CV- your projector to the world.

Curriculum vitae, or its popular short-form CV, is a Latin phrase which loosely translates as 'course of my life'. It's an important document which can make or break a career opportunity. That's why it needs to be crisp and error-free. It is a reflection of all that you have achieved through your hard-work in the last decade or even more. So take some time out and be earnest while writing your first CV and eventually editing it as and when you fly higher in your careers!

It shouldn't be confused with a bio-data. Your CV doesn't include your date or place of birth, sex, marital status or any other personal information. It is completely a professional document. A photograph should also be excluded from a CV.

Academic CVs are generally a maximum of 4 pages long. Some recruiters may ask for shorter ones or a résumé (also spelt resume). These two terms can also be used interchangeably. While at other times, both a résumé and a CV may be asked for. If both are asked, it is understood that the CV will give details of all your academic qualifications and achievements, while a résumé will be more job specific, which should highlight skills that are relevant to that job.

I am not a know-all on CV writing, but in the past few years I have researched on the formats, looked at successful CVs and applied for quite a few jobs internationally. I have also had some wonderful feedback from scientist whenever there was something lacking in my CV. So, I decided to compile all that I have learnt about CV writing in the past few years. I hope this proves useful and I also get to learn more about CV writing!

Before you start writing/formatting your CV for an advertised position, carefully go through what they are looking for in a candidate. Some advertisements also give a restriction on the number of pages and particulars that should be included in your CV. This can help you add or remove information from your CV. Moreover, you generally have to accompany your CV with a cover letter. I am planning to do a blog on how to write a cover-letter too.

A general CV format should include the following information:

• Name
• Current position (if applicable)
• Professional address (optional)
• Professional email id
• Alternative email ID
• Most relevant phone number
• Objective (optional or if asked specifically for)
• Personal statement (optional or if asked specifically for)
• Educational qualifications
• Research experience (if applicable)
• Publications (if applicable)
• Skills- professional and inter-personal
• Academic achievements
• Conferences attended
• Referee details

Important points to consider while writing your CV:

1. There is no fixed style of writing as far as you include the above details. Make your CV as clear and crisp as possible, with most relevant details visible at a glance.
2. Write your name without any suffix, such as Mr. Ms., Dr. etc.
3. When providing an email ID or a phone number, make sure that you have access to it all the time. If you are abroad, it is better to provide an alternative phone number which you have access to. The employer does contact you on the phone numbers provided if there is an urgent requirement.
4. Make sure that the email IDs you provide are not childish. Keep them restricted to your name and, if required, with numbers that are not weird. eg: 007 is not a good number to add. You are not James Bond. 
5. You can always write your research experience before the educational qualifications, especially at senior postdoctoral or faculty level.
6. For most academic posts such as for PhD, postdoctoral or faculty positions, providing details of school education is not required, unless specified.
7. Always list your text in reverse chronological order, with the latest degree/publication being on the top.
8. Mention the month and years of your education and research experience. e.g.: PhD Jul 2009- Dec 2014.
9. Keep the style of your publications uniform. A standard style that can be used is: Authors, with the  name of the candidate in bold | Year of publication in parentheses | Title of the article | The name of the journal (italicized) | The issue and volume numbers.
10. Skills can be sub-categorized into research skills, writing skills, communication skills etc. Many positions specifically have qualities requirement including good writing, communication and mentoring skills.
11. Academic achievements include fellowships, travel grants and other awards. If you have received a prestigious award, or have a academic gold medal, highlight that achievement in bold or italics, so that it stands out from your other achievements. Again list the achievements in reverse chronological order.
12. Conferences should include title of conference, city and country of the conference. Also mention whether you had an oral/poster presentation there. Reverse chronological order applies here too.
13. Ask your referees for permission before including their names in the CV. 
14. Details of referees can be removed when sending an informal enquiry. Mention it in the email that you can provide the details if required.
15. Formatting is mostly overlooked. Look for the most reader-friendly fonts such as Times New Roman or Calibiri. use a font size of 11 or 12. Headings and subheadings can have a slightly larger font size. But make sure that text of each kind has the same font size throughout. Also very diligently make spacing uniform across.
16. Avoid using too many colours. Keeping it black and grey is the safest bet so that your CV can be easily photocopied or printed on a monochrome printer.
17. Check and recheck again. Typos can be a complete put-off. Pay extra attention to the email IDs provided so that you or your referees can receive correspondence conveniently.

I currently cannot think of any other points to be considered. However, if you think that I have missed a point or given any wrong suggestions, please do let me know. You can find example formats online put out by some world-class universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard etc.

I hope to learn from all till my last day on earth!