How to Format a Resume for Faculty

The common resume format for applying for a faculty position at a college or university, or even some secondary schools, is the curriculum vitae (CV). The format for a CV is different from a general resume format because a CV calls for an in-depth presentation of your skills, experiences, education, honors and affiliations. Since a CV is meant to present the full breadth of who you are rather than just a snapshot, it can be well over two pages.

Instructions

1

Brainstorm items from your life experience that fit the following categories: professional experience, teaching appointments, education, grants and fellowships, professional development, certifications and licensure, technology skills, professional affiliations, committees and community involvement, honors and awards, and publications and presentations. Add additional categories if needed.

2

Write a career summary. This is where you state succinctly why you are a great candidate based on your key experiences, competitive skills and personal attributes. Its valuable to use industry buzzwords and a bulleted list here for easy scanning.

3

Enter your name and contact information on the document. Put your name in a large, bold font at the top of your CV followed by a comma and any certification acronyms like MBA, Ph.D. or PMP, if applicable. On the next line, type in your street address, phone number and email address in a smaller font size (bold isnt necessary).

4

Place the header Career Summary and the information you wrote for this section after your contact information in the visual center of the document. The visual center is the first area of focus on your CV.

5

Add the categories you used in your brainstorm session as section headers on your CV.

6

Type in the supporting facts you brainstormed under each section header. Give names, places and dates first--i.e., Assistant Professor, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 19952000--or reverse it: 20002003, Volunteer, Marthas Table, Washington, DC. Its best to list all of your information whether its for jobs held, community service, or publications in chronological order and in a bulleted list.

7

Make your CV reader-friendly by adding borders between section headers, boldface and/or center aligning of section headers, and indenting your bulleted lists. You can also try boldface for job titles or company and organizational names so they stand out.

8

Review the first draft of your CV for clarity and punctuation, and revise as needed.

9

Submit your CV with confidence to faculty job postings.