Writing an Effective Academic CV

An academic CV is a formal document used by scholars and researchers when applying to an academic role. It details your educational background, research and teaching experience, professional appointments, publications, fellowships, awards, grants, and any other relevant accomplishments. While applying to academic roles, you can use this document to show that you are the right fit for the position.

Learn more: How to End the Perfect Cover Letter

When writing your academic CV, include the following sections in this order:

• Contact Information: Include your full name, title, institutional address, home address, phone number, and email.
• Research Objective or Summary: Write a brief paragraph that explains your research plans. For a non-research role, write a summary that highlights your academic background and most relevant accomplishments.
• Education: List your postsecondary degrees in reverse chronological order. Include your institution and department, when you completed your program, the degree you earned, your major, your minors and certificates, your thesis or dissertation title, and your advisor.
• Professional Appointments: This includes any relevant work experience you have. Include your position, institution, employment dates, and a few sentences about your responsibilities.
• Publications: Separate this section by your peer-reviewed publications and other publications; with the former going first.
• Awards and Honors: List your accomplishments in reverse chronological order. Include the title of the award, the year you earned it, and what entity gave it to you.
• Grants and Fellowships: List any funding you received in reverse chronological order. Include the timeframe this grant or fellowship lasted and who gave it to you.
• Conferences: List all of the invited talks, campus talks, and conferences you participated in.
• Teaching Experience: Include any teaching assistant positions you have along with the courses you taught.
• Research Experience: Include all your research experience in reverse chronological order. If you have many experiences, limit them to when you were a full-time researcher, research associate, and research assistant.
• Additional Activities: This section includes any other relevant experience that doesn’t fit into the other parts of your CV. Things like extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, and non-academic jobs go here.
• Languages and Skills: List any secondary languages you know and your level of proficiency. Also, include any skills that would make you a good fit for the role.
• References: When listing your references, include their full name, title, mailing address, phone number, and email address.

Learn more: Job Interview Preparation Checklist

Remember these tips when writing your academic CV:

• Be consistent with formatting: Only use one font throughout your CV. Make sure all of your sections are evenly spaced out and that all of your headers are the same font size.
• Be mindful of errors: Along with catching any grammatical errors, look over your CV to find any incorrect dates, formatting errors, or typos. Have a trusted friend or family member look it over too. You could also ask a trusted colleague if appropriate.
• Learn if there is a page limit: Unlike resumes, most CVs are more than one page in length. When looking at a job posting, see if they put a limit on how long your CV can be.
• Get advice from someone in your field: Talk to someone who has had to create their own academic CV. When applying to an academic position, many departments have slightly different requirements, so meeting with an advisor may help you understand what you need to include.

Use this example academic CV as inspiration when writing your own:

Samantha Evers
Professor of Communication Arts

Address
The University of Wisconsin — Madison
821 University Ave
Madison, WI 53706
Home Address
123 Market Way
Madison, WI 53706

Phone: 555-555-6365
Email: sam.evers@email.com

Summary

I am an educator with over 15 years of teaching experience. Throughout my academic career, I have published two peer-reviewed articles, and I am currently writing a research-based book on Communication Theory.

Education

Ph.D., Communication Arts, The University of Wisconsin — Madison, 2020
Thesis Title: ‘An In-Depth Look at Communication Theory’
Thesis Advisor: Claire West, Ph.D.

M.A., Communication Arts, The University of Wisconsin — Madison, 2016
Thesis: ‘Video Game Addiction: Is There a Cure?’
Thesis Advisor: David Kramer, Ph.D.

B.A., Economics, The University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee, 2014

Professional Appointments

Instructor, The University of Wisconsin — Madison, 2017-Present
Taught a total of four courses, including Introduction to Communication, Introduction to Social Media, Critical Internet Studies I, and Critical Internet Studies II. Worked as a mentor for incoming freshmen interested in the Communication Arts major.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Evers, S. (Exploration). “2020: Non-Verbal Communication Will Never Look the Same.” Journal of Communications, vol. 2.

Evers, S. (Exploration). “Understanding Why Our Youths Need TikTok” Journal of Communications, vol. 9.

Other Publications

Evers, S. (Pop Culture). “Why the Internet Is Going to Explode” The Atlantic

Awards and Honors

Best Instructor, The University of Wisconsin — Madison, 2018

Grants and Fellowships

John Muir Fellowship, The College of Letters & Science, 2017-2018

Conferences

The Wisconsin Women’s Summit, 2019
Future Educators of America Conference, 2017

Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistant, The University of Wisconsin — Madison, 2016
Served as the Teaching Assistant for Communications 101 and Introduction to Communication Theory. Led four different study sections where I went over course material with small groups of students.

Research Experience
Research Associate, Edgewood College, 2015-2016
Collected participant data to learn whether adults over 60 are more prone to information fatigue.

Additional Activities

Faculty Advisor, UW Madison Advertising Club, 2018-Present

Volunteer, Dane County Food Pantry, 2014-Present

Languages and Skills

Spanish — Proficient
Public Speaking
Adobe Suite

References

Chloe Farmer, Director of the UW Madison Communications Department
150 South Brooks St.
Madison, WI 53715
Phone: 555-777-8989
Email: chloe.farmer@email.com