Creating Your Résumé And CV
Your résumé and curriculum vitae (CV) act as self-marketing documents summarizing your skills, experiences and education. These documents are commonly submitted for applications for jobs, volunteer positions, professional development opportunities or graduate and professional schools.
This chapter outlines recommended practices in résumé and curriculum vitae writing to help you create a document that is professional and easy to read.
What Is The Difference Between Résumés And CVs?
| Résumés | Curriculum Vitae | |
| Common uses | Applying for opportunities in general. | Applying for opportunities in academia/research, and for graduate and professional school. |
| Goal | To provide a summary of any skills, experience and education relevant to a specific opportunity. | To provide a summary of academic accomplishments and credentials. |
| Length | 2 page maximum. | Typically more than 2 pages, but it can vary if application requirements are provided. |
| References | Do not include. | You may include. |
| Possible Contents |
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Formatting And Contents
Hiring managers spend an average of 6-seconds scanning your application materials. Including relevant information and applying accessible formatting is critical!
Watch: How to Format Your Resume to Pass the 6-Second Scan
Note: Canada has employment laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace. You do not need to volunteer information on ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, age, marital status, disabilities on your résumé. Including a photo of yourself is also not appropriate on a résumé.
Writing Effective Accomplishment Statements
2-5 accomplishment statements are included under each entry of a résumé or CV. These past-tense, single-sentence statements highlight your unique contributions and successes in a specific role or experience. These statements should not simply list all the tasks you were assigned or describe your research project. Instead, these statements are intended to communicate to the hiring manager that you can achieve results, by providing evidence of your technical and transferable skills, traits, and knowledge.
To write an effective accomplishment statement, answer the following three questions in one sentence:
| Question | 1. What did I do? | 2. How did I do it? | 3. Why was it important? |
| Direction | Briefly state the task. | Specify the methods, strategies, techniques, tools, or skills you used to complete the task. | Identify the result or impact of your actions to highlight its’ significance or benefit to the team. |
| Tip | Begin with a strong, past-tense action word, such as, “Facilitated”, “Coordinated”, or “Collaborated”. Avoid starting your statements with “Worked” or “Responsible for”. Find strong action words you can use in the next section. | Identify transferable or technical skills, tools, resources or techniques utilized to complete this accomplishment. | Quantify your impact when possible. For example, you can include percentages of how you improved impact, or include the number of people impacted. If you are stuck, ask yourself “what would happen if didn’t do this task?” |
| Example | “Tutored high school student” | “using plain language to communicate complex physics concepts” | “resulted in improved course grade from 68% to 81%” |
Complete example: Tutored high school student using plain language to communicate complex physics concepts, resulted in improved course grade from 68% to 81%.
Practice identifying the “What”, “How” and “Why”
Examples of strong action words and accomplishment statements by competency
Your accomplishment statements should reflect desirable skills and qualities hiring managers are seeking. Click on the eight Science Professional Competences listed in the accordion below for examples of strong action words and accomplishment statements.
Revising Accomplishment Statements
Watch: Tailoring Your Resume For A Specific Job
Examples of skills by department or school
Examples Of 1-Page Resumes
Download: Résumé And CV Formatted Templates
Click the links below to download a sample résumé or CV formatted document with guidelines to help you get started!
Self-evaluate your résumé!
Download this Resume Rubric to help you assess the accessibility, completeness and professionalism of your résumé!
Frequently Asked Questions
Additional resources:
- Use Jobscan resume scanner to help you optimize your resume keywords for a specific occupation or job positing.
- Use LinkedIn Learning to gain skills and training related to business, media, technology and more! Check your local library for LinkedIn Learning access.
Quick Chapter Recap
- Always tailor your résumé or CV for the opportunity you are applying for. Some job/volunteer, awards or graduate and professional school applications may specify certain skills, traits, experience, or document headings and page limits they require for your materials.
- Unless specified otherwise, submit your résumé or CV as a PDF document to maintain the format. Remember to create a professional document name, such as “Resume, Last Name, Job ID number”.
Need more support with building your application materials?
Meet with a Science Career Advisor
Book a 30-minute appointment with the Science Careers & Experience Centre (BSB 127) in advance through OSCARplus.
Build your Science Career Toolkit with SCIENCE 2C00
Enrol in SCIENCE 2C00: Skills for Career Success in Science — for guidance on developing essential career skills and become eligible for co-op and experiential education opportunities.
Explore these additional chapters:
- Introduction To Science Professional Competencies
- Writing A Cover Letter
- Searching And Applying For Experience
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