Resumes/Curriculum Vitae for Undergraduate Research

On this page we will explore the differences between a Resume and a Curriculum Vitae (CV) as well as when to use which, and what to include in each. Examples of each are provided. Remember that you can also use your institution's career center if applicable to get tailored assistance with your personal resume and CV.

Resumes

Resumes are one to two-page documents highlighting your current and past experience relevant to the opportunity you're applying for. Resumes can include any number of the following sections: an objective, education, skills, work experience, accomplishments, awards, and activities. Well-developed resumes highlight your accomplishments and skills while demonstrating your fit for the opportunity's requirements. The best resumes are structured in a clear, organized, and concise manner and are ideally tailored to each opportunity you apply for.

Resumes are typically required for the majority of undergraduate research opportunities. Your resume plays an important role in making a strong first impression. Did you know that employers allocate less than 1 minute for a single resume before they make a decision? Even if you're highly qualified for a position, a poorly crafted resume can cause you to be overlooked before you have the chance to meet in person!

Below we provide six suggestions to help you develop your resume, then provide an example of a resume from a student seeking an undergraduate research opportunity.

Key Components of a Well-Crafted Resume

Tailor Your Resume: Tailor your resume to each position. Do this by reviewing the position description carefully and identifying key terms and skills that align with the research position's goals and requirements.

Use Action Words: Use strong action words to describe your work experience such as led, developed, and implemented.

Quantify Your Experience: Quantify experience where it is possible. For example, “Supervised 21 students in a 2-semester long group project.”

Focus on Accomplishments: Reflect on how you were valuable and beneficial to past employees. For example, “Organized two high school events as a part of the student council, attracting over 100 students.”

Use Appropriate Verb Tense: Use present tense to describe a current employment experience, and past tense to describe past employment experiences.

Format Your Resume: The format of your resume should be easy to understand. Do this by using wide margins, utilize bullet points, and bold, and italic fonts. Avoid using "I" statements and keep the layout consistent!

Example of an Undergraduate Student Resume:

Alexandra Johnson Resume-5.pdf

Curriculum Vitae (CVs)

A curriculum vita (CV), which translates to "course of life" in Latin, is a highly detailed and comprehensive document that outlines your entire academic background - or the course of your academic life. Unlike a standard resume, a CV typically spans several pages and includes sections such as "Education," "Research," "Publications," "Presentations," and "Service."

Because CVs include all of one’s academic experiences, faculty members and higher education professionals typically have extensive and long CVs. Student CVs are often much shorter, as they have had less time to develop academic experiences and accomplishments. If your CV is short, that is okay! Typically, faculty CVs or excerpts of their CV are available on their profile through the specific college or university from where they teach. Looking at faculty CVs can be helpful to know what research a faculty member is conducting or has conducted in the past. While undergraduate research opportunities do not typically ask for a CV, CVs are common across academic disciplines and are important to be familiar with in case you come across one or need to develop one for a future endeavor.

Writing a CV? Things You Should Know

While your CV should convey your interest in the role and highlight your skills and experiences, your CV will also include all other academic accomplishments and experiences.
Include roles you currently hold as a student, including internships, in your work experience section.
Use standard formatting for your CV (tips below).

Writing a CV? Formatting Tips:

Choose a professional font type and size. This might look like Times New Roman or Arial in font sizes 11 or 12 pt.
Ensure margins, or the area around the edges of your resume, are between 0.5 and 1 inch.
Create section headers to clearly separate different parts of your CV.
Bold or italicize key terms, like job titles, to make them stand out.
Organize information using bulleted lists.
Ensure your bullets are concise with as much detail as possible. These bullets should include specific details about your duties or what you contributed in the role.

Suggested Order of Sections

Header

At the top of your CV, share your full name, address, phone number, email address, and LinkedIn profile. It is not necessary to include your street address, but providing your city and state is helpful for employers to know. The remaining contact details allow the employer to reach out to you regarding the position you applied for.

Photo of CV Heading, also found below in the tagged pdfs.

Education

Provide an overview of your education by including your expected graduation date, along with your major, the name of your institution, and any honors or awards you have received. You might also include relevant coursework or study abroad experiences.

Photo of CV Education section, also found below in the tagged pdfs.

