If you're on the academic job market for the first time, one of the most common early mistakes is treating your CV like a longer resume. It isn't just that the conventions, expectations, and even the goal of the document are genuinely different.
Length is not a weakness here
Unlike an industry resume, an academic CV is expected to be comprehensive. Early-career CVs commonly run 2–4 pages; senior faculty CVs can run much longer. Search committees are reading for a research trajectory, not a highlight reel; cutting content to "keep it to one page" actively works against you.
What belongs on a CV that never belongs on a resume
- Your dissertation title, advisor, and committee members, listed directly under your doctoral degree.
- A full Publications section with real bibliographic citations: author(s), year, title, and an italicized journal or book title, not bullet points pretending to be citations.
- Grants & Fellowships, Teaching Experience, and Conference Presentations as their own distinct sections.
- References listed directly on the document itself, in addition to (or instead of) a separate reference sheet, a long-standing academic norm.
A formatting detail that quietly matters
Keep conference proceedings (formally published) separate from conference presentations (a talk without a formal publication); merging the two is one of the fastest ways to make a CV look padded to an experienced reader.
A CV built the right way, from the start
Our academic CV template includes a short CV (~2 pages, early-career) and a full CV (~3 pages, extended record), with real hanging-indent publication formatting, page-numbered footers, and a letter of application in place of a standard cover letter. Comes with a full guide to citation formatting, job talk prep, and reaching out for unposted postdoc positions. LINK
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