Key Sections to Include in a CV

On Preparing Your CV for the Academic Job Market (for PhD Students) No matter where you’re applying, securing an academic job starts with preparing your CV—your curriculum vitae. A CV is typically two to three pages long & includes a list of a person's education, publications, accomplishments, notable projects, & awards. Assembling is harder & more complicated than it seems. Why? Because you’re trying to sum up your academic life—which may have included breaks, time in industry, cross-disciplinary work, or a little organizational chaos along the way. So what should you do? Start with a master document. Track everything—peer reviews, conferences, coursework, teaching, submitted papers, awards, & service. Keep it comprehensive, even if it’s messy at first. Then, organize everything into logical categories. Finally, compress that into a coherent story—a version that makes someone like me (senior faculty, hiring committee member) want to talk to you. So, what belongs in your CV? And in what order? 1. Contact Information Name, department, institutional address, & phone numbers (work & personal). Include one email address you’ll use for all job correspondence. List a reliable mailing address (yes, job offers still get mailed!). 2. Education List degrees in reverse chronological order: Ph.D., Master’s, then Bachelor’s. Include institution, department, and year. 2a. Dissertation & Committee Include your dissertation title and topic areas. List your advisor(s) and committee members. In many disciplines, your advisor's reputation can matter a lot. 2b. Teaching Interests These may or may not match your research—but include them. Hiring committees often look for coverage gaps. 3. Publications: Journal Articles (Published) List peer-reviewed publications. Emphasize journals that are well-respected in your field. A few high-quality non-top journals are fine. A long list of low-tier journals can hurt you. 4. Publications: Under Review Only include works actually under review. Late-round reviews are stronger than “just submitted.” Be aware of journal quality for your target institutions. 5. Conference Presentations Include major conference or workshop papers. A few are helpful—too many with no journal submissions may raise red flags (especially in disciplines that prioritize journals). 6. Teaching Experience & Evaluations List courses taught, by term and year. Include evaluation scores (mean and range), and selected positive comments if you have them. Use clear formatting to help the reader scan. 7. Awards & Honors Include research, teaching, or service awards relevant to your field or your application. Academic or industry awards matter. High school honors generally do not. 8. References List your academic references: name, title, affiliation, and contact info. Make sure they’ve agreed to speak on your behalf. And remember: your CV will evolve over time. Start early. Keep it updated. Let it tell your story. Best of luck—you’ve got this.

A few weeks ago, I volunteered at the 2024 Melbourne Career Expo, and together with my awesome Career Development Association Australia colleagues, we provided free resume checks 📃and career counselling sessions for the general public 👩🧑🏾🦱👩🏼🦰👩🏽🦱. A consistent issue I saw over the weekend was people presenting with generic, two-column / one-page and / or ineffective Resumes ❌ that were not targeted to the roles they were applying for. When speaking to these people, they told me they had applied for sometimes hundreds! of roles 🤯with little to no feedback. I hear this everyday in my own business too. Here were some of my key recommendations which I hope may help you too: 💡𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙇𝙖𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩 𝙎𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚  - Avoid fancy graphics, logos, images, personal pictures and intricate fonts. These can get blocked by Applicant Tracking Systems. - Use conservative fonts like Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, or Calibri. - Ensure plenty of white space and avoid using a two-column Resume. Stick to a single-column layout; it's the best practice in Australia. 💡𝗧𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 & 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗞𝗲𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 - Customise your Resume for each job application. - Read the job ad thoroughly and understand the key skills / job requirements. - Address how you meet the key requirements of the role by incorporating relevant keywords from the job ad in context throughout your Resume. - 𝗧𝗶𝗽: add a 'Key Skills' section on the first page of your Resume and include relevant keywords and phrases here. 💡𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲  - Add a 4-5 line Career Profile at the top of the first page. - Summarise and highlight your professional identity, experience, skills, strengths, and expertise. - Use this section to capture attention and include relevant keywords. 💡𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 / 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀  - List achievements and highlights, not just responsibilities for each role. - Quantify your achievements to demonstrate your value and stand out from the competition. 💡𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱  - Ensure your resume is free of spelling and grammatical errors. - Have a friend or family member review it before submitting. If you have questions or need assistance with your resume, feel free to contact me! 😊 #resumeadvice #resumetips #careerdevelopment