Professional Experience

Include any professional experience you have including jobs, internships, teaching experience, fellowships, or any other relevant experience. Make sure you highlight tasks from your previous roles, such as your responsibilities as a research assistant. Use strong action verbs like “conducted”, “analyzed”, and “developed.” Be sure to mention any accomplishments. Bullet points should be meaningful yet concise.

Photo of CV Professional Experience section, also found below in the tagged pdfs.

Research & Projects

You may not have prior research experience, and that is okay! If you do, include any research projects you have or are currently working on. If you are particularly proud of an extensive research project from a course, you can include that here. Finally, if you have done any form of grant writing, it might be helpful to include it here.

Photo of CV Research section, also found below in the tagged pdfs.

Presentations

If you have completed presentations at conferences, workshops, or seminars you may include them in this section. Ensure that you follow disciplinary norms for citing your presentations. For how to do so following APA format, see here.

Photo of CV Presentations section, also found below in the tagged pdfs.

Publications

If you've contributed to a school project, blog, or other form of writing, include that here. Ensure that you follow disciplinary norms for citing your publications. For APA examples on references, see here.

Beatrice does not have publications, but our faculty member example, Dr. Symbaluk, does. Here is what her publications section looks like:

Photo of CV Publications section, also found below in the tagged pdf for the faculty CV example.

Leadership & Service

Focus on including volunteer work or leadership activities that demonstrate abilities such as teamwork and communication. Include accomplishments from hobbies and interests that relate to the research field you are pursuing.

Photo of CV Leadership & Service section, also found below in the tagged pdfs.

Awards & Accomplishments

Mention any awards or recognitions you've earned.

Photo of CV Awards & Accomplishments section, also found below in the tagged pdfs.

Skills & Certifications

Mention any skills gained from workshops or relevant coursework you have completed. Additionally, should you hold any certifications you may add them here.

Photo of CV Skills & Certifications section, also found below in the tagged pdfs.

Professional Affiliations

If you have any professional affiliations, such as an Honors society, include it here.

Photo of CV Professional Affiliations section, also found below in the tagged pdfs.

Student CV Example

Here you will find a CV example from an experienced undergraduate researcher. While this CV does not include all of the sections described above, such as “Publications,” this is common for someone at this stage in their career. The absence of this section is because Beatrice has not yet published anything. It’s important to remember that CVs can be tailored to reflect an individual’s unique experiences. Beatrice also made the strategic choice to re-label the “Professional Experience” section as “Teaching Experience,” as they do not yet have broader professional experience but have a valuable teaching-related role.

The bullet points on Beatrice’s CV are concise yet informative. They effectively convey their key responsibilities and accomplishments without overloading the reader with unnecessary details. This balance ensures that their contributions are clear and impactful while remaining accessible to potential employers or academic committees. The CV’s formatting is clean and professional, making the information easy to navigate and ensuring that their most important skills and experiences stand out.

Student CV Example.pdf

Faculty CV Example

This CV example reflects the extensive academic and professional journey of Dr. Diane G. Symbaluk, a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at MacEwan University. The CV is well-organized and highlights her significant qualifications, including her education, certifications, professional development, and extensive research and teaching experience. As a seasoned academic, Dr. Symbaluk’s CV showcases a balance of teaching responsibilities, research contributions, and professional engagement within the field.

The inclusion of a publications section demonstrates Dr. Symbaluk’s scholarly contributions. Her work, including textbooks and research articles, solidifies her as a knowledgeable expert in her field. In the teaching experience section, Dr. Symbaluk highlights various courses she has taught at different institutions, emphasizing her versatility and knowledge in sociology and psychology. Finally, you might notice the committees and associations section is different from the suggestions above. Again, CVs are tailored to individual experiences. Dr. Symbaluk chose to label this section to highlight her leadership and service roles within academic and professional communities.

Overall, Dr. Symbaluk’s CV serves as a comprehensive document that reflects her extensive experience in research, teaching, and service, with a clear focus on academic excellence and community involvement. The document is formatted appropriately and is much more extensive than Beatrice’s as she is a more experienced individual as well as a faculty member.

FacultyCVExample.pdf

Attributions

“Navigating an Undergraduate Degree in the Social Sciences” by Diane Symbaluk, Robyn Hall, and Geneve Champoux is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0

Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0 International license.