As someone who didn’t have industry rotations or any relevant experience during pharmacy school, I realized how hard it can be to format an industry fellowship CV. I am sharing tips and advice that I have learned from fellows and webinars, which helped propel me into the interview process.

Format

Everyone’s CV is going to look different. Whatever template you go with, make sure it looks professional and clean.

A CV should be ideally 2-3 pages. (A lot of my peers pursuing residency had 5+ pages in their CVs. That is not what you want to do for a fellowship CV.) Margins should be equal on all four sides (~1 inch). Use a common and easy-to-read font.

Header

  • first and last name
  • professional email, phone number, and LinkedIn profile (or address)

Footer

  • last name and page number

1st Page

  • education
  • relevant experience (work/industry rotations)

2nd Page

  • research (I bumped this up to page 1 because I didn’t have industry experience)
  • leadership
  • publications & presentations

3rd Page

  • teaching
  • awards/honors
  • certifications or specialized training

This is a generalized format. You don’t need to have those sections within those particular pages, but try to keep them in that order. You’ll have to decide how to organize your sections in terms of relevance and importance.

General CV Tips

  • Any little detail you add to your CV is fair game to be asked about in an interview
  • Start your bullet points with active verbs in past-tense (presented, developed, created…) and avoid pronouns (I, me…)
  • Your bullet points should describe the value or impact that you have contributed, not just a list of responsibilities
  • Add metrics to your bullet points
  • Remove certifications irrelevant to industry (like BLS and immunization delivery)
  • Be strategic with how you space things out so that your sections or bullet points don’t get cut off in between pages
  • Your CV is going to have similar experiences as all the other pharmacy students, so a professional summary in your header isn’t necessary
  • If you have in-person interviews, your CV copies should be printed 1-sided

I recommend having someone else look over your fellowship CV before submission, as this is your main ticket to proceeding into the interview process.