Most jobs in the pharmacy profession require three things: a job application, letters of recommendation, and a curriculum vitae (CV). The CV is the best way for an employer to become more familiar with an applicant. Your CV is a detailed, yet concise, record of your accomplishments, including academic records, past places of employment, research history, and involvement with professional organizations. Like stars in the sky, all CVs are different and should be unique to distinguish yourself from others. Also, as time goes on, your CV will continue to change as priorities and experiences change. It’s highly recommended to look over your CV every few months, adding and subtracting stuff as to not fall behind and forget activities that can be utilized.
A CV can include the following:
- Pharmacist Demographics: This includes your name, address, email, and phone number. Make sure that your email is updated as you progress through your career. If your phone has an answering message, make sure it is professional.
- Education: Your education history includes your undergraduate and graduate degree sites and can include a residency if applicable.
- Work Training: Put the names of the organizations that you have worked for here. Include your title, dates worked, and a few job duties that are unique for the position. Include your IPPEs, APPEs, and residency rotations depending on where you are in your career.
- Presentations: This can be broken up into several categories which can include poster presentations, residency presentations, institutional presentations, regional presentations, and national presentations.
- Publications: Include organizational, local, and national publications in newsletters, journals, etc. The publications should be written out in AMA format, as you would see in the reference section of a journal article.
- Leadership: This is the opportunity to highlight your various experiences where you provided leadership. Include distinct positions including president, treasurer, committee chair, and manager.
- Professional Organizations: Since you are reading this article, ASHP would probably go in this section. Include other organizations where you played an active role as a member.
- Honors/Awards: Include scholarships, academic honors/awards, and professional honors/awards.
- Community Service: Include volunteering and services to help others not associated with a professional organizations.
- Licensure/Certifications: State licensure, trainings, and certifications all go under this section. Include items that are unique to you.
If you have more questions or want to have your CV reviewed by a clinical pharmacist, go to CV Review at https://www.ashp.org/pharmacy-student/pharmacy-student-forum/career-development/cv-development. You can find many resources here with more tools to come.
**This post is provided by me as a member of CDAG, but does not necessarily represent the views of the entire CDAG or ASHP.**