Academic CVs that get Noticed

Your CV only serves one purpose – it functions as an interview passport.

Get it right and you’ll be receiving an exciting email inviting you to an interview.

Get it wrong and it’ll end up on the ‘thanks, but no thanks’ pile.

For 8 years I worked as a principle investigator (PI), assessing applicant’s academic CVs to identify the best candidates for my own research group.

Before this I’d been an applicant many times myself. As a postdoc, every few years I needed to apply for new jobs when my funding ran out.

Over the years, I learnt what PIs look for when hiring.

Every faculty I’ve ever worked in, has had its own fair share of hiring disaster stories. Terrible mistakes that some hapless PIs made when taking on someone new in the lab, which ultimately led to calamity. Calamities including bullying, sabotage, scientific fraud, individuals failing to turn up to the lab (ever), theft…you name it…even criminal activity!

As a result, PIs are very attuned in trying to prevent these situations in their own groups, and commonly look for clues in candidate’s CVs to avoid making disastrous hires themselves.

PIs are a sceptical bunch at the best of times, but when it comes to hiring they are uber cautious.

To be in with a chance of getting your CV on the ‘yes’ pile, you need to scatter your application with positive clues.

Here I’m sharing the red flags and green lights that PIs look for in applicants…

CV layout

There are plenty of templates online for you to look at (including my own when you subscribe), so I don’t want to dwell on the layout too much. But briefly, make sure you’ve included the following:

• Personal statement and career summary (keep it brief)
• Education (reverse chronological order)
• Relevant work history (postdoc experience, industrial experience, internships, teaching posts etc.)
• Success metrics in their own sections:
  • Publications
  • Funding
  • Awards/prizes
  • Conference attendance
  • Outreach activities
  • Teaching experience (if not listed in the work experience section)
• Technical/professional skills
• References (at least 2, ideally 3. Make sure at least one is an academic who can comment on your performance as a researcher – previous lab head, project supervisor, course organiser etc.)

Note 1 — If you plan to include a personal interests section, limit the interests you state to one and only include if it demonstrates a skill that you’d like to highlight as a researcher. For example, you might have outside interests that demonstrate resilience (e.g. triathlete), intelligence (e.g. learning multiple languages), or creativity (e.g. abstract painter) etc. It’s perfectly fine not to have a personal interests on an academic CV.

Note 2 — For positions in the US and Europe, there’s no need to include a photo of yourself.

Note 3 — Academic CVs don’t need to be beautifully designed, but they do need to be clear, legible, consistently formatted, and be proof-read (ideally by someone else). Organisational skills can be inferred from a CV’s structure, so take some time to format well and use a logical layout. There is no page limit for academic CVs, but try to keep it as concise as possible, whilst still providing all the relevant information listed above. 2-3 pages is ideal.

What to include in your academic CV

[1] PIs look for an independent thinker rather than just technical experience. Techniques help when there’s a new approach being adopted in a lab, but in general, techniques can be easily picked up by a quick learner.

So aside from listing all your technical prowess, also weave into your application examples that demonstrate your ability to learn fast and think independently.

[2] I looked for people who had a genuine drive and passion for the science we were doing, because this would provide motivation when things failed in the lab (which inevitably at times, they would).

Any CV that could convey an emotional investment in our research always caught my attention.

[3] High productivity was also something I noted. If someone had done well (relative to where they were coming from), their application stood out.

Include as many outputs as possible in your academic CV (including manuscripts in submission, conference proceedings, invited talks, awards and funding).

Judging people based on where they have worked before is rife in academia. However, I always tried to be open-minded and not judge candidates purely on where they had been before, as an indicator of whether they were a good researcher or not.

However if they had been in a world class institution, I would generally expect higher outputs than those who hadn’t been in such excellent surroundings.

[4] Lastly (but by no means least), I heavily weighted applications that demonstrated cultural competence, because the ability for new people to fit in the lab was my most important goal when hiring.

I was searching for subtle clues in the application that could tell me about a person’s character, personality, honesty (scientific integrity is extremely important to PIs), resilience and even sense of humour.

If you can inject a flavour of your own personality (the personal statement and cover letter provide an opportunity to do this), it could mean you’re selected for interview ahead of other candidates with similar credentials.

