CVs for PhD researchers

Tailor your CV to the job you are applying for

Academic CVs

If you wish to apply for research posts in academia, you will need to produce an academic CV. Even if you intend to apply for research vacancies in other types of organisation you will require an academic-style CV that emphasises your research and related skills.

Academic CVs are different from other styles of CV, as they can be longer than 2 sides of A4 and contain detailed information about your research and other relevant experience. The length of an academic CV depends on your research output.

You should include

• your contact details
• your education and qualifications, starting with your PhD and working backwards from that
• the title of your PhD, a short summary of your research and the names of your supervisors
• a detailed list of publications, presentations, posters, and conferences attended
• any experience you have of teaching, supervision or training
• any funding received, including awards and scholarships
• membership of relevant societies
• areas of research interest
• any specialist or technical skills
• three named referees – usually including at least two academic referees

You may also wish to append an abstract, briefly summarising your research in an accessible way. It usually covers four key areas.

• The focus of your research (the problem or issue being addressed)
• The method(s) used
• The results or findings
• The main conclusions or recommendations

You don’t need to include in your CV

• your marital status, date of birth or age
• details and ages of your children
• your health status
• any minor qualifications unrelated to the post applied for
• part-time or temporary work unrelated to your academic subject
• your hobbies and interests.

Examples of academic CVs

For more information and examples of academic CVs use the following links.

Vitae has advice on academic CVs for postdoctoral researchers and includes examples of science, social science and arts and humanities CVs.

Warwick University Careers Service gives information on academic (and non-academic) CVs, plus covering letters. There are also links to useful related articles and websites.

Prospects has examples of science, arts and social science CVs tailored for both academic and non-academic jobs.

When to use a non-academic CV

If you have a PhD but wish to apply for a non-research position outside academia, your CV should be more chronological or skills based. You need to sell the skills you have developed through your research and highlight the knowledge you have gained in a way that is clearly understandable to non-subject specialist readers.

For examples of research CVs for non-academic jobs, see the links below.

Prospects has some examples of science, arts and social science doctoral CVs tailored for non-academic jobs (as well as academic posts).

Vitae has examples of skills-based CVs from arts, humanities, science and social science doctoral students.