Plan to leave the Ivory Tower: Read

[Emil Chuck]

While it is a great suggestion, there are some website that give examples of what a resume is compared to a CV, including other academia-only websites that specialize in pointing out differences and making suggestions. Besides, the reasons why you write a resume will result in different ways to present the material (since the audiences would be different). The site I like annually solicits CV's and resumes for online review.

Of course, I also think that showing everyone depersonalized CV's and resumes is useful, but so would showing everyone how to write a good grant. But that would take a lot longer. :)

[Dave Jensen]

Here's the link for the UCSF Career Center resume and CV examples. The problem with this kind of thing is that no one will agree that these are the best examples. Still, they are good to see, and you can pull what you like from them. Thanks to Bill and Naledi,

http://saawww.ucsf.edu/career/StudentPostdoc/lifecvsamples.htm

Dave Jensen, Moderator

[Kathy]

I can imagine it would open a can of worms! I've had so much conflicting advice (DO put all your extra-curricular activities on, it shows you can manage your time and are a rounded person versus DON'T put them on, it implies you aren't 100% devoted etc) I'll check out the links and see for myself. I suppose the lesson we take away from this is that you tailor the CV/resume for the specific job!
Excellent thread, really useful!

[Dave Jensen]

Kathy, thanks to your comments on this thread, I'm writing "Resume Rocket Science 2007," for a week from Friday on Tooling Up. It is a round-up of current facts and opinions about resumes and CV's, with the input of over 20 hiring managers from industry.

Dave

[Derek McPhee]

As a piece of trivia on this note, some of the most abominable CVs I have seen in a long time were all submitted for a senior HR position at my current employer.

[T.B.9255]

Peter Fiske's book "Put Your Science to Work" has several different hypothetical scientists with original CVs, then resume examples, tailored to different jobs. I found his book the most practical of all of the science career books out there and is a nice thing to have in your toolkit.

TB

[V. Dapic]

I didn't read all the posts to this topic so I am not sure if someone actually asked the same question but one thing that I really need is an example of what a good resume looks like vs. the bad one. I have recently started looking for jobs and I feel like my resume writing skills are poor and thus my chances at getting a job about the same. Perhaps I have missed this on science careers, but I would really appreciate if someone could give me a link or suggestions on where to look for such samples!

[Kevin Foley]

Some interesting posts in this thread! However, I'm struck by the fact that certain topics consistently result in the longest discussion threads, and this is certainly one of them. And it worries me.

Writing a proper industry CV is a right of passage that every postdoc goes through, and based on my experience, few get it right. Some never get it right. But industry hiring managers are used to that! We get a ton of CVs for junior staff scientist positions and they all look like academic CVs, so we know we just have to wade through them. What’s important is that you create a document that clearly outlines your background, even if it ends up looking more like an academic CV than an industry one (which, as mentioned, emphasizes experience, expertise and accomplishments over esoteric scientific stories and numbers of publications).

But the most important thing to remember is that 90% of getting a job has nothing to do with your CV. So please don't spend 90% of your time creating a stunning CV (and other related activities like applying for jobs online). Focus on what really matters: person to person networking.

A mediocre CV (stylistically, not with respect to your actual expertise and accomplishments) and a lot of networking is guaranteed to get you a job.

A stunning CV and no networking is equivalent to playing lotto.

So put your effort where it matters.

Cheers,
Kevin

[Dave Jensen]

Kevin said, "So put your effort where it matters . . . "

Kevin, I couldn't agree with you more. There are so many who get stuck in the mode of fine-tuning for the fiftieth time, and they never get out there and DO anything with it. That's because its easier to work on a document on the computer, thinking that it is really, really important (while forgetting the truly critical things like networking, talking to people, going to meetings, etc).

Dave

[Ned]

Im with V. Dapic, a link with a bad or good industry CV for a PhD-level scientist would be worth its weight in cyber-gold.