CV guides

Start here

If you are not sure whether you need a CV at all, begin with which document do you need, which sorts out resume, CV, biodata and prescribed forms in a minute, and then what a CV is. For most private-sector jobs the answer is a one-page resume, and our neighbour resume.shareyourgroup.com is the place for that.

If you do need the long document, read the guide for your field. Teachers and researchers should read academic CV and then publications, which is the section committees read most closely. Students applying for higher degrees should read CV for study abroad; most of it applies to applications within India as well. Managers and specialists with long careers should read senior professional CV.

Reference pages

CV sections lists every heading in common use, what goes under it and who needs it, with a suggested order for four kinds of CV. Length and layout deals with what makes a many-page document easy to use: running headers, page numbers, aligned dates, numbering. Referees explains whom to ask, how to ask, and how to list them.

What these guides do not do

They do not reproduce the regulations, score sheets or application forms of any university, commission or council. Those are issued by the bodies themselves and change from year to year. Use the body's own current documents, and use your CV as the source of facts for filling them in.

See it applied

The sample CVs show four complete documents with notes: an assistant professor applicant, a PhD applicant, a doctor and a senior manager.

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.