SCCO’s admissions process is paperless, with one notable exception: your Resume/CV is still printed out for review by the interviewing faculty member assigned to do your interview.

So why in this paperless process is your Resume/CV still printed out?  Because it is personal, and most importantly, it is formatted and composed by you.  It is original.  It is a reflection of who YOU think you are, what YOU think is important to convey about yourself as a future doctor of optometry, and your command of the Resume/CV platform.

Prior to the interview, the interviewing faculty member will have reviewed your entire application online. While he or she may make notes on various aspects of your application for discussion during the interview with you, the entire application is never printed out.  Instead, it is the Resume/CV that stands alone as a snapshot of what has made you who you are.

Here are some tips and insights that should help with its composition…

Be concise.  At most, it should be 1-2 pages in length. Compose it with a font and Word© formatting that is customary for use in an employment resume.  Here’s an FAQ that Dr. Munroe wrote on the topic. 

Aside from actual shadowing experience in not only optometry but other health care professions, list any experiences in leadership, service, positions of responsibility, and caring for others.

Here’s a template available from Microsoft Word that I adapted as suitable for an optometry school applicant’s CV.

The CV/Resume should include many of the same elements from your “Experiences” section. Its chronology is important because it shows a relative timeline of how you were impacted by your own serial experience.  In short, it is your own story, told how you want it told, which is wholly different from just your application’s Experience section where all experiences are lumped together and not necessarily in chronological order.

So it is with your the Resume/CV that you summarize your experience, telling your story the way you want it told, and targeting your journey to help the interviewer understand why you ultimately chose to serve as a doctor of optometry.

What the difference between a CV (Curriculum Vitae) and a resume (traditionally used to apply for employment)?  Here’s a great article from The Muse that explains the difference.