This document provides guidance on preparing resumes and CVs for graduate school applications. It discusses the differences between resumes and CVs, with resumes being 1-2 pages that emphasize professional experience while CVs can be longer and focus more on academic accomplishments. The document then gives tips for what sections to include in a resume/CV and how to describe experiences using the CAR (Context-Accomplishment-Result) method. It emphasizes tailoring the resume/CV to highlight skills and experiences relevant to the specific graduate program being applied to.

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Tran Thanh Nga
August 2022
CV/Resume for Graduate School Applications
“The most valuable
of all talents is that of
never using two words
when one will do.”
—Thomas Jefferson

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Depending on What Type of Master’s Program You’re Applying to,
You may be Asked to Prepare either a Resume or a CV
ü Summarize your educational
background and work history
ü Emphasize the results of your
efforts
ü Draw clear parallels between your
skills and experience and a
program’s needs.
> Widely used in the US
> 1-2 pages
> Usually no picture
Resumes Curriculum Vitaes (CV’s)
In general, resume emphasizes professional and extracurricular experience, while a CV
focuses on academic accomplishments
ü Used when searching for an academic
or research oriented position
ü Cover your education
accomplishments such as research,
publications, patents, teaching
experience, poster sessions and
professional memberships...
> Commonly used outside of the US
> Can be more than 2 pages
> Include a picture
Resumes and CV’s – which one should I prepare?
• Neither document has a single standard format.
• Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) or Master of Education (ME) programs can ask for either a resume or a CV, while MBA programs
will ask for a resume.

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Similarities
Crisp language – Makes use of
strong verbs
Flows logically
Differences
How Is a Graduate School Resume Different From a Work Resume?
Clean layout – so that it is easy to
read
Error-free text
Covers your complete academic
history; more detailed than a
resume
References your education and
relevant coursework and
academic projects
§
Not limited to one page in length

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Step 4: Format the
document to help
the content
standout
4 Steps to Writing Your CV Focusing on Both Content and Format
An effective resume/CV is a brief summary highlighting your experience and skills that
directly relate to what a Master’s program is looking for
Step 1
Decide what to show
Step 2
Organize your info
Step 3
Describe each
experience
> Choose among your
experiences
> Be clear on what you are
trying to communicate
about your skills and
experience
> Tailor your document and
ensure that you are
highlighting the skills and
experiences the program is
looking for
> Headings summarize your
relevant experience to
Admissions
> Descriptive headings will
help your experience and
skills stand out as an
Admissions officer initially
skims your document.
> Look at each experience
individually. What do you
want Admission to know
about each of your
experiences? The content
you focus on depends on
the program you are
applying for

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Step 1: Decide what you want Admissions to know about you and
your experience
> Read the program and/or scholarship
requirements thoroughly and then
highlight all of the keywords which
indicate required and preferred
skills, abilities, attributes, and
qualifications.
Analyze
Requirements
> Create an inventory of your
accomplishments—tasks you enjoyed
doing, did well, and are proud of. Include
education/training, volunteer experience,
jobs, projects, travel, group or team
activities, and skills. Focus on the
outcomes of your efforts, including skills
you have developed. Quantify your
results if possible. Don’t sell yourself
short! Resumes/CVs are promotional
tools.
Generate a List of
Accomplishments
> You can maintain a ‘master
resume/CV’ with all of your
experiences and information on it.
Then, when you are creating a
tailored resume/CV, you can use that
as a baseline to pull information from.
Tip

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Education
This section should include:
• Name of the degree-granting institutions; List most recent first.
• Degree received and major
• Graduation date or projected graduation date, or dates of attendance if a degree was not completed
• Overseas academic experience
• Do not include high school
Optional:
• Any minors, specialization or focus areas
• Courses relevant to the program for which you are applying
• Honors and GPA (if they are a strong selling point). Indicate GPA based scale. (eg: /4 or /10)
• Senior research/honors thesis title and brief description
Samples of What To Include in each Session

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Experience
List most recent experience first. You should include:
• Title of the position
• Name of the organization and location (city and state)
• Dates, including month and year
• Descriptions of responsibilities beginning with action verbs (avoid phrases such as
“duties included”)
• Believable, verifiable accomplishments
• Paid jobs, internships, volunteer community service, academic/extracurricular projects
involving teamwork or leadership, special academic research or honors projects
• You may choose to divide your experience into two or more sections. Possible section
headers might include Research Experience, Teaching Experience, Leadership
Experience or Volunteer Experience
Samples of What To Include in each Session

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Additional Information
This section could include computer skills, languages, volunteer work, sports, and
interests. If one of these areas is relevant to the program, however, you may choose
to put it in the “Experience” section. You may also choose to use more specific
section headers such as:
• Skills
• Activities
• Interests
• Honors and Awards
Samples of What To Include in each Session

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Step 3: Look at each experience individually
Problem-Solving/
Reasoning/Creativity
Leadership Skills
Teamwork
Communication
Skills
Planning/
Organizing
Analytical
Skills
> Every program looks for a
specific set of skills from
candidates that match the skills
necessary to perform during and
after the program.
> But beyond these program-
specific technical skills, certain
skills are nearly universally
sought by admissions, such as:
General Skills
What do you want admissions to know about each of your experiences? The
content you focus on depend on the program you are applying for.
Creative layout for key topics

