Curriculum Vitae
Having a resume is a requirement for almost all applications. Applying for an internship will also look much more professional if you include one.
Content
A curriculum vitae (CV), or resume, must contain the following information:
- Contact information (full name, address, email address, phone number);
- Formal education + degrees obtained (including high school);
- Work experience (including part-time work).
I also recommend adding the following, if applicable:
- Voluntary work experience (e.g. voluntary internship or substantial committee work);
- Personal profile (dedicate a small section of your CV to describe yourself);
- Language proficiency (including relevant tests if taken);
- Computer skills (e.g. Microsoft Office, Photoshop, statistical software);
- Certificates (e.g. language course, masterclass);
- Interests (e.g. sports, hobbies);
- Other (any relevant experience not listed above).
Structure
A few rules will make it easier for recruiters and other addressees to see in one quick glance who you are and what relevant experience you have:
- Write experiences anti-chronologically (most recent experience first);
- Show the most relevant experiences to what you’re applying for first;
(To do this while maintaining anti-chronological order, simply rearrange the headers for education, work, voluntary work and/or internships.)
- Your personal profile should be on the first page.
Every year there are questions about the personal profile. Take it from a recruiter with 7 years of experience (Dr. Huijskens): A few sentences describing yourself are helpful and can discern you from the many other applicants. It doesn’t look silly, or unprofessional. If you missed the meeting, or want a quick recap of what a personal profile looks like, please watch the videos on Brightspace.
There are also plenty of templates you can find online, or you can use mine as an example. When using templates, keep in mind what the intended audience is: Colorfully decorated templates can come across as unprofessional to some, while matter-of-fact, black-and-white templates may come across as boring to others. For an internship in science communication, the former may be appropriate, whereas a job in medical biology might favor the latter.
Assignment 4
There will be a meeting on how to make a good looking CV organized by Dr. Ilse Huijskens of the Science Career Service. Based on this meeting, create your CV and personal profile.
Did you obtain your propedeuse? Then include that under “Education”. This is a relevant degree and it shows your commitment to completing the program.
If you think you don’t have a lot to write down, then dedicate more space to your interests, your personal profile and what you intend to do (e.g., a minor you want to enroll for). For example, if I see a student is interested in statistics/machine learning/data science, then I may consider them for an internship, even if they do not have the relevant experience yet. Also, let this be a wake-up call: Of course, you are only a second year student with at best a propedeuse degree. But you could apply for a job as a student assistant, work an administrative job at a pharmaceutical company, apply as a volunteer, join a student committee, take a language course, etc. You have to find ways to distinguish yourself from the 100+ other second year biology students at Leiden University.
Upload your resume with personal profile to Brightspace as a Word or PDF file. Include your full name and student number. Deadline: 3 December