The CV

You need a basic CV as you progress through your career as a scientist: to apply for fellowships and grants, graduate school, internships, etc. Read through this thorough description of a basic science CV by Richard Reis in The Chronicle of Higher Education and see several resources on How to Craft a Winning Résumé on the Science Careers (AAAS) web site. Once you have all your basic info down, you should take particular care to 1) proofread your CV for typos, 2) make sure it is formatted simply so that it is easy to find critical information (e.g., year(s) of your degree(s)), 3) avoid excessive wordiness (less is more - don't use complete sentences to describe your skills, instead use bullets), and 4) keep it to a maximum of 1 or 2 pages unless you already have a PhD and can justify a longer CV (i.e., have you used an 11 pt. font, played with the page margins and spacing? Have you already removed all items related to your high school record? hobbies? and anything else that isn't DIRECTLY related to your career as a scientist?). In early versions of your CV, err on the side of INCLUDING small awards or presentations (a scholarship from the local gem and mineral society, a poster competition in your College of Science, etc.). Include other languages you speak, specialized lab techniques you have experience with, specialized software you use (no, we don't want to see that you've mastered MS Word).

Things that SHOULD NOT be included in your CV: a photo of yourself, your birth date or age, your marital status, an exhaustive list of your college courses, your hobbies (unless you happen to have an Olympic medal or some other very notable "hobby" that will make your CV stand out but perhaps work that into your Honors and Awards section).

Finally, look at CVs of other academics for formatting ideas and ideas for what to include in your CV. I happen to like the way my CV is formatted (I don't overuse bullets, but instead use more bold type, italics, underlining, and creative spacing to make the information easy to find. You should include the dollar amounts of any awards/scholarships in your CV). Then have someone (an advisor or graduate student) look at your draft CV before you send it off. Send your CV as a .pdf file and not an MS Word file to avoid software problems.