Use These Professor CV Examples to Write Your Own

Updated June 18, 20221.4k

A professor resume or CV will help you get hired for a higher education position. Here’s how to create a CV that accurately showcases all of your educator experience.

Professor CV Example

If you’re interested in becoming a teacher in higher education, there are many ways to do so. A professor CV can be an important part of getting your next higher education job. A CV, which stands for curriculum vitae, is often used instead of a resume, especially in academic circles. If you’re entering a job search as a professor, here are some points to keep in mind.

Jobs That Can Use a Professor CV

Although applicants to a professor position can certainly benefit from this type of resume, there are many other positions that can also use this resume. Here are a few:

Assistant professor
Mentoring jobs
Teaching assistant
Community college teacher
Research assistant

Generally, any faculty member of a college can benefit from a professor CV.

Structure of a Professor CV

Here are the sections that recruiters are looking for when they read through your CV.

Resume summary

At the top of your resume, you’ll use a resume summary. This is a short 2-3 sentence paragraph that highlights your most significant skills and achievements. A professor CV may include your research interests and previous experience in academia. The idea is that you want to give hiring manager a strong impression of your strengths in one short paragraph.

Skills

The specific skills you cite for your experience will vary depending on the actual job description and coursework you’ll be doing. You might want to check out CV samples for the specific job you’re applying for. There are hundreds of professor CVs at ResumeHelp, so you can find a CV template that fits your needs.

Work experience

Highlighting years of experience can be an important part of applying for a professor job. Many jobs may be considered relevant experience, including research positions, other teaching positions, and even doctoral research that you did to get your degree. Remember to list your experience in reverse-chronological order so your most relevant experience is listed first.

Education

Your education section should include all the higher education you’ve been through. Additionally, if you’ve had teacher training, you can include that information here. Research grants and fellowships can also go in your education section, although you may want to highlight them in a separate section if you have more than a few.

Certifications and awards

If you have certifications and awards in your field, you can put them here. You can also list professional memberships that are common in your field.

Professor CV Examples You Can Use

One of the best resume tips is to look at CV examples before you write your own. This way, you’ll be able to understand more about how other people write an academic CV. ResumeHelp has a wide variety of CVs that you can use to create a great resume or CV of your own. Look through the examples available to get tips on writing your resume, including word choice and methods of discussing your experience.

Tips for Creating Your Professor CV

Here are some additional tips to consider when writing your professor CV:

Discuss a wide range of professional experiences – this could include research experience, academic experience, and even mentorship experience.
Tailor your resume to the specific job you’re applying for. Look over the job posting, pick out skills and qualifications that match your own, and use them in your resume.
Avoid using jargon for the sake of jargon in your resume. You don’t have to “dumb down” your information, but be aware that search committee members may not hold the same degrees you do, or have the same academic knowledge.

FAQ: Professor CV Example

Do I need to submit a cover letter with professor CVs?

It’s always good to submit a cover letter when you’re writing a CV, and that includes professor CVs. Your teaching experience may not look very interesting or unique on your CV, but a cover letter allows you to talk about why that experience has been so useful for your students and helped the colleges you’ve worked with. Use the ResumeHelp cover letter builder to help you write your cover letters.

Can I get a professor job with no experience?

To become a professor, you need to have experience. However, the experience of a professor job is unique because you often don’t need to have as much experience teaching as you do in the field itself. Of course, teaching education can be helpful, as it will help you write a syllabus, explain information to your students, and create research projects that make sense for your students, but much of your experience will simply be doing what you’re going to teach other people to do.

Is it a good idea to change up my professor CV for every job posting?

Keywords are an important part of writing a CV, and these keywords change depending on the job application you’re submitting to. That’s why it’s such a good idea to change up your professor resume every time you apply for a new job. No two applications should be the same, and resume keywords will help you present an image of yourself that the search committee wants to see.

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About The Author

Cindi Cervone Carlson

Cindi Cervone Carlson is a Senior Vice President for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Cindi is responsible for developing, delivering, and implementing a dynamic, world-class organization dedicated to delivering outplacement consulting, training, support, and executive coaching. Cindi started her career at Challenger as a client who had lost her job. Over the past nine years, she has risen from an entry-level, part-time professional to Senior Vice President.