Looking to make your resume shine and grab attention? With over a decade of recruitment experience and having reviewed nearly 250,000 resumes while working for industry giants like Amazon, Accenture (Avanade), Cognizant, and various startups through my agency, Proven Patterns, I’ve seen what truly makes a resume stand out. Here are some top tips to help you create a powerful resume that will leave a lasting impression: ☑ Keep It Concise: Aim for 2-3 page resume when possible. Focus on your most relevant experiences and achievements without overwhelming the reader. ☑ Tailor for Each Job: Customize your resume for every position you apply for. Incorporate keywords from the job description and highlight skills and experiences that match the role. If you don't have enough time at least match the resume summary section with the job description. ☑ Showcase Achievements: Use specific numbers and examples to quantify your accomplishments. Instead of saying "improved sales," say "boosted sales by 20% within six months." ☑ Professional Format: Opt for a clean, professional layout with consistent fonts and spacing. Save the flashy graphics for creative fields. ☑ Include a Strong Summary: Start with a compelling summary that highlights your key qualifications and career goals. Make it engaging and tailored to the job you're targeting. ☑ Highlight Skills: Clearly list your core skills and competencies. Be honest and focus on those that are directly relevant to the position. ☑ Proofread Carefully: Ensure your resume is free from typos and grammatical errors. A polished resume reflects attention to detail and professionalism. ☑ Add a Personal Touch: Include a brief section on your interests or volunteer work. This can help convey your personality and values beyond your professional skills. Your resume is your first impression; make it count! 🚀 If you found these tips useful, please repost ♻ and follow me, Kumud Deepali R. for more insights and advice on jobs and career!

After I shared the job openings last week, I received a large number of CVs. And honestly, I was surprised: around 80% of them need real improvement. Don't get me wrong, a CV doesn't have to be a piece of art. It doesn't need colors, fancy templates, or perfection. However, it does need to be readable, clear, and provide a clear picture of your experience. When you are in a job search, there is a lot at stake when you send your CV. That's why I want to share a few simple things that can really change the way recruiters see you: 🔷 Name your file with your first and last name. Otherwise, your CV can get lost in a sea of "CV_final_2." 🔷 Add a short 'About Me' section. In a few sentences, give the "big picture" of who you are: your strengths, personality traits, expectations from work, values, etc. Anything that describes you and tells more than a picture. 🔷 If you do include a photo (though I don't recommend it), make it small and aligned with your text. CVs with pictures taking up a quarter of the page look totally unprofessional. 🔷 Unless you are a recent graduate with little or no work experience, list your work experience before your education. If you have 10–15 years of professional life, that's what matters most. 🔷 Don't just list job titles; explain the specific key tasks you performed, show your contribution. 🔷 Keep it to 2 pages max, even if you have many years of experience. What you did 15 years ago is not that important. What matters most are the last 10 years. 🔷 Check spelling. Grammarly or any other tool can help. Dear all, I've spent more than 30 years in HR and coaching. I personally always try to look beyond how a CV looks and focus on the person. However, I can assure you that a junior recruiter scanning 100 CVs a day will put your CV aside if it's not up to standard. That's why I share this. Your CV is your story. It deserves some effort. A question: would it be useful if I offer a free webinar on CV writing and improvement? Put 'YES' in the comments if you or someone you know may benefit from this offer.

Resume Help! One of my favorite things to do when talking to a candidate about a job is helping with their resume. Not just for the position we’re discussing, but to give overall advice and suggestions that help them get calls for the right opportunities in the market. Here are a few of the main things I go over with everyone: ✅ Start with the basics. Your first and last name (not just an initial). City, state, and zip - You don’t need your full address, but those three are searchable pieces of data that help recruiters find you. Even if you’re targeting remote jobs, I still want to know your time zone (CST, EST, PST). Make sure your email, phone number, and LinkedIn URL are listed. You don’t need a picture on your resume, just make sure your LinkedIn has one. 💡 Pro tip: Save your resume file as your first and last name “Crystal Rehling” and nothing else. ✅ Have a summary, not an objective. Your summary is your elevator pitch. It should highlight the quantifiable, tangible skills you’re bringing to your next role. Someone should read your summary and know what job they would hire you for! Be specific. Skip the soft skills here; people will gauge those when they meet you. Use this space for hard data and measurable impact. 💻 If you’re in IT: Right after your summary, include a Core Technical Skills section. This should list your key tools, systems, and technologies, things like programming languages, ERP systems, CRM platforms, or integration tools. It gives hiring managers an instant snapshot of your capabilities before diving into your experience. ✅ Prioritize your recent experience. Your most recent roles should have the most detail. For positions 10+ years old, stick to main highlights or list a brief technical environment section. You can even say “previous experience available upon request” or just list the company, title, and dates without bullet points. 🎓 Education goes last. Unless you’re a recent grad, your education should appear at the end of your resume. Let your professional experience lead the story. 🌐 Finally: Make sure all of this information is also on your LinkedIn profile. It’s searchable data that helps recruiters find you for your next job. Someone mentioned to me recently that she was told to keep her LinkedIn brief since people can see the details on her resume. I completely disagree! If your profile isn’t complete and detailed, we might not find you in the first place. If you’d like a quick 15-minute video call for personalized resume feedback, drop a comment below, I’d be happy to help!

