Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the highest academic qualification that helps in grabbing research-driven and other lucrative global job opportunities. The process of securing a seat in the PhD program starts with submitting an impressive Curriculum Vitae (CV), also known as a resume, during the university application process, along with other documents such as a Statement of Purpose (SOP) and Letter of recommendation (LOR). So, read this guide to gain insights into CV and resume, learn how to write an effective resume for a PhD program, and discover some more information.

Key Highlights

• What is the meaning of a CV?
• What is a resume, and how is it different from a CV?
• CV format for PhD students
  • Contact Information
  • Personal profile & research interests
  • Education
  • Research & work experience
  • Publications
  • Accomplishments
  • Skills
  • Referees

Quick tips for writing a PhD resume

What is the meaning of a CV?
Curriculum Vitae is a document that captures information such as your education, skills, scholarly achievements, and research background clearly and concisely. You need to submit an academic CV while applying for a PhD program. The basic difference between a standard and an academic CV is the former highlights the achievements to date and other important details, whereas the latter focuses extensively on your academic and research background.

What is a resume, and how is it different from a CV?
A resume is a summary of a work profile, skills, and past experiences that you need to draft to apply for a specific job position. Both CV and resume are career documents but are not identical. A CV is used for seeking doctoral and high-level research positions in institutes or industries, whereas a resume is a position-specific document used when applying to industries, non-profit and public sectors. Moreover, the length of your CV may vary from 2-4 pages as it depicts a detailed history of your academic credentials. However, a resume paints a concise image of skills and qualifications and is 1-2 pages long.

CV format for PhD students
An academic CV for PhD application process must contain the following 8 sections:

• Contact information: Start your CV by providing necessary contact details such as your full name, professional email address, mobile number, and location.
• Personal profile & research interests: This is the section where you should introduce yourself as a PhD student. Highlight who you are, your qualifications, and a summary of your research interests, plans and strategies. Ensure that your research plans and strategies must demonstrate your enthusiasm and ability to participate in a PhD program. You can write these details in bullet points or a short paragraph.
• Education: This section covers the major portion of an academic CV and highlights your appropriate educational background. You need to include important details like the full name of the degree, its type and duration, the name of the institution, corresponding marks or grades achieved, and projects or dissertations in this section. Also include the name and details of the final year dissertation related to the PhD program you are applying to.
• Research & work experience: This is one of the most important elements of the CV that summarises your research and relevant work experience. Include full-time, part-time, paid experience, voluntary contributions and university project work relevant to your PhD project that helped develop domain-specific skills. For instance, showcasing your voluntary teaching, mentoring and supervision experience can create a significant impact than mentioning a part-time store-keeping job. Please add your current research and its related details, including what the project is all about, research methods adopted, skills gained and notable outcomes or achievements.
  Please remember that most applicants applying for the PhD program have similar qualifications. Therefore, highlight the relevant work experience to get an upper edge over others.
• Publications: Formal publications comprise published reports, journal articles, scholarships, books (or chapters), and patents. List all printed publications as per the citation style specified by the selected university. Skip this section if you do not have any academic publications.
• Accomplishments: Highlight all work-related awards (including subject-specific awards) and honours received during the academic journey.
• Skills: Hard skills include technical skills and depict your abilities to become a competent researcher. On the other hand, soft skills like active listening, good verbal communication, etc., demonstrate your teaching abilities. Therefore, strengthen your PhD application by mentioning both hard and soft skills.
• Referees: Include minimum 2-3 referees’ details like their full names, professional titles, phone numbers, and email addresses in your PhD application. Make sure you mention referees from your academic life, such as any professor who taught the subject related to PhD program or a dissertation supervisor. Include only those referees, which have given their consent.

Quick tips for writing a PhD resume

• Information such as education, research experience and publications should be mentioned in reverse chronological order (most recent first).
• Try to limit your PhD resume to 2 pages.
• Proofread it for clarity, accuracy and relevance.

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