Workshop on Studying Abroad in collaboration with CCPC

University of Kashmir.

Writing your CV
Graduate Studies in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics)

Speakers: Muzzaffar A. Shah

Zulkarnain Raja
Goal of this session
To get students in this workshop acquainted with proper CV writing
required for graduate STEM admission process in the universities
abroad.
Road map of this session

• 2 Ws : What is a CV and Why is required?

• Standard sections CV

• Language

• Formatting

• General Tips

• Questions
What is a CV
CV or Curriculum Vitae (coming from Latin) is a document that contains
detailed synopsis of your educational/academic background as well as
related work experience such as teaching and research experience,
publications, awards, presentations, honors, and additional details.

In the US, a CV standard is a 2–12 page academic document that

describes your educational history, work experience and skills in deep
detail

In Europe/UK, a CV is a standard 1–2 page tailored to the position

describing your educational history, work experience and skills in deep
detail

Remember that a CV is not the same as a resume or bio data.

A resume tends to be a 1-2 page summary of your academic qualifications

and work experience mostly used by employers for non-academic
positions, whereas a CV is a more comprehensive document that captures
your academic qualifications, work experience and skills etc.

Bio data is usually just an account of your personal information (and

Why is it required?
It gives academic boards or admissions team an outline/overview of what the
applicant has been doing in terms of education history, related work
experience and whether the applicant has required academic/work/skill level
required to pursue a particular course for which the applicant has applied for.

It acts as an initial funnel for university admission committee to single out

applicants of interest for them to be accepted for further process leading to
acceptance.

Given the fact that the interest and applications for graduate studies in STEM
is rapidly growing, as a consequence of which high number of application are
to be sorted out by the admissions team, hence, role of CV comes into play, by
which data based methodology is used for initial screening in STEM graduate
studies.
Standard Sections in a CV

Personal Information Education Research Experience

1 2 3 and related Work
experience

Publications Conferences and Awards/Honors and

4 5 Presentations 6 Scholarships

7 Courses 8 Skills 9 Extra-curricular

activities

10 Languages 11 References
1. Personal Information
• In Personal information, include at least the following:

Name
Address
Phone number
Email address
Online profiles (such as LinkedIn etc.)

• Write the name in big and bold font as the CV heading.

• Under that, include contact details like an address, email id you regularly use, a
phone number you can be reached on, and any relevant website link.

YOUR NAME
Address: Flydrugrandi 12, 107, Netherlands.
Contact: +31XXXX, [email protected]
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/contact-6282a825
2. Education
• Include following in the Education section:
Name of the institution
Location of the institution
Type/Name of Degree
Dates you attended

• The name and personal details should be followed by educational qualifications in a

reverse chronological order (most recent to earlier ones).

• Include educational qualifications with a short description of the course and study
outcomes and the final grade (percentage/GPA depending on application
requirement).

• Include the years through which you did the course.

• Highlight course aspects and dissertations that are relevant to your current
application.

• You can include your class rank or percentile, if you think it will reflect favourably on
2. Education
B.E in Computer Science, University of Kashmir, Srinagar (2012 - 2014)

CGPA: 7/10 (Top 10 rank)

Studied data structures, OOP, data algorithms … (a short description of

what course was about and what do you learn. Highlight those courses
which are related to your graduate studies interest).

Project/Thesis title : ‘XXXX’

My project/thesis was based on ( a short para of 2-4 lines about your

project/thesis)
3. Research Experience and related
Work experience
• Include at least:
Your Role in research
Name of institution/organization
Dates worked
Description
Name of your Supervisor
Publication (if any)

• This also includes professional work and any positions of responsibility you have held
including volunteer positions and internships.

• Mention your position, organisation name, time spent at the organisation, location
and describe your responsibilities.

• You can include your responsibilities either in bullet points or in a paragraph,

depending on the length of the content.

• If you are applying for a research degree, and have done any research internships or
led any research projects, do include such experiences under this head.
3. Research Experience and related
Work experience

2014 – 2015
Computer Engineer Trainee
Name of Employer, Location.

