next »

[englitprof]

Is this a stupid CV trick?:

I finished my PhD last year.  But, when I was pursuing my BA, I was published in two poetry books & a small, local magazine.  Do I list those publications under pubs, even though it was, cough, a little while ago?  (1992-1993.)

It's relevant, I think, to show my poetry experience, which is not very reflected on the current CV because I've been busy with scholarly stuff and haven't submitted poetry in forever.  But it may look like a Stupid CV trick.

Are you applying for a creative writing position?  If not, don't bother. 

[sir_lancelot]

Here's one: particularly if you a small number of journal articles, say, 3, do not list a whole bunch more as "manuscript in preparation", unless there is a version that you are willing to include with the application.  It just looks silly.

I would say, if you have a small number of publications it is justified to list publications as "in preparation" - if you are sufficiently junior. We all know that at the end of the PhD or at the end of a postdoc you might have a lot of stuff to publish and just didn't get around to it yet. If you can show that there is stuff forthcoming and you can send a GOOD draft version, I think it's fine. If you have 400 publications anyway, don't bother with the "in preparation" stuff. Another situation where it makes sense to include "in preparation" papers is when you have changed direction and you are working on something new that would be interesting for the search committee. If you are applying for a position in elephant science and you have always published on moscitoes but just in the last year you have changed to elephant science and have good results - well, include the forthcoming papers! It's your only chance to demonstrate that you actually have the experience they are looking for!

[seniorscholar]

I finished my PhD last year.  But, when I was pursuing my BA, I was published in two poetry books & a small, local magazine.  Do I list those publications under pubs, even though it was, cough, a little while ago?  (1992-1993.)

I suspect that in most English departments, there would be maybe three (at most) people on the faculty and among the graduate students who have *not* published poetry or short stories in such venues. Most people keep their mouths firmly closed about it, and would find such a listing on a c.v. pretty giggle-worthy, unless (as was said) you're applying for c.w. positions (in which case, you'd better have more publications than that).

If you'd *edited* the undergraduate literary magazine or served on its editorial committee (as well as publishing in it), that might be worth a throw-away line under "other experience"; many English departments are always hoping someone else will come along to take over faculty sponsorship of the undergrad mag, so that might be a (very little) additional qualification.

[cranefly]

If you are applying for a position in elephant science and you have always published on moscitoes

Well, we know you're not Canadian! (Any Canadian would be able to spell our national animal, the mosquito).

[zombie]

That's kind of what I thought. Sigh.  My "lightbulb" moment when I though, "Hey, that's three more actual publications!!" did seem to be too good to be true.  And too long ago. 

Another question:  Do you list classes that, as a teaching assistant, you just "assisted" as "courses taught?"  I have a note that it was just assisted.  Something like this: 

COURSES TAUGHT
SLAC1:  Basic Course 1 and Basic Course 2,  and Introduction to Core Subject Matter.   
SLAC 2:  Basic Course I and II, and More Advanced Course 2.
SLAC 3:  Introduction to Core Subject Matter, and Basic Course 1.
SLAC 2:  Graduate Assistant, Sophmore Seminar, and Junior Level Seminar.

[proftext]

From SeniorScholar (in 2007!) ~ "And be really careful to distinguish between "employment" and "internship" since an employment check with personnel departments (like a degree check with university registrars) is one of the things we have to ask the person in the Provost's office to do before we can get money to invite you to a campus interview, and we will be very angry if we discover at that point that the three most appropriate jobs you describe were two-week spring-vacation undergraduate internships."

First, is it true that Depts call the Provost of the Institution at which you are employed to check out/verify the details of your position before the Campus visit?

[didotwite]

From SeniorScholar (in 2007!) ~ "And be really careful to distinguish between "employment" and "internship" since an employment check with personnel departments (like a degree check with university registrars) is one of the things we have to ask the person in the Provost's office to do before we can get money to invite you to a campus interview, and we will be very angry if we discover at that point that the three most appropriate jobs you describe were two-week spring-vacation undergraduate internships."

First, is it true that Depts call the Provost of the Institution at which you are employed to check out/verify the details of your position before the Campus visit?

More and more institutions are checking the details of cvs because of scandals, in both business and academia, when candidates or employees don't have the degrees or job experience that they have claimed to have.  There is no way you can know which institutions are most meticulous about this, so it is extremely dangerous to fudge your cv as part of any application.  List internships as such.

[didotwite]

Another question:  Do you list classes that, as a teaching assistant, you just "assisted" as "courses taught?"  I have a note that it was just assisted.  Something like this: 

COURSES TAUGHT
SLAC1:  Basic Course 1 and Basic Course 2,  and Introduction to Core Subject Matter.   
SLAC 2:  Basic Course I and II, and More Advanced Course 2.
SLAC 3:  Introduction to Core Subject Matter, and Basic Course 1.
SLAC 2:  Graduate Assistant, Sophmore Seminar, and Junior Level Seminar.

I used "teaching experience" and identified assistantships as such. 

[englitprof]

Another question:  Do you list classes that, as a teaching assistant, you just "assisted" as "courses taught?"  I have a note that it was just assisted.  Something like this: 

COURSES TAUGHT
SLAC1:  Basic Course 1 and Basic Course 2,  and Introduction to Core Subject Matter.   
SLAC 2:  Basic Course I and II, and More Advanced Course 2.
SLAC 3:  Introduction to Core Subject Matter, and Basic Course 1.
SLAC 2:  Graduate Assistant, Sophmore Seminar, and Junior Level Seminar.

I put "Instructor of Record" in parentheses for courses where appropriate.
I used "teaching experience" and identified assistantships as such. 

[wsr88d]

I have read through these pages and wondering how I should label my doctorate that I am working on.
I began the program in fall 2007, I was awarded a "fellowship" specifically for the program/degree. I will have my coursework completed by end of 2009....which then I will have already taken my comps and doing some preliminary writing/work on my dissertation.

I have been identifying this on my cv as:
(2007-____) Doctorate work & research
- "-------brief description of my doctorate degree areas & