How to design your CV: A Comprehensive Guide with Actionable Tips : The Mindful Surgeon

In a  competitive job market, a well-crafted curriculum vitae (CV) can make all the difference in landing your dream job. But just how long should your CV be? How should you design it? Let's dive into the details and provide you with some actionable tips to create a standout CV.

1.      Format:

Prepare 2 types of CVs.  Most advise to aim for a  CV that spans around two to three sides of A4 paper, citing your most notable and recent accomplishments. Another one is a bit more detailed but try to keep it as concise as possible.  Academic CVs may be longer due to the inclusion of research and publications.

·        Use fonts like Times New Roma or Calibri using a 10 or 11 font size.

·        Have a Heading and sub-heading for each section. Each heading needs to be clearly placed in the paragraph.

·        All the information should be summarized in a bullet point pattern.

·        Information such as qualifications, projects, and publications should be placed in chronological order, recent being first.

·        Use tables to organize all the information and then make the borders invisible so that it appears neat to look at.

2.      Mandatory Information:   Every CV should include certain mandatory information, which is usually listed in the beginning :

·        Personal details ( Full name, date of birth, nationality)

·        Medical Council registration

·        Address

·        Passport information if your nationality is different.

·        Relevant associations and memberships

·        Picture – passport size, professional, simple picture. Remember this is for a job interview, not an Instagram account.

·        Social media links- You can link your social media account like LinkedIn or X (formally Twitter). It is better not to use your personal or Facebook account.

3.      Structuring Your CV: Organize your CV with the following sections:

·        Current Employment

·        Career or employment history (chronological order, present to past. Include any gaps, time period, and reason )

·        Education and qualifications

·        Awards (list chronologically)

·        Courses, meetings, and conferences attended ( Only the recent and significant ones in terms of conferences)

·        Clinical Skills

·        Publications and research

·        Presentations

·        Audit and quality improvement project

·        Teaching experience

·        Leadership

·        Summary of logbook with level of competence ( If you are a surgeon)

4.      Highlight Your Experience:  Start your CV with your most recent job and work backward chronologically. Include location, grade, and specialty for each position, emphasizing the most relevant experience. You can drop one line or two ( preferably in bullet points), regarding what did you accomplish in that period. For example: “In my role as a house officer in Urology, I learned to manage urology conditions including emergencies”. “ Working in a busy trauma center, I learned not only how to manage trauma emergencies, but also gained valuable skills as team leader, coordinating between different departments to deliver patient care”. This is where you showcase the skills you have learned from your previous job, that are required for your current job.

5.      Clinical Skills:    Consider adding a section on "Clinical Skills" if it's relevant to your specialty. It can be added here or later in the CV.  In the surgical specialty, it is expected that you will have a summary of cases you have performed with a level of competence. This can be for chest drain insertion to perform the operation. It is helpful if you mention whether you have performed them by yourself or whether you have assisted in those operations only.

6.      Qualifications and Awards:   List your qualifications starting with the most recent. If you are using post-nominals like MRCS, or FRCS, then make sure your membership fee is paid up to date. Highlight the educational institution and year of qualification. When listing awards, do so chronologically and emphasize those most relevant to the position you're applying for.

7.      Research and Publications: List your publications as they appear in journals. Include the names of all authors, with your name in bold if there are multiple authors. Add the title of the published entry, journal, year, pages, and PubMed identifier (PMID) number. If you have anything accepted or being reviewed, you can mention that too. If you do not have any publications yet, then instead of leaving them blank, you can mention any courses you did relevant courses, or if it is something that you are working on. If you have taken part in any research project or done any courses in methodology, you can also mention that as it shows your interest in this area, and you want to build on it in the future.

8.      Audit and Quality Improvement Work:  Outline your involvement in quality improvement work. Mention the year, type of audit, location, and the number of patients involved. Summarize what you assessed, your specific role and what was the outcome. If you conducted a re-audit, highlight the resulting changes or outcomes. You can divide them into regional, national, and international collaborative.  

If you are coming from overseas and do not have much experience in it, then this is something you can address by saying that you are looking forward to gaining experience in these topics in your future job. If you have done any courses, mention that, as it shows you are interested. If you want to do audits in your native country and get a head start, my article Power of Clinical Audit.

9.      Teaching Experience: As you progress, teaching will become more significant. Detail the range of teaching you provide, the settings, and the audience (one-to-one, group, or large-scale teaching). Explain how you monitor and evaluate the success of your teaching. This is the easiest portfolio to build up. If you are looking for ideas to build up your teaching experience, read my previous article How to Build Your Teaching Portfolio

10.  Leadership: Demonstrate your leadership experience and skills by citing any leadership roles you have undertaken in healthcare. You can find examples of clinical leadership roles in the article Building Blocks to the Road to Clinical Leadership.

11.  Personal Interests:  While not mandatory, including your interests outside clinical practice can reveal your personality and provide insights into you as a person and a doctor.

12.  References: You have two options for presenting your references:

·        State that your references are "available upon request."

·        Provide referees, typically your current and a previous employer. Include their names, job titles, and accurate contact details ( phone and email). The referee should be someone you have worked with for more than 3 months in the last 2 years. Choose someone, who checks their email regularly.

In conclusion, crafting the perfect CV requires careful consideration and attention to detail. Follow these action points to create a compelling CV that sets you apart in your job search. Remember, your CV is your ticket to securing that coveted position, so make it count. Good luck!