Worked as Computer Engineer Trainee at … (describe your role and

responsibilities. Achievements (if any) should be included)

2011– 2012
Research Assistant
Name of Institution/Organization/Lab, Location.

Worked as … (describe your role and responsibilities in the research project.

Achievements (if any) should be included)
4. Publications
• Include relevant published works like conference papers, journal publications etc.

• If there are group projects or publications, mention other authors and highlight your
name and contribution.

• Include online links to your publications wherever possible!

New techniques in analysis of Data Structures

Date of Publication
Name of conference paper or Journal
Short description (1-2) about the publication
Online Link (if avaliable)
5. Conferences and Projects
• Include at least:

Title of presentation
Name of Conference
Location
Date
Description

• Mention conferences you have attended and presented at. If you have just attended
a conference, only include it if you think the theme of the topic is very relevant to
your application. Otherwise, only include conferences that you have either organised
or where you have participated as a presenter.

• Please be careful about how many you include in the CV you submit for your
application – list only those that are relevant for that particular application.
6. Awards and Scholarships

• This includes academic awards, ranks, achievements, grants/ scholarships/

fellowships you received for studies or research work.
7. Courses

• Include courses you have undertaken.

• It is equally important to include any relevant professional certifications here

(provide the title of the certification, the name of the certifying organization and the
date on which you earned the certification).
8. Skills

• This may include IT, language and technical skills as well as relevant
transferable/soft skills (creativity, leadership, team management), which may not be
wholly relevant to the application you are making.

• Better to include skills relevant to the graduate study you are applying for.
9. Extracurricular Activities

• This may include extracurricular interests, activities and achievements, including

sports, debates, moot court competitions, etc.

• This is an optional section depending on its relevance to the application.

10. Languages

• If you are multilingual, write about the languages you know and indicate how well
you know them using “native/ advanced/ intermediate/ beginner levels of
written/spoken fluency” as appropriate.

• This is an optional section.

11. References

• Include name of your referees, their position, and contact details.

• This is an optional section depending on its relevance to the application.

Language to be Used

• The language of a CV should be straightforward and clear. Refrain from using long
paragraphs, passive voice and short forms.

• Use technical terminology, wherever applicable.

• The CV is an archive of all your achievements, skills, and interests and therefore, it
should read confidently so that it can convey how you are the suitable candidate.

• Use bullet points with action words (a list is available in the online guide on CV
writing) to describe work/ academic experiences in short sentences.
Formatting
• The CV design should be readable, clear and consistent (try to be minimalist).

• The main things to remember when formatting a CV are who it is being sent to and for what
purpose, depending on which the information should be organised and highlighted.

• After preparing your CV, get it printed to check if it looks neat and readable in case you have to
submit the hard copy at any point.

• Font and Highlighting: Choose a readable, attractive font and it is best advised to not use
more than two fonts in one CV. The font size should be a minimum of 11 pt. Do not overuse
bold, italics and highlighting because it is distracting for the reader. To highlight headers and
sections of the CV, use bold since too much italics and underlining can make it look clumsy.

• Headings: Maintain a consistent style (font style, size, colour, capitalisation) for similar
headings and sub-headings. Do not put full stops after headings/ sub-headings. Create headings
that are of relevance to your application. Avoid using ‘Other’ as a section since it suggests that
the reader could possibly skip it.

• Check it for any spelling and grammatical errors, that is a huge turn off for admissions
team.
General Tips
• Tailor your CV
Customize your CV to suit the application
Make sure you read (and re-read) your program's requirements
Tailor your language, skills, and accomplishments so that the right details
are highlighted

• Focus on academic background, related work experience and achievements

Be sure to emphasize your academic achievements
Include awards, grants, and publications.

• Use a good CV template

The easiest way to make sure your CV looks great is to use a CV template.
You can focus on showcasing your experience without having to worry about the design.
Use Latex, Word, Docs, Websites, etc.
Plenty online CV templates available.
questions please?