WHAT MAKES A CV STAND OUT? (A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE!) Department of Neuroimaging IoPPN

WHAT MAKES A CV STAND OUT?(A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE!)

Department of Neuroimaging

IoPPN

What makes a CV Stand Out?

(Preferably in a good way!)

Remember that if there are 100 applicants for a post, the reviewer

has less that 2 minutes per CV even if they set 3-4 hours aside for shortlisting

even if there are only 20 applicants, and the reviewer sets aside 4 hours, they only have about 10 minutes per CV

Need to stand out!

A Typical CV

• Demographics – Name, contact details ...

• Personal Statement• Education• Employment History • Teaching & Supervision

Experience• List of Research Grants• List of Peer Reviewed

Papers• Referee contact details

A Typical CV





DemographicsGoing to come back to this

later...

A Typical CV





Personal Statement (or similar)

Keep this briefCustomise it to the particular job you’re aiming for.This is your chance to “capture” the reader; tell them, in one

sentence, why they should employ you:• “Following my PhD, and a 2 year PostDoc in <relevant field>, I

am now looking for an opportunity to <job / ‘independent researcher’ / ...>”

Don’t include lots of generalities– Everyone wants world peace, and to help children, but it won’t

necessarily get you a job!

Don’t just duplicate your cover letter verbatim (or vice versa)

A Typical CV





Education & Employment History

Required, but probably the most boring section of a CV!

Keep it briefFull details of your GCSE s are probably no longer relevant!

Consider adding a 1 line overview:“Following A-levels in BLAH, I realised that my ambition to

become a BLAH was best suited by pursuing a degree in BLAH”

“Following my PhD, I wanted to broaden my experience of BLAH and therefore undertook a number of short PostDoc positions in BLAH, BLAH and BLAH”

A Typical CV





Teaching & Supervision Experience

Be imaginative – if you think you’ve not done any official teaching, for example, think what you HAVE done.Supervised MSc student projects?

Given demos to visitors?

Etc etc

Consider adding a 1 line overview:“Teaching has always been integral to my roles so far, and I

have been able to contribute to BLAH, BLAH and BLAH”

Consider (deliberate) understatement:“While my PhD/PostDoc/... didn’t involve any direct face-to-

face student contact, I was able to [list of 8 things you did!]”

A Typical CV





Research Grants

Again, be imaginative – if you think you’ve not got any grants to your name, think what you HAVE done. (List everything!)

Found money for conferences/visits/... during PhD?

Contributed informally to grants with others?

Officially co-I-ed grants with other?

Give a 1 line overview:

“My PostDoc was funded by BLAH, and I was heavily involved in writing

the successful follow-up grant (recently funded £1.9m, PI: Prof BLAH).

I also hold 3 small grants in my own name...”Again, consider (deliberate) understatement:

“While I don’t currently hold any funds in my own name, I am a named

collaborator on a £2.2m bid to the MRC and a further recently awarded

£100,000 grant from the Wellcome Trust”

A bit naughty – doesn’t actually say whether or not this was successful!

A Typical CV





Publications

Again, be imaginative – if you think you’ve not lots of papers to your name, think what you HAVE done. (List everything!)

Conference papers/abstracts (include, but flag as not full

papers)

As usual - give a 1 line overview:

“My h-index is BLAH, and 3 of my publications have already

received more than BLAH citations”Yet again, understatement may help:

“I have over 20 publications in high impact peer reviewed

journals” sounds better than “I have 21 papers”?

A Typical CV





Demographics

Why are these sections always first and last?

Good practice for reviewers is to ignore name (from which gender can often be inferred) indications of age, etc, etc

Research indicates that both males and females show bias towards male candidates.

• (Go on one of the KCL “unconscious bias” training sessions if you haven’t already!)

Demographics

Why is this section always first?

Maybe make it easy for the reader to ignore/discard info that may bias them:

• Put all contact and similar details on a separate sheet?• Put these details at the end, not the beginning, of the CV??

• *DON’T* include a photo!

• Put referee details on this page too?

• Signpost reader to these details with a “place holder” on the first page???

Review: What makes a CV Stand Out?

Remember that the reviewer may spend only have a few minutes at most on your CV, so you need to stand out!(In a good way!)

Need to catch readers attention, and direct them to the things you want them to focus on.

Must be honest, but can also direct the reader away from weaker sections, by giving them something positive instead!

Need to avoid anything that will put them off:• Check your spelling• Make sure everything is nicely formatted• ...

Final Thought

Don’t apply more than once!

Seeing the same application twice in the same pile is a sure fire indication to the reviewer that you’re “carpet bombing” every potential oportunity, making it much less likely they’ll believe you when you say that this is the post been waiting for all your (research) life!

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WHAT MAKES A CV STAND OUT? (A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE!) Department of Neuroimaging IoPPN