CV checklist before you submit

23 checks for a full curriculum vitae. Open your CV beside this page and tick each line only after looking.

Untick all

How a CV goes wrong

A long CV rarely fails for lack of achievement. It fails on small things that make a committee doubt the rest: a degree year that does not match the certificate, a paper listed as published that is still under review, two dates that overlap, a publication counted twice. Selection committees and screening staff check documents line by line, and a single inconsistency can cost marks or raise a question at interview. The checks below are grouped in the order a careful reader would apply them: are the facts right, is the scholarly record honestly presented, can things be found, does the document fit this application, and is the file itself in order.

Do the first group with your certificates and appointment letters physically in front of you. Memory is not good enough for years and percentages.

Facts

• Every date, degree title and grade matches my certificates.
• The nature of each appointment (regular, temporary, guest) is stated.
• Nothing is described as published, awarded or completed unless it is.
• My registration or eligibility details are exact, with number and year where they have one.

Publications and presentations

• Entries are grouped by type and numbered.
• One citation style is used throughout.
• Authors appear in the published order.
• Work in press, under review and in preparation is in separate, labelled groups.
• Counts in any summary line agree with the list.

Order and layout

• The first page shows my present post, contact details and education.
• Sections are in the order this reader cares about.
• My name and "page x of y" are on every page after the first.
• One typeface, 11 or 12 point, generous margins.
• Dates are in one form with months written out.
• No heading is stranded at the foot of a page.

Fit for this application

• I have read the advertisement or instructions again today.
• If a form, proforma or page limit is prescribed, I have followed it.
• Personal details follow what this institution or country expects, no more.
• My referees have agreed, and I have sent them my CV and the deadline.

Sending

• The file is a text PDF named with my name and "CV".
• I printed it once and read it on paper.
• A colleague or teacher has read it.
• I have kept the exact version sent, with the date.

If you could not tick a line

• Publications: see how to list publications.
• Order of sections: see CV sections and academic CV.
• Layout, page numbers and dates: see length and layout.
• Referees: see referees.
• Personal details abroad: see CV by country.

Keep the evidence together

For every line of a CV there should be a document: a degree certificate, an appointment letter, the first page of a paper, an acceptance letter, a sanction order, a participation certificate. Keep scans in one folder, named and ordered like the CV. When an application asks for "self-attested copies of all testimonials", the work is then ten minutes instead of two days.

Questions people ask

CV guides

General guidance. This page gives general suggestions, reviewed in November 2026. If an institution, employer or country gives its own form, format or instruction, follow that. Every person, institution and publication in our examples is invented. Nothing here is legal, immigration or professional advice.