All About the Resume – Part 2: Make It Easy for Professors Select You

Why the Resume is Different from a Bio Data or a CV – and Why It Should Stay that Way

Note that the resume is different from a bio data or a curriculum vitae (CV) in several respects: whereas bio datas and CVs are all-inclusive, data bank-like documents written in chronological order, resumes are compact, focused documents written in reverse chronological order that highlight only the most relevant and important information for course (or post) being applied for. So, don’t turn your resume into a Bio Data or CV – that would defeat the very purpose of the document.

Your resume should contain only the relevant information because professors are busy people who are hard pressed for time: if you bury the information they need in a sea of irrelevancies they might lose interest – and you might lose a position they might otherwise have awarded you. In other words, don’t hide the information that tells them that you are the candidate that they are looking for: make sure that when they see your resume they can’t miss it.

But don’t stop there. Make sure that the most important facts are what they see first. That’s the great thing about the resume format. The information is written in reverse order which automatically highlights the most important information, since usually the most important things are usually the ones that you have done most recently. It makes it easy for them to select you!

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