Curriculum Vitae (CV)

It is the officer's responsibility to make sure that his/her file contains a current CV. Update your CV yearly even if you do not change jobs. A format for developing a CV can be found at the N-PAC Career Development website.
(CV 2005 in PDF) (CV 2005 in Microsoft Word)

Click on the mentoring section of the N-PAC website and scroll down to view to the current CV format. This format allows members of the promotion board to easily locate specific sections in an officer's CV easily. This is beneficial to the officer, as raters have limited time to review each file.

Very Important: Develop a 1 page (or 2 if you really have that much critical material) CV summary sheet that highlights your accomplishments and place this at the front of your CV. It should contain the most important information that you would like the promotion board to see. Ask yourself this question: "If the promotion board only know about me what is on these 1-2 pages, what would I want that to be?" It might be education and specialty training; certification; billet titles with a couple of bullets listing major accomplishments and impact; outside activities that are PHS-supported along with office held and accomplishments; and special assignments and accomplishments. Keep in mind that the Federal Government emphasizes impact over activities. What have you accomplished and what impact have you had? Remember that it is quality, not quantity that counts. Don't try to pack the maximum content into 2 pages using a small font. Use bullet format and choose your words carefully. You do not need to list awards, as these are shown on your PIR, which is provided to the board. You may want to list awards that are not on your PIR, or highlight an award that you feel is exceptional.

A sample cover sheet is shown (exhibit 1). In this example, the summary sheet is used to convey the office's progress in achieving the category benchmarks for each precept. Another example can be found at the N-PAC category website. Still a third example is available in the Basic Officer Training Course (BOTC) manual.

Make sure that the CV cover sheet is part of the CV. The CV cover sheet should be page 1 (or 1 and 2) of the CV and the CV cover sheet and CV should be Faxed in together as one document. Only one CV is allowed in your eOPF. When you FAX in a new CV, the one in your eOPF is discarded and is replaced by the new one. If you were to FAX in a CV summary sheet to be placed with your CV, instead, your CV would be discarded and replaced with the DV summary sheet.

Members of the promotion board are instructed to base their assessment on the material in the officer's official personnel file, and NOT on person knowledge or rumor. The Office of Commissioned Corps Operations provides much of the information in the eOPF. The CV is developed by the officer and is a tool that each officer can use to provide information that may otherwise not be available to the board. Each officer's career is unique. It is important to ensure that your CV includes all appropriate information.

Tips for developing a CV

• Check the Nursing category website for format and examples of the type of information that is included in the CV.
• Ask officers with successful careers to review your CV and give feedback.
• List the newest information first. For example, in listing the billets you have occupied, start with your current billet and work backwards. For continuing education courses, list the course you took most recently and work backwards.
• Use attachments when you have a substantial amount of data, e.g., continuing education courses, and bibliography.
• If you list references, do not list more than three. You could also state "references on request", or not mention personal references. An interested party will notify you if references are needed.
• Be honest. All of the information, including your CV, is an official record. The information that you place in your CV can be checked. If you embellish it could come back to haunt you. While it is important that you give yourself credit for your accomplishments, you need to be sure that the data is accurate.
• A CV is not the place to list personal information. Examples of what does not belong in a CV: your marital status, the number/names/birthdates of your children, y our hobbies (unless they are skills that would be valuable assets for PHS activities/deployments, e.g., scuba diving); pictures; your religious affiliation; your Social Security number.
• Add new information to y our CV with each new accomplishment or activity. Keep your CV current. Forward a copy of your revised CV (with the resume/summary at the front) to OCCO.

Very Important: Proof your CV for spelling, typos, and grammar. It is important to submit a polished document that is user-friendly. Remember the adage: you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Your CV is a summary of your professional development. The CV that you place in your eOPF is used not just for promotion and assimilation boards, but also for other purposes. For example, you can grant access to your CV to a potential employer when you are applying for a position.

A CV that is intended for the promotion board is a comprehensive, but generic, one that includes your professional life history. On occasion you may want to reformat your CV to emphasize special skills and experience. For example, due to recent emphasis on emergency preparedness, you may want to highlight emergency preparedness skills and deployment activities. If you are interested in changing career tracks you should redesign your CV to emphasize skills that are related to the career track that you desire to follow, e.g., management skills; extensive experience in basic or clinical research; or experience/training in epidemiology. The DV that you submit when applying for a position should tailored to address the needs of that position and your qualifications to meet those needs.