, relevance, and clarity, not length.

Formatting expectations vary by field and even by hiring committee. Some disciplines expect a clean, no-frills document while others encourage visual style. Look at CVs from successful candidates in your target area to calibrate, and connect with Career Design if you have questions. Whatever approach you take, consistency matters more than style. Apply the same formatting logic to every section and every entry.

• Margins: .5 to 1 inch on all sides
• Font: A clean, readable font (e.g., Times New Roman, Garamond, Calibri) in 10.5 – 12pt font
• Headings: Use bold or small caps for section headers. Consider avoiding underlining because it adds visual clutter.
• Consistency is everything. Use the same formatting scheme for dates, institutions, and titles, and apply it uniformly throughout. Inconsistency signals carelessness.
• Italics: Use according to the citation conventions of your discipline (e.g., journal titles in APA).
• Reverse chronological order within each section – most recent first.

Removing content from a CV is rare. Instead, reorder sections strategically to put the most relevant material on the first page.

• Applying to a research-intensive (R1) university? Consider leading with publications, research experience, and grants.
• Applying to a teaching-focused institution? Consider leading with teaching experience, pedagogy training, and mentoring.
• Applying for a grant or fellowship? Consider leading with the research section and any prior funding.
• Undergrad applying to a research lab? Consider leading with relevant coursework, research methods or technical skills, and any prior lab experience – even informal.

The word “consider” is important here. How you decide to order your CV depends on which evidence provides the best support for your fit. Connect with Career Design for help.

1. Read CVs from people in your field. Ask your advisor, senior grad students, or postdocs to share theirs. Faculty CVs are often posted on departmental websites. Notice how they organize sections and describe their work.
2. Have it reviewed. Bring your CV to Career Design or ask a mentor in your department. A second set of eyes catches inconsistencies and missed opportunities.
3. Keep it updated. Add new experiences, presentations, and publications as they happen. Reconstructing your record from memory months later leads to gaps. Consider adding a monthly 30-minute calendar hold for time to review your CV for accuracy.

• Northeastern Career Design: Join a Career Counselor for quick drop-ins or an advising appointment to talk about your CV and what you can do with it.
• GoinGlobal: Country-specific CV guidelines and examples (access via NUworks → Career Design menu → Resources).
• Your Department: Disciplinary conventions vary more than any general guide can capture. Review CVs from faculty in your specific field to understand common conventions, and bring what you find to Career Design to talk through how to apply it to your own document.