I spoke with a former student not long ago who is completing a doctorate and pondering the job market. He mentioned that he had volunteered to serve on some departmental committees so that he would have something under “service” on his CV.
I remember that same advice coming from my professors: If you volunteer for service, then search committees will know that you understand the realities of life in the professoriate and maybe even something about departmental politics.
After my conversation with the former student, I started pondering how often I have actually looked at the “service” section of an applicant’s résumé. Indeed, after serving on search committees for the better part of two decades, I can’t remember an applicant’s “service” ever coming up in our deliberations for entry-level faculty positions (although for chairmanship searches, it’s one of the first things to be discussed). I do remember colleagues joking that we ought to hire more people who would serve in their places on committees, but these were, in all honesty, just jokes.
Does an applicant’s committee or university service record really sway search deliberations?
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14 Responses to Teaching, Research, Sucker—I Mean—Service
ksledge - October 6, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I truly doubt it, but maybe having none of it can hurt a candidate who has already given the impression elsewhere that s/he is a selfish or arrogant person.
drangie - October 6, 2010 at 3:51 pm
That part of the cv is always a point of consideration, and I would (have, in fact) argue against hiring anyone who feels himself or herself to be above service obligations. Some of the worst faculty morale problems I have observed over the years have been the result of faculty who evaded their fare share of service, leaving others to pick up their slack. I do not want that sort of person on my team–it’s always toxic in the end.
cutright - October 6, 2010 at 4:02 pm
The gaps between university rhetoric and reality on this issue are increasingly obvious. Token service is frankly enough in many places. Why the gaps? Well, would anyone realistically expect a provost or someone to get behind a podium and say, “Look. Screw teaching. You can teach dogs to speak French and it ain’t going to get you tenure. The university is backing up this commitment and philosophy by packing as many undergraduates into lecture warehouses as the fire marshal will allow. Same with service; it’s fun when your career is coasting to a close, but going up, it’s baggage.” But why aren’t those circumstances just admitted (with a little more polish in the language)?There is a stunning disconnection between what is valued by universities as they strive to climb the prestige ladder, and what the public wants and believes is and should happen. Higher education has chosen to lie to the public and students–”Teaching is what it’s all about here!”–rather than engage in meaningful communication about what institutions are doing and why, and why those decisions benefit society. I don’t think it’s sustainable.
civilprof - October 6, 2010 at 6:20 pm
I understand the cynicism regarding service, but I cannot think of a single top-flight research or education leader that arrives at the middle or later stages of his/her career without significant service contributions. My pithy advice would be: If your target is merely tenure, go ahead and think inwardly. If your goal is to have impact in a long career, act with the best interests of your professional community in mind.
margray - October 6, 2010 at 7:58 pm
I think that it depends on the kind of job you are looking for. In a community college, someone without any kind of service would be at a real disadvantage. We would be afraid that the person would be a prima dona who doesn’t do his or her fair share.
raymond_j_ritchie - October 6, 2010 at 10:43 pm
I have no doubt “service” is well regarded in this managerial age. Proves you are the goals-outcomes-and-team-players type that is so beloved today.Crucially it shows is that you are a double plus good thinker who will not cause any trouble because you will always be up-to-date on your political correctness.
educationnet2007 - October 7, 2010 at 7:24 am
Service, real service, is done without compensation. Ideally, it is done without expectations, CV listing or otherwise. It comes from the heart. If a candidate has participated in this kind of service, he or she has my attention!educationnet
tmangum - October 7, 2010 at 8:45 am
Katie Hogan and Michelle Masse’s edited collection, *Over Ten Million Served: Gendered Service in Language and Literature Workplaces* (SUNY Press, 2010), offers a range of perspectives on service. As the collection makes clear, “service” is a catchall category that obscures important differences. Some “service” is intellectual work that doesn’t fit into conventional categories. For example, why is editing a journal “service” while other activities listed as service are equivalent to housekeeping, especially in the ways necessary work is devalued?
socratesjohnson - October 7, 2010 at 11:28 am
How would an ABD or completed PhD get “service” on her resume in the first place, assuming she no longer lives near her PhD granting institution, nor does her adjunct department welcome adjunct service?
avalongod - October 7, 2010 at 11:31 am
Overall, I’d say “no”, it doesn’t matter much. I agree with some of the other posters that if there were evidence a candidate had shielded him/herself from service that would be a bad sign, but (to be blunt) I suspect most people end up on committees and its probably hard to really know who worked hard at service and who filled a chair.Overall I’d say the impact of research and (to a lesser extent) teaching far overwhelm the impact of service.
eeels - October 7, 2010 at 11:46 am
#9, the ABD or Newly Minted One could join a committee of her local or national professional association. I’ve done that in my (national, but relatively small) organization, and while I haven’t yet found the right job, my name is familiar to colleagues who wouldn’t otherwise know me.
robertkase51 - October 7, 2010 at 11:46 am
Service does play a part. Perhaps, not a big part, but many institutions can’t survive without everyone pitching in. No service on the CV can be a red flag that one would certainly investigate in the interview and could be the tipping point in this environment. Of course, it all depends on the school and the kind of position for which one is applying. There are simply no constants in seach committees, and no one really knows how things will go. The variety of responses in this blog shows just how fickle any search committee can be.
phdeviate - October 7, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I’ve never been on the hiring side of the job market, but I salute @educationnet2007 in the sentiment. Whether or not service is important in any way related to evaluation of candidates is less important to me right now than clinging to my beliefs that (A) It should be and (B) it is important to the profession as a whole. In comments to the previous post in this column, @quidditas worried about the talent drain on our colleges and universities if tenure goes away. I believe that there will be at least as much talent drain if we do not respect and value service–from the hiring level all the way up through tenure and promotions. I wrote a post on the subject of service over the summer, which may be naive, but there it is.
jaybernstein - October 7, 2010 at 5:05 pm
I don’t think it would hurt to put service tasks on a CV, but unless it is something pretty big it might look foolish and about as meaningful as conference attendance.