There is no such thing as a perfect CV.

Different hiring managers and different recruiters have different opinions on what they want to see in a CV and how they like it presented. However, if you are applying for an industry job or an academic position, it is widely accepted that the format will be different.

The most important difference is length. Industry CVs should be a maximum of 3 sides, ideally 2. Academic CVs do not have a limit. This is because you put much more information and detail on an academic CV. But don’t let that put you off telling the reader about your technical experience in an industry CV!

In an academic CV you are looking to portray your experience as a researcher and how you fit into the scientific community. You would include details of conferences attended, presentations/posters given, collaborations, grants awarded, and full details of any publications.

In a typical industrial CV, all of these sections would be absent. If you think this kind of experience might be particularly relevant for the job you are applying for, feel free to include some details in a (short) appendix, or have a section stating “List of conference contributions & publications available on request”. Of course, there are certain jobs where you need to showcase certain experience, for example if you’re applying to be a medical writer, you would be silly to not list your publication experience!

If you are looking for a lab-based or technical job in industry, you need to include details of the techniques you’ve used and what you’ve used them for. Many recruiters search for CVs using keywords and/or Boolean searches so think about how ‘searchable’ your CV is. If you’ve used chromatography for example you might want to include what kind of chromatography i.e. HPLC, UPLC, FPLC (AKTA), GC, ICP, TLC etc. to ensure your CV comes up in as many searches as possible. In agencies such as VRS, all our recruiters are scientifically qualified and experienced so we won’t be bamboozled if you start using technical jargon with us. Don’t ‘dumb down’ your CV because you think we might not understand as you may end up underselling yourself and being rejected by the hiring manager!

Hiring managers are usually interested in what you’ve used the technique for, what kind of samples you have analysed and whether you were using a pre-defined protocol or if your work involved developing or adapting methods. This information should be in your CV regardless of whether you’re targeting industry or academic roles. In an industrial CV however, you usually wouldn’t go into much detail on the real-world application of your research or your future plans. Keep your sections succinct and easy to read – bullet points are a good idea.

In addition to your technical and scientific experience, an industrial CV should include more detail on roles or experiences which have contributed to your ‘soft skills’ such as any experience in customer-facing roles or experiences that have developed your team working abilities and/or communication skills. Keep it relevant and succinct though – again, bullet points are a good idea here.

Finally, you don’t need to include your referees on an industrial CV. In an academic CV it may be important to give details of who you’ve worked with and you’ll get kudos from getting a reference from a world-famous research leader. In an industry CV you can save space by simply putting “Referee details available on request” as no-one is going to contact your referees without speaking to you first!

So, in summary, compared to an academic CV, your industry CV will be short and to-the-point, but with enough technical detail that you can pique the interest of anyone reading your CV and demonstrate that you have the skills and experience to fulfill their vacancy.

Please feel free to submit your CV to our website here and give us a call if you’d like to have a confidential chat about your job search.

Good luck!