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Use C-A-R to ensure you are communicating your experience
effectively
CONTEXT
• Setting (if not clear in name of organization),
• Who did you work with (team collaborated on and/or population served)
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Overall task/project/goal accomplished
• Relevant skills/methods/tools utilized to accomplish task
RESULTS
• Outcomes of actions (quantify results when possible) - OR -
• Include the purpose or significance of task/project/goal (why did you
do something)
How much information you provide regarding what you did, depends on how relevant
the information is to the program

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C-A-R Examples
Leadership and Teamwork Example
Community Service Student Organization, XXXXX University, 0/0000
• Collaborated with team of student leaders in planning and implementing fundraising event raising $5000 for research
on heart disease in women. Recruited, trained and supervised 20 student volunteers. Coordinated schedules
ensuring coverage for event and established a system of communication to inform volunteers on program updates.
Research Example
Department of Internal Medicine, XXX University, Research Assistant
Advisor: Name, MD
• Investigated the experiences of serious illness in an urban underserved population in XXXX hospital to develop a
new pain management service for vulnerable patients
• Developed study idea, wrote IRB-approved application, conducted interviews, managed data analysis and final
manuscript preparation
• Presentation: Pain Management Interventions in XXXX Conference, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, May 0000

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Management/ Leadership Skills
administered
analyzed
appointed
approved
assigned
attained
authorized
chaired
considered
consolidated
contracted
controlled
converted
coordinated
decided
delegated
developed
directed
eliminated
emphasized
enforced
enhanced
established
executed
generated
handled
headed
hired
hosted
improved
incorporated
increased
initiated
Verbs for Resume Bullets
Communication/ People Skills
addressed
advertised
arbitrated
arranged
articulated
authored
clarified
collaborated
communicated
composed
condensed
conferred
consulted
contacted
conveyed
convinced
corresponded
debated
defined
described
developed
directed
discussed
drafted
edited
elicited
enlisted
explained
expressed
formulated
furnished
incorporated
influenced
Research Skills
analyzed
clarified
collected compared
conducted
critiqued
detected
determined
diagnosed
evaluated
examined
experimented
explored
extracted
formulated
gathered
identified
inspected
interpreted
interviewed
invented
investigated
located
measured
organized
researched
searched
solved
summarized
surveyed
systematized
tested
See Resume Worksheet
for the full list

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• Do know your audience and what is important to them. Incorporate transferable skills and
experiences.
• Do be concise. Remove unnecessary articles (e.g., the, a, an), words and details which clutter the
resume.
• Do make it easy for the reader to understand your career path. Particularly your transition points.
• Do anticipate objections and questions. Do your best to refute or answer them in the resume.
• Do show results (quantitative or qualitative). Include anticipated results or pre-approvals if a project
is not yet finished.
• Do use consistent formatting throughout (e.g. use a period at the end of bullets or don’t – don’t
mix).
• Do limit descriptors and lengthy paragraphs.
• Do describe accomplishments, not responsibilities.
• Do ask for help. Have peers with relevant industry or functional experience review your resume.
• Do let go of things that you are proud of but do not support your case.
• Do stand out and secure an interview by providing a persuasive presentation of the transferable
skills that you possess (as established by prior accomplishments and current interests).
Resume Dos

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• Don’t list everything you have done. Include only what is most relevant for your target audience and the
program you are currently applying.
• Don’t lead with the passive voice, specifically “responsible for” or “responsibilities included” – instead, use the
active voice to focus on your accomplishments and how you achieved or exceeded goals and objectives.
• Don’t include lingo that is irrelevant or unfamiliar to your target audience (e.g., acronyms, names of
scholarships that are not widely recognized or specific months of work experience vs. years). For your graduate
school application resume, assume nothing and spell out every acronym.
• Don’t list specific coursework – unless clearly needed to demonstrate aptitude.
• Don’t use articles (a, an, the, etc.).
• Don’t be afraid of white space (areas without text). If your resume is too dense, it will not be read.
• Don’t emphasize activities and responsibilities that you did not enjoy or do not want to talk about in the
interview.
• Don’t include every past internship/experience (unless each is relevant to your target audience or shows work
history) to avoid large chronological gaps in your resume.
• Don’t include detail that is insignificant to your target audience.
• Don’t force admissions to guess what your former employer does if it is not a well-known organization. Be
helpful by embedding useful details (e.g. Led marketing research for $200M boutique market research firm
specializing in the retail sector).
Resume Don’ts

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> 1 – 2 page
> Use 10-12 font size (for smaller fonts such as Times New Roman
– use 11-12 font size)
> 0.75-1.0 margins (top and bottom margin can be .5)
> Use a font that is easy to read. (Times New Roman, Calibri,
Cambria, Garamond, Helvetica, Arial, etc…)
> Bold, italicize, indent, and/or bullet any content you would like
the reader to notice immediately. (In each section consider
highlighting either the organization and/or the position title so the
reader can immediately see the range of experience you have.)
> In many countries (not the U.S), admissions expect to see a
professional-looking photo on a CV
> Use the school’s template, if available
Step 4: Formatting

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