An academic CV is not a job CV

The CV that got you an internship is the wrong document for a graduate application. Different reader, different question, different order.

A job CV answers: can this person do the role? An academic CV answers: is this person prepared for study and research at this level?

What moves up:

Education, at the top, with detail — thesis title, supervisor, relevant coursework, grades if they help.

Research experience, however small. A final-year project counts. An undergraduate assistantship counts. Describe the problem and your contribution, not the topic in the abstract.

Publications, posters, preprints — anything with a citation. If you have none, no section; an empty heading draws attention to the absence.

Technical skills, specific and honest. “Python, PyTorch, SQL” beats “programming languages”. Don’t list something you couldn’t answer a question about.

What moves down or comes off:

Unrelated employment — one line each, or a single grouped line. Two years of retail while studying is worth a line for the timeline, not a bullet list of responsibilities.

School results — usually irrelevant once you have a degree, unless your system makes them significant.

“References available on request” — everyone knows.

Personal details — date of birth, marital status, a photograph. Common in some regions, and in many application systems it’s unnecessary at best.

Soft-skill lists — “team player, hardworking, quick learner”. Post 15’s point: unverifiable and universal.

Two structural things:

Length. Two pages is normal for an academic CV. One is fine early on. Padding to reach a number is visible.

Reverse chronological, and consistent. Most recent first in every section. Dates in the same format throughout. It’s scanned quickly — post 12 — so make the scan easy.

The test: could someone tell in ten seconds what you studied, what you’ve built, and what you can do?