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This is an excellent vita from a candidate whose career goal is to teach at a small private college or university. He writes: "I would like to continue doing some research, particularly if I can get undergraduates involved. Therefore, I have included a version of my CV that starts with teaching information before the research information." We particularly liked the way this candidate groups statements about teaching and research with the relevant lists of experience or citations.
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Career Talk: The C.V. Doctor
Examples:
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Job Candidate CONTACT INFORMATION: Department of Biology Small Private University City, State Telephone number E-mail address EDUCATION: Ph.D. Wildlife Science, Southern Research University and satellite campus, August 2002. M.S. Fisheries (Minor: Ecology), University of State, October 1997. B.S. Biology (Minor: Chemistry), Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, University of State, May 1994. AWARDS AND HONORS
TEACHINGPHILOSOPHY:2 I believe a Socratic-style of teaching tends to be highly effective. In my experience, students generally seem more responsive to direct interaction with an instructor and classmates than to passively receiving information from a teacher lecturing to them. Students unaccustomed to this method sometimes resist at first, but with encouragement, they rise to the challenge and begin to initiate interaction themselves. However, an effective teacher must be willing to continually adjust to the needs of the students. After all, the primary goal of teaching is to encourage students to learn and to provide them with the tools and skills necessary to do so. Teachers have an obligation to find an effective way to do this.
INTERESTS:4 My primary research interests are associated with animal behavior and behavioral ecology. They include physiological and environmental influences on behavior as well as its evolution. My previous work has examined physiological responses to stressors in conscious animals as well as hormonal and pheromonal effects on behavior. The latter work included a novel technique I developed for visualizing urinary release in free-swimming fish. My current work focuses on environmental and geographic influences on grouping in a social hawk (Harris' hawk, Parabuteo unicinctus). Together, my previous and current work has required the use of a number of laboratory and field-related techniques. In the future, I would like to combine laboratory and field work to examine interesting behavioral questions.
ACADEMIC: Departmental Committees Voting Staff (elected position), 1997-1998 (Univ. of State, Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife) Web Site Design Committee, 1997 (Univ. of State, Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife) Seminar Committee, 1995-1997 (Univ. of State, Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife) Social Committee, 1994-1995 (Univ. of State, Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife) Professional Society Memberships 1993-Present Animal Behavior Society
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1.) We like how the candidate lists his title of "Visiting Assistant Professor" at the top of the vita. It clearly indicates that he has a job for the year but probably for just the one year. 2.) This statement of the candidate's teaching philosophy, although brief, gives a good sense of his pedagogical style and commitment to good teaching. We particularly like how he indicates that some students are initially unused to his interactive style, but he perseveres and they become comfortable with it. It is a good idea to talk about challenges and what can be done about them. 3.) His brief descriptions of the courses he has taught give a good sense of both his teaching style and subject content. In his descriptions, he might want to remove the rather unnecessary word "responsibilities" and use active verbs like "managed" or "coordinated" to describe his work. Here's an example of how he might better describe the "Principles of Wildlife Management" course: "Designed and developed the course including the outline and objectives as well as the selection of material to cover and the required texts; wrote and presented lectures; wrote and administered exams and quizzes; developed and graded written and oral class projects." 4.) Like his teaching statement, this statement of the candidate's research interests is brief yet provides a good snapshot of his scholarship. He indicates that, in the future, he plans to put his research experience to work in examining "interesting behavioral questions." He might want to provide some specific examples, since a "Research Interests" section should answer the question "What are your future research plans?" 5.) We particularly liked the way this candidate organized his CV so that the overview of his research interests and experience is followed by separate sections detailing his "Grants," "Publications," and "Professional Meetings Attended." It makes for a strong research section. 6.) The details of his community-service section are nice for a couple of reasons. The nature of this candidate's work should be shared beyond the academic community, and this section shows that it is. As he is looking to teach at a small private college or university, this experience, along with departmental and professional service, demonstrates that he becomes active in his institution, association, and community -- something highly desired by many small institutions. |