The resume section most people forget. I review resumes every day. And I keep seeing the same thing missing. Certifications. Courses. Professional development. People spend hours learning new skills — then never put them on their resume. From the HR side, I can tell you: this section matters more than you think. It tells me you're not coasting. You're growing. You're staying current in your field. What to include: • Industry certifications (PMP, PHR, Google Analytics, etc.) • Online courses you've completed (LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, HubSpot) • Licenses relevant to your field • Workshops or training programs • Continuing education credits What NOT to include: • Courses you started but never finished • Certifications that expired years ago • Random skills that don't relate to the job How to format it: Certification Name | Issuing Organization | Year Earned Example: Google Analytics Certification | Google | 2024 SHRM-CP | SHRM | 2023 Where to put it: Right after your skills section. Or right before education if you have strong credentials. Don't bury it at the bottom. If it's relevant, make it visible. That free course you took last year? The certification you earned during a career gap? Put it on there. It shows initiative. It shows curiosity. It shows you're investing in yourself. And that's exactly what hiring managers want to see. What certification or course are you most proud of? Drop it below. #ResumeWriting #CareerAdvice #JobSearch

In my experience people way over think writing their CV. It is no surprise, with all the bad advice out there, things get over complicated. I have almost 20 years of recruitment experience. This is what I believe to be a solid and simple format for a CV. Lets work from top to bottom. 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 & 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 A Headline can come in handy to show time-poor recruiters immediately that you are doing a similar job or have experience working in a similar function. EG Russell Ayles Handsome Recruiter 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 Area you live (not specific address), link to LinkedIn profile, email and phone number, link to portfolio etc. 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 / 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 (optional) Not normally a fan of these necessarily but they can provide context to a career change or just give a topline summary of your industry, specialism and years of experience. 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 & 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺𝘀 These are nothing without context in your CV - but - can be very useful if the role is heavily reliant on particular product experience, systems or specialisms. So you can list the relevant systems and specialiams. Stick to hard skills rather than subjective ones like 'communication' For space, just create a small section like.... Systems: Adobe Illustrator | InDesign | After Effects | Photoshop 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 Job Title / Company Name / Month + Year to Month + Year Then, a short summary is good to let me know things like business does, its size, its market etc. Especially for lesser known businesses. You then have a few options to how you portray your experience. Responsibilities + Key Achievements Or Combine them into achievement based responsibilities. But really, regardless of what you do, you need to help me understand your job role and your impact (try to use data/numbers) 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗩! Continue this same format and just reduce the amount of info for older or less relevant roles. For most people with around 2+ years experience, education and qualifications will come toward the bottom. But it is all about relevance. So if something is important and relevant, it needs to find it's way to the first page! 𝗟𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 - Don't fixate on the length of the document, but usually 2-4 pages max should do it! There will always be ifs and buts, but this should work for the majority of roles and industries.

I am often asked "How many pages should my CV be?" Within building services, my advice is that your CV should be between two to three pages and contain the following key information. Profile / Summary This should be an engaging summary of who you are (e.g., your level, discipline, whether you’re Chartered, etc.), your key skills, the sectors and projects you’ve worked on, and what you are looking for in your next role. Education & Professional Memberships ▪️ List these in reverse chronological order (i.e., most recent first). Software ▪️Highlight the key software tools you use daily in your role. Detailed Employment History ▪️Again, this should be in reverse chronological order. Clients want to know what you’re doing now, not what you did over 10 years ago after finishing school. This section should include your core responsibilities and any relevant achievements. Detailed Project Information ▪️In the building services industry, clients want to see the projects you’ve worked on, along with your specific role and responsibilities in those projects. If you have experience in in-demand sectors such as data centres, hospitals, laboratories, or residential projects, be sure to highlight them. Or providing there are no NDA's, you could go one step further and include a few pictures of the projects. CV's that have a few good visuals always stand out. Hobbies & Interests ▪️Avoid writing generic things like "sports, cooking, travel, or spending time with family." Provide specifics, such as "Recently completed a three-month solo trip through South America" or recently started trading bitcoin etc - be specific and personal to make it more unique. Languages ▪️Be honest when describing your language skills. For example, if you’re fluent in Spanish but only studied French at high school, don’t list yourself as fluent in French. It’s important to be accurate about your abilities. Length of the CV ▪️The length of your CV will depend on your years of experience. If you’re just starting out as a graduate or junior, it’s unlikely that you’ll need three pages. Conversely, if you have 20+ years of experience, it may be difficult to condense everything into just two or three pages. As long as the information on your CV is relevant, interesting, and non-repetitive, feel free to include it. Keep in mind that most clients or recruiters will spend about 15 seconds scanning a CV, before deciding whether to continue reading or not. So the saying "You only get one chance to make a good first impression" holds true for your CV as well. Make sure your CV stands out, is tailored to the role you're applying for, and contains all the essential information listed above. #humancapitalsolutions