Academic CVs to Industry Resume

CVs are centered on you as an academic and researcher; resumes are a broader category of documents that showcase how you fit one specific role, no matter the field.

CVs are a comprehensive list of your accomplishments and experience from the perspective of one, very specific field – higher education (and, more broadly, research). You can think of CVs as the academic version of a resume. They are organized in a way that makes sense to those oriented toward the priorities of academia and research. As research, publishing, teaching and service are the primary responsibilities of academics, those are the building blocks of a CV. CVs take into account the type of institution one is applying to, but tailoring tends to involve rearranging the same information; with resumes, some information may be left off altogether.

Resumes, on the other hand, are used for every field from marketing to manufacturing to management. Therefore, to understand what you’ll need to include, you must start with the job description and see your resume as a piece of marketing material (brief, targeted, essential information-only) to appeal to the audience who posted that job ad. You need to filter your experience through that lens; what experiences, accomplishments and, most of all, demonstrated skill sets are they looking for? For more information on reading the job ad to understand what you should include in your resume, check out the section below called “Decide how to tailor your resume: Mine the job ad.”

Chronologically list all past positions you have held (paid and unpaid). Include the position name, company/organization/department, location and date range during which you were in that role. You have a good start here working from your CV. Add any additional positions you have had beyond what you have included in your CV. It is appropriate to include positions held in undergraduate years if they were roles that may be relevant to the type of work you want to pursue now. Do not include experience during high school. Additionally, positions from more than 12-15 years ago should not be included unless they are extremely relevant to the field you are planning to enter.

Under each role, list all responsibilities related to that role. Choose the responsibilities from your list that are of highest relevance to the opportunities to which you are applying and focus on building those out.

For your prioritized responsibilities, list any achievements related to those responsibilities, quantify those achievements where possible (e.g. number of people you led, number of classes you taught, amount of funding raised, percentage of efficiency/income gained, number of publications produced, size of event planned, etc.)

This information will become the most important content in your resume and having it all in one document will make tailoring easier as you build a library of “evidence” of your contributions.

One of the most noticeable differences between a CV and resume is the length. While CVs work to demonstrate a both a depth and breadth of experience in academic pursuits and grows with your experience, a resume must be packed with only the most relevant, current experience and skillsets important for the exact job to which you are applying – again, think of it as marketing material (where brevity and relevance of information are of utmost importance).

• Keep your formatting consistent to quickly “train” the reader to find the information they are looking for.
• Limit to two pages maximum – front and back of one sheet, even if you have extensive experience.
• Use short phrases/fragments and eliminate unneeded articles. No full sentences. No pronouns (e.g. I, me).
• Match tense to current involvement with the role or project.
• Use bullet points to describe experiences and organize lists.
• Arrange sections in order of relevance to the role – those most relevant should be closer to the top of the document.

• Focus on skills.
• Keep your readers in mind: ATS (algorithm looking for key terms), HR (generalist), departmental manager (field expertise, most likely).
• Remove information that doesn’t pertain to the job.
• Have someone else (non-expert, non-academic) proofread to make sure your descriptions are adequately accessible.
• References in a separate document.

Include your title, the organization, location and the dates during which you were involved with that experience.

Example: Teaching Assistant, University of Colorado Boulder – English Dept., Boulder, CO 2021-2023

This becomes your position heading. Describe your experience in a bulleted list under your position heading. When possible, emphasize experiences with accomplishments instead of just making a list of job duties.

Another significant consideration when listing your experience on a resume is the fact that many (if not most) of the people/software reading your resume will not have done academic research, publishing or teaching. When writing to an academic audience, you can safely assume your audience at least generally understands what is involved in doing the common types of work in academia (what being a “research assistant” or “teaching assistant” means or the steps it takes to get a paper published or win a grant). That isn’t so outside of academia. Therefore, instead of simply listing positions you’ve held, you need to explain in terms relevant to the desired position what you accomplished in that previous role, what skill sets you used and how you made an impact. That’s where the bullet points come in.

Minimum and preferred qualifications tell you which skills and experience you need to highlight in your resume and cover letter. They are also your main hints for which keywords your document will be scanned for. Include relevant skills in your job descriptions and skills sections as appropriate. Always address each minimum qualification (esp. in government applications. If you don’t mention it, the reader cannot assume or infer that you have it.).

Job responsibilities will inform what your experience headings should be called. To highlight relevant experience, summarize the 2-3 areas of largest responsibility in the role and organize your experience under those headings, translating transferable skills in your bullet points into terms that make sense for those areas.

The company description will give you clues about how the company sees their impact in the marketplace and their culture. These elements can help you decide what tone to use in your cover letter and may indicate elements of the company’s identity that compel you to work with them. Those details are also important to mention in your cover letter to stand out from others who are submitting form letters.

You’ll need to spend some time deconstructing the projects you have completed and the roles you have held to identify various skill sets gained through your academic work. You have already begun this process if you began by creating a base resume. This process can be used for two purposes: deciding what types of work to look for and creating a skills section in your resume.

• Choose one position you have held and consider what roles you played within that position.
• Choose one role. What were your responsibilities and accomplishments connected to that role?
• Choose one responsibility. What skills did you use (or are you developing) through performing that responsibility? For example:
  • processes and procedures
  • software, modeling, coding
  • data analysis
  • project management
  • hiring, supervision
  • communication
• Identify all skills and your level of proficiency, then choose relevant skills for the role