The CV Doctor Returns

With the arrival of fall comes the renewal of the academic hiring season and the avalanche of questions about how to organize a CV.

So we have once again donned our CV Doctor coats to help readers put together a document that demonstrates their record and their potential -- in a way that is clear and appealing without being gimmicky.

Since 1999, we have asked readers to send in their vitas to be selected for an online critique. We try to focus on different fields each year. This year, we chose to evaluate three faculty CV's: one for a Ph.D. in the social sciences, one in the biomedical sciences, and one for an M.F.A. seeking to return to teaching. We also selected the CV of a midlevel manager in information-technology administration looking to move up the ranks at a major research university. (continued...)

We hope that seeing what they did right and wrong, as well reading our recommendations, will help those of you going on the market this year. But in reviewing the dozens of CV's we received, we also spotted several recurring problems that we would like to highlight here:

• If you include a profile of your work on your CV, it should be short. A profile is a brief summary of your skills, not a detailed, two-page list.
• A word about CV length and what information to include: If you have attended 100 workshops on some kind of technology don't list them all. Use the word "Selected" and list the most relevant ones.
• If you had another career before getting your Ph.D., mention it only briefly. Generally speaking, you are being evaluated for what you can offer in your new field, not for your former career in sales. Discuss a former career in detail only if it is practically related to your field. For example, an architect now working on a Ph.D. in architecture should include some information about his or her professional career.
• If you would like to include a description of a current book-length project or a dissertation abstract in your job application, those should be separate documents from your CV. Such descriptions involve too much text to be part of the CV. As a rule, avoid including paragraph-length text of any kind on your CV. Save it for your cover letters, or for your research and teaching statements.
• Radical mixing of information doesn't work. For example, if you are a candidate for an administrative position, your CV should not mention in the same section that you were director of admissions and coordinator of cheerleading.
• Don't forget to include a "References" section in your application with the names, titles, and contact information of those who will be writing letters on your behalf.

As usual, some otherwise well-designed CV's faltered due to mistakes that could be prevented with a little extra proofreading. Here are a few such dos and don'ts:

• Omit zip codes (except in your own contact information and that of your references) and birthdates.
• If you share an e-mail account with your spouse or partner, please don't use it in your career correspondence. It's easy enough to open up a separate account for your professional interactions and looks much more professional than johnandsuzie@provider.com.
• Avoid weird graphics.
• A 20-page CV is too long -- no matter how accomplished you are.
• Don't list every award you have ever received. A section called "Selected Awards and Honors" is more effective.
• Avoid using justified margins on both sides of the page because you can end up with some odd spacing.
• Don't boldface information in a random way. It only confuses the reader and looks messy. Be consistent.
• If you've changed your name, explain that -- briefly.
• Spell curriculum vitae correctly.
• Do not include course numbers when you list classes you have taught. Those numbers vary from institution to institution.
• Don't use acronyms until after you have written out the title in full on first reference.

If you need more help, we recommend consulting previous columns of The CV Doctor. (View them using the archive menu on the top right of this page.)

We would also like to note that we received CV's from people at institutions that we know have very capable career-services offices who can give excellent feedback. When seeking career advice, try your Ph.D.-granting institution first. Even if you have moved away from the university, its career counselors may be able to help you.

Have a question you would like answered in Career Talk? Send it to careertalk@chronicle.com. While we are unable to answer letters personally, we will consider them as material for future columns. Confidentiality is assured.

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Julie Miller Vick is senior associate director of career services at the University of Pennsylvania, and Jennifer S. Furlong is associate director. Vick is co-author of The Academic Job Search Handbook (University of Pennsylvania Press), along with Mary Morris Heiberger, who was associate director of career services at Penn.

You can order their book directly from the University of Pennsylvania Press or from either of the online booksellers below.