What NOT to do with your academic CV 

DO NOT: 

• Leave unexplained employment gaps: This is a red flag for potential job dismissals. If you’ve taken a break from academia to look after family members, take on some voluntary work, or travel, this is fine, but ensure you provide explanations for these career breaks.

• Overload the ‘personal interests’ section: As stated above, this section isn’t compulsory, but if you want to include an activity that highlights a particular skill (leadership, resilience, creativity, stamina, organisational skills etc.), it may support your application. Even though having more to your life than just research is important for personal well-being, there is no need to list out all your hobbies and interests to potential employers. At worst this could be misconstrued as having so much going on in your life, you’re unable to provide sufficient focus to your research work.

• Send your CV to multiple members of the same faculty: I’ve seen this on numerous occasions, where applications are sent to multiple PIs who have positions available in very different research fields. Colleagues talk and you don’t want to be seen as desperate. Nor can you covey an interest in a particular field, if you’re fishing for positions, regardless of topic. Exceptions to this are where a team of PIs work on the same topic or use the same techniques to tackle different problems. Or where your application has been forwarded on to other PIs in the same department.

Good References are Essential

A bad recommendation will kill any academic application. Make sure you’ve asked your referee’s permission in advance of submitting their name on an application and keep them informed about what you’ve applied for, so they’re prepared they may be asked for a reference shortly.

It looks suspect if you don’t use your previous supervisor as a referee. This would be a red flag, which a future lab head may try to investigate further by reaching out to this ‘missing’ supervisor.

Therefore, if you’ve had a tense relationship with your previous boss, it’s generally a good idea to try to smooth this out as best you can before leaving their group.

If there’s another reason you’ve not added them as a referee (e.g. they left academia and you can’t locate them), it’s best just to explain this in the cover letter.

PIs want to know two important things from referees:

1. Are you a good researcher (smart, hard worker, self-motivated, knowledgeable etc)?
2. Are you a team player (do you get on with colleagues and have you had a good relationship with your supervisor)?

For me if I got the slightest hint of any of the following traits from a referee, then the candidate would be a ‘no’ for me:

• Arrogant
• Doesn’t get along with others
• Antagonistic with supervisory team
• Overly competitive
• Aggressive
• Self-centred

Therefore, before adding a referee to your CV, be sure they don’t have a bad impression of you that they might otherwise impart to potential employers.

At the Interview

Get the CV right and you will get invited to interviews! So, I just want to provide a few pointers on what PIs look for when meeting applicants:When I was hiring, building rapport with candidates helped. It enabled me to learn about their personal accomplishments within a project and establish their level of expertise according to what they’d stated in the CV.

1. I didn’t necessarily have to like the candidate, but it certainly helped to build rapport. If the conversation flowed, I could more easily assess their character, which (as stated above) was key to establishing their ability to fit in with my research group.

It can be difficult to open up when you’re in the stressful situation of an interview, but try to relax as much as possible and spark up flowing conversation.

If conversation comes easily during an interview, it’s a good indication that you could develop a highly productive working relationship with a supervisor, as you can communicate easily with them.

2. I didn’t rely on my gut feeling to assess if candidates would get on well with the lab group. I let the lab decide.

I’d send my group for lunch (without me) with prospective applicants and obtain their opinions afterwards.

This practice is fairly common, so you need to be prepared to have to impress the research group as well as the PI.

It’s also a fantastic opportunity to learn how the prospective lab head functions as a supervisor, and if they’d be compatible with your working style.

3. Finally, PIs want to hire ambitious, highly-motivated researchers and will therefore ask about your career aims.

Even if you’re unsure, it’s unwise to be vague. If you state that you’d like to be an academic, generally PIs feel most comfortable with this answer.

In Summary: 

• Present your academic CV in a concise and easy-to-read layout 

• Positive references are essential 

• PIs look for specific clues in applicant’s CVs when shortlisting candidates: 

• Green lights: Independent thinking, fast learning, passion for science, drive, high productivity, and team work 

• Red flags: Unexplained employment gaps, too many irrelevant personal interests, CVs sent to every faculty member at the same institution, bad recommendations

• Impress at interviews by: Building rapport, getting on well with the research group and demonstrating ambition within academia 

Agree with the above? Hit reply or drop a note in the comments box if you think there’s something additional that should be stated in an academic CV.

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