Curriculum Vitae Pointers
Below are a few tips to consider when writing and revising your CV.
Once you have a draft completed, you should read these tips over and
revise accordingly.
Tell your story.
Everyone has a story to tell. You have unique experiences that
have brought you to this place in life. Your CV is one tool you can use
to shape your narrative. Keep in mind that each residency program has
its own focus. You must consider how you can best organize your material
to fit that focus.
Stay on your “feet.”
Don’t use sans serif fonts (literally translated “without feet”).
Arial, Franklin, Lucida and Calibri are a few examples of sans serif
fonts. It’s best to use serif fonts (“with feet”). Serif fonts are
easier for the eye to follow. Some examples of serif fonts are Times New
Roman, Garamond, and Palatino. We also recommended that you stick with
one font for your CV instead of switching between two.
Think visually.
Make sure your layout is clear, clean and easy to follow. Use
headings and indentations as well as bold and italics to guide the
reader through the material. Where and how you place the materials in
your CV effects how the reader experiences them. Use all the typographic
tools at your disposal to guide your reader.
Be consistent.
Consistent formatting throughout your CV will help guide your
reader. If you bold titles in one section, you must do it for all. The
reader will begin to recognize a pattern in your layout from the first
listing on the CV. If you don’t continue to follow that pattern,
whatever it is, the reader’s attention will waver and you could lose
them without their ever knowing why.
Don’t date yourself.
A common mistake is to list dates of experience first and then
the experience. The experience is what matters, not the date. The order
of info should be: position or degree, organization/institution,
location, date of experience.
Stay inside the lines.
You should keep your CV to a maximum of 2 pages, unless you have
truly compelling experience that warrants going over that limit.