A curriculum vita is a written description of your work experience, educational background, and skills. A curriculum vita is also commonly referred to as a CV. A curriculum vitae is similar to a resume, the biggest difference is that it contains more details. In places other than the United States and Australia, you would use a curriculum vita to look for work rather than a resume. In the United States a curriculum vitae is primarily used to apply for academic, scientific or research jobs. It can also be used to apply for fellowships and grants.

Here are some tips to keep in minding when writing your curriculum vitae.

Tip one:
Have several versions of your curriculum on hand. Do not write just one curriculum vita and use it for every position that you apply for. You do not need to write separate curriculum vitae for each job position; however, you do want to have a few different targeted and focused versions on hand. This will enable you to choose the curriculum vita that is the best fit for the job position.

Tip two:
Do not include a photo of yourself, your salary history, the reason you left your previous job or your references in your curriculum vitae. If any of these things are needed your potential employer can ask for them later. You should have a list of references listed separately so that you can give them to employers upon request.

Tip three:
Proofread your curriculum vitae. You want to double check for any typos and grammatical errors your self. After you have gone through it a few times, ask somebody else to review it for you. This is because it is often hard for us to catch our own mistakes, so be sure to use spell check and the grammar check tools with your word processing program. Double-check that you have used the correct format for the curriculum and have somebody else look at it. Ask them to look to see if there is plenty of white space and no clutter. You are looking to see if your formatting is consistent, such as spacing between sentences. You also want to make sure that your curriculum vita is providing your potential employers with a professional and polished overall picture.

Tip four:
Although curriculum vitae are supposed to be more detailed than a resume you still want to keep it as short as possible, you should have at a minimum two pages. When writing your curriculum vitae include summaries of your employment and education, rather than a lot of details. Make sure that you use formal language, no slang, or abbreviations. It should also be well written, using writing that is clear and simple.

Tip five:
No matter how tempting it is, and it can be very tempting, never lie on your curriculum vitae. You do not want to make your educational qualifications or work history sound better than they are because it will always come back to haunt you. The reason for this is that most employers will perform a reference and background check on your history and if it does not match your curriculum vitae, you will be caught. When you are caught will depend on when they do the reference and background checks, but at the very least, you will not get the job, if you already have the job you will end up being fired.

Tip six:
Look at writing your curriculum vita from an employer's point of view. Include what you would want to know about potential employees. Include information that would make you stand out from the other candidates. Also, think about what an employer would want to see to call you back in for a possible job. Just do not embellish any of the details to get your foot in the door.

Tip seven:
Your curriculum vita is what makes the first impression for you. This is going to either get you a call back for an interview or not. Do not turn in something that is scribbled on a piece of paper or that is updated with a piece of paper stapled to it. Take the time necessary to prepare an updated curriculum vita that will impress your potential employer enough to make them want to talk to you in length. You want your curriculum vita to be prepared as carefully as possible because it is going to be in direct competition with others.

Tip eight:
Do not run your curriculum vita through a copy machine because it will end up coming out in shades of grey. Instead, print off a fresh copy of your curriculum vita for every person you need to give it to. If you use a typewriter, which is black ink on white paper, you might be able to reproduce a sharp copy on a copy machine. Double check to ensure this is right before running off numerous copies. You can also type the document at home on your computer and send it to an office supply store to be printed.

Tip nine:
Center the first heading at the top of the page. This heading should include your full name that you wish to go by, your degree, address, phone number, and board status. Even if you do not wish to reveal your address and phone number you should do so on your curriculum vita because it is the main way potential employers will get in touch with you, and it is more professional.

Tip ten:
Outline your curriculum vita logically. Directly after your contact information you should list your education, starting with your highest degree and working down. Some people will tell you to include any honors that you received or other embellishments that would make you look good, while others will tell you to leave them out. This is up to you, if you think it would help you land an interview include it, if not leave it out. Never include your high school information because it is not relevant to a job that you are applying for 20 years later, even if you did graduate top of your class.

Tip eleven:
Always follow chronological order when writing a curriculum vita. You should be able to account for all of the time since you graduated with your highest degree. Even if you did not work and went on vacation for a period, you will want to account for it. You do not need to include those details but you want to give some kind of account, such as personal leave or sabbatical. If you leave a gap, many employers will think that you are trying to hide something, so it is best not to leave any gaps. You can always provide them with details later on during the interview.

Tip twelve:
If you have many published papers for your experience rather than listing all of them individually you can include the number of papers you have published, the years that they were published, and a note saying "citations furnished on request." Most employers are not going to want to see a long list of published work, and it will end up adding on to your curriculum vita, which should be as brief as possible, preferably no more than three pages.

Tip thirteen:
Keep everything in your curriculum vita relevant to the position that you are applying for. Do not include a narrative of your life. Also, do not include any hobbies, athletic achievements, military experience (you can include the dates of your service, if you wish). If you do want to include this kind of stuff, try to work it into your cover letter, as long as it pertains to why you want to work in the position that you are applying for.

Here is a look at some of the most common categories and details that should be included in a curriculum vita.

Personal/Contact Information

• Name
• Address
• Phone number
• Email

Academic Background

• Postgraduate work
• Graduate work/degree(s), majors and minors, thesis or dissertation titles
• Undergraduate degree(s), majors and minors

Professional Licenses/Certifications

Academic/Teaching Experience

• Courses taught
• Courses introduced
• New findings in teaching, what you contributed
• Teaching evaluations

Technical and Specialized Skills

Related/Other Experience

• Other work experience that might be relevant

Professional/Academic Honors and Awards

Professional Development

• Conferences attended
• Workshops attended
• Other activities, such as training

Research/Scholarly Activities

• Journal articles
• Conference proceedings
• Books
• Chapters in books
• Magazine articles
• Papers presented
• Workshops
• Online magazine articles
• Work you have recently submitted
• Work in progress

Grants

Service

• Academic
• Professional
• Community

Academic/Research Interests

Affiliations/Memberships

Foreign Language Abilities/Skills

Consulting

Volunteer Work

References

Include the phrase "Available Upon Request"

Remember the details that you include in your curriculum vita are going to depend on the job position that you are applying for.  Just because the categories are included, in the format that you have chosen does not mean that you have to fill in that category. If something does not apply to your simply omit it from your curriculum vita. This will ensure that your curriculum vita is clear and concise.