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    John Guignard said:

    

    First, a comment on:

    Nature Community Guideline 9, headed “No libel or other abuse”, which is sloppily written and partly redundant. It says:

    “You must not make or encourage comments which are:

    • defamatory, false or misleading;

    • insulting, threatening or abusive;

    • obscene or of a sexual nature;

    • offensive, racist, sexist, homophobic or discriminatory against any religions or other groups.”

    The words “sexist, homophobic” in the fourth bullet are surely already covered by “of a sexual nature” in the preceding bullet. Moreover, if words are to be retained which contain a specific admonition against homophobia, then surely, in fairness, heterophobia, which is not uncommonly expressed with more or less subtlety against heterosexuals or the heterosexual community at large by hostile homosexuals or their defenders must also be specified.

    Also in the fourth bullet, “other groups” is much too vague as a catch-all. What does “other groups” include: left-handers; librarians; libertarians; lorry drivers? And the total omission of several other egregious contemporary grounds for discrimination (eg, national origin, age; obesity; physical or mental disability) is surprising.

    The fourth bullet would be better rephrased as follows:

    “Personally offensive; racist; ageist; homophobic; heterophobic; xenophobic; or which discriminate against anybody with regard to their religion, national or regional origin, apparent fitness or disability, perceived social class or economic status.”

    Second. Turning now to your tips on CV-writing, some of these seem to confuse the purposes and composition of CVs and résumés, which documents need to be clearly defined and distinguished. (My CV is 8 pages long, 6 of those pages being a list of scientific publications, reports, presentations and such. Essentially, those 6 pages are a huge appendix to a résumé-length chronological document summarising education, employment and experience. That’s what makes it a curriculum vitae. It does not contain any statement about my goals or aspirations (which may or may not belong in a résumé), previous salaries, fees, grants or other payments, which should be of no interest or business of a scientific interviewer. But my résumé does bring out without harping on it that I’ve had experience in all three of scientific research, teaching and administration.)

    I agree that the less personal information put on the front of a CV or résumé the better (I’ve even received résumés bearing applicants’ telephone numbers, nick-names, and – astonishing in America – Social Security account number, which I immediately advise deleting. But I don’t agree that “it’s no longer necessary to list your postal address on your CV [or résumé]” – because, notwithstanding the best efforts of the late and lamented Steve Jobs, the whole world does not yet communicate electronically; and there is sometimes a need to exchange supplementary or legally signed documentation.

    It hardly seems necessary to say:  “You may be applying for several positions at once, so keep a copy of the job adverts and your applications for reference. It’s often a long time between the time you apply and the time you hear back… You don’t want to look like you don’t remember [what you’ve applied for]." “A long time” is a relative amount. Both as an applicant and as an interviewer I believe in prompt follow-ups by e-mail and, if necessary, by ‘phone or letter – usually within a matter of days or 2-3 weeks at most – to make sure that applications have been received and not rejected or that applicants are still interested and that their circumstances have not changed. Moreover, I’m a great believer in the old-fashioned courtesy of “thank you” letters, for people’s time regardless of the outcome of the application/interview.

    JCG

     

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    Michael Morales said:

    I would like a suggestion on the CV format. Which one would you suggest?
    Thank you

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    nachima khatoon said:

    When one have worked only mainly in lab and trying to make a change to out of the lab within the science- how do they go about writing their CV as its highly technical?

    Many thanks

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    Louis Alfredo said:

    Thanks for sharing this helpful information and can be beneficial for every one in this cooperate world. You have shared great information that how one used to make his own by own and described well about each point that what should be included their after adding a heading in your resume format. But I have not written my CV by my own. I have got written my CV from https://www.thecvexperts.com/ a month ago, And I also found this type of services very much helpful if some buddy is busy and can not able to made his CV by his own.

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    priyanka gupta said:

    will it be appropriate to include the applicants photo in the CV when applying for postdoc? Or else adding picture gives a wrong impression to the employer. need advice in this regard .

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      Julie Gould said:

      Hi Priynka,
      It depends entirely on what type of role you are applying for (industry or academia) and in which country the job will be. More often than not, I would assume that you shouldn’t put a photo on a CV, unless specifically asked/required as part of the application.
      What is often advised is that when you set up a LinkedIn account (an online version of your CV), you should add a professional photo to your profile. When you apply for a job, if the employer is interested in your application, they will search for you online and one of the first things they will see is most likely going to be any social media accounts.
      Best of luck!
      Julie

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    Piers Gillett said:

    I am wondering whether it is appropriate to include completion of online courses on a CV? It is potentially relevant knowledge but the course was free so am I wondering whether it should be included and if so how?

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      Julie Gould said:

      If the course does not provide any certification, then I would suggest leaving it from your CV. Reading informational, non-fiction books also provides knowledge, but you don’t include a list of books on there too.
      Best of luck!

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    shafiqul islam said:

    will it be appropriate to include the applicants photo on the right hand corner in the CV when applying for job?

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    kashif M said:

    This point is valid both to the overall order of your resume, as well as to the individual sections. Most of the times your previous work experience will be the most important part of the resume, so put it at the top. When describing your experiences or skills, list the most important ones first.