Getting Your CV into Shape for a PhD Application Part II

#4. Never, ever, under any circumstances, tell a falsehood.

Providing false information on your curriculum vitae is not just unethical but also ineffective. Remember that you will hopefully be sitting in an interview room with the person who reads your curriculum vitae, and at least some of the questions will revolve around the information that is included in it. If you lie on your curriculum vitae, you could be in for a very uncomfortable situation. Believe me when I say that if you have to admit that you lied on your resume, there is no going back from that mistake!

The urban legend that holds a special place in my heart is the one about the young job seeker who lied on his application by claiming to be able to speak Portuguese fluently, despite the fact that he had absolutely no knowledge of any foreign language. Unfortuitously, one of his interviewers was Brazilian and believed that having a little conversation in Portuguese would be a fun way to break the ice. This led to some awkward moments during the interview. It should go without saying that the aforementioned interview did not go well.

#5. However, you should show oneself in the most positive light possible.

After it has been established that you must never, ever lie, it is completely OK to convey genuine facts in the most compelling manner imaginable.

You have the option to only mention your total mark for the year, or your final degree classification, if, for instance, you obtained an extremely poor grade in one of your modules. It is absolutely OK to choose not to bring attention to a specific facet of your time spent at university, even though the majority of PhD courses will require transcripts regardless of how you spent your time there.

In a similar vein, if you have a hole in your curriculum vitae, you should make an effort to fill it by participating in an extracurricular activity or two. During your time away from work, were you, for example, helping out at a local animal shelter, participating in a local choir, or perhaps writing for a blog? Even while interviewers will undoubtedly notice that there was a break in either your full-time education or employment history, it may be good to have something to cover the gap in order to divert attention away from the fact that there was a break.

#6 Make sure it's still relevant.

If you give your extracurricular activities too much attention, it will draw attention away from the accomplishments that are more significant to the position you are applying for. This is true even though it is crucial to demonstrate that you are a well-rounded and intriguing person.

Try to condense all of your athletic accomplishments into one or maybe two lines of text if you are applying to a PhD programme in applied chemistry and have competed at a high level in a sport while you were in school or at university. For instance, if you have been active in high-level competitive sport while you were in school or at university, you should try to do this. Because of this, you will have more room to offer a description of the research projects that you have completed in the past, which is unquestionably going to be more fascinating to the individuals working in the Applied Chemistry Department. Naturally, if you were to submit an application for a doctorate in Sports Science, your athletic accomplishments might actually be directly related to your line of work. As a result, they would be deserving of more space and consideration in your application.