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Careers, Employability and Enterprise Centre

Academic Applications

There are significant differences between what a university department expects in an application for an academic post, and what most other employers expect. These can be summarised as follows:

Your CV

It is usually good practice not to exceed two sides of A4 paper. For an academic post however it is okay to exceed this limit, provided you remember that the primary interest is in the specific details of your recent academic studies and research. Emphasise these, but do not forget that other skills (teaching, administration, project planning and budget management) will also be of interest.

Other supporting information

For non-academic posts your CV is likely to be accompanied only by your letter of application and (possibly) the contact details of your referees. For academic posts you will need to provide not only these, but also a list of publications, of conferences attended, grants awarded, and even a (single page) summary of your area of research, especially if it is unpublished.

Referees

For academic posts it is likely all your referees will be academics working in your area.

Additional information