In the previous article on the essential documents you need for your graduate school applications, the curriculum vitae was one of the documents listed. Many scholarship enthusiasts make mistakes here, thinking that it is just written to get a job.
They include information that is not necessary to appear on an academic CV in it, and this may present them to the grad school as unserious. As simple as it sounds, a well-organized CV is one of the key documents scholarship enthusiasts need to get headway.
So, we thought, why not write an article that puts you through the details required or not required in your Academic CV? Let’s dive into it.
LEGAL NAME & CONTACT INFO
Of course, your name is the first piece of information that should appear on your academic CV. Make sure that the name you use is the same on your educational documents and passport. That is why it has to be your legal name. Your contact information immediately follows the name.
Here you will have your phone numbers, addresses and email or voicemail. One of the mistakes people make is that they use an unofficial email title. Ensure that your email is a combination of your legal names, e.g. LaurenMarkle@gmail.com, AkanjiCoker@Yahoo.com.
Something like horlahkemi272, Moyskid321@gmail.com isn’t appropriate unless they are your official names. So do one thing as scholarship enthusiasts, create a new email address if you do not already have one that looks like the examples we have provided, an address that contains your official names.
EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION
The following document that you should take seriously in your CV is your educational records. Start with all your degrees, the name of the issuing institutions, majors and minors, graduation date (if you are still awaiting your degree), thesis title and advisors in cases where it is available.
There are different formats for writing this part of your CV. One of them is to write your degree first in boldened letters, followed by the issuing school and the dates in smaller fonts. However, we will be providing you with CV formats at the end of this article.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
Once you have written your educational qualifications, you will need to include awards that you’ve gotten—starting from scholarship grants to honors. This part is not required if you have not gotten any scholarship in your studies. Not everyone will be an honors student.
With this understanding, you can replace this subheading with “Leadership and Extracurricular Activities”. Here you can include the organizations you have led or posts you held during your studies. For example, if you were the president of a youth club, it would serve a purpose under your leadership experience section.
Some people are both honors students and leaders in their school; one does not have to go for the other, especially if you are applying for a master’s degree scholarship. Create a subheading for your honors and awards and create another for your leadership roles.
Here is a sample CV containing honors and awards, also leadership roles: https://t.co/gIzk9uqcnO
PUBLICATIONS/PRESENTATIONS
If you are applying for a PhD scholarship, you must create a CV tailored towards that. At the same time, having publications may not be a must for undergraduate and some master’s scholarships. It is very crucial to PhD applications.
Start by listing the publications you have authored or coauthored in the correct referencing formats (APA, MLA, or Chicago Style). In the same vein, you can list your publications.
You can find examples of this at: https://t.co/chPggOY0Ml
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Just while we move on, your professional experience comes in. You will describe any research or professional experience you’ve had, including the position title, name of the organisation or lab, supervisor’s name, correct dates, and responsibilities. Note that this is not the same as your work experience. This subheading is essential for PhD students.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND NETWORK
Are you in any organization, group or network? This is where you put those bodies you are a member of. Especially if you have taken prominent roles in these bodies, and they are relevant to your field. Some people are members of international organizations.
A tip to writing this part of your CV is to make sure you only put relevant details. For example, if you are applying for a graduate scholarship into a Social Work Program, and you are a prominent member or leader in the Red Cross Society or any other Volunteer related body, listing them in your CV is another indication that you know what you want, and what you are doing.
CERTIFICATIONS
Have you taken short courses related to your field and discipline? Then yes, this is the part where you put them. Certifications might also be gotten from your professional affiliations and network, so you don’t need to include only courses you’ve taken in your course of studies or experience.
CONCLUSION
There is no one format for scholarship enthusiasts to write CVs. CV writing has several designs and orders. The essence of this article is to let you know the necessary things to include in your CV. Anything not in this article is not relevant to writing your academic CV. Here is a sample that can further help you.
It would help if you used action verbs whenever you were writing. You need to present your CV as mature as possible. We understand that some people do not write their academic Curriculum Vitae by themselves; however, ensure that you go through it again that all the data necessary in a CV is there before submitting it for your grad school scholarship applications.
Thanks to technology and the digital world, CV writing is now easy peasy, especially with different sites offering editable and downloadable CV formats. While they all may not be helpful for an academic CV, we strongly recommend Europass CV. Europass will help you create a standard CV that you can use for graduate applications. We hope you found this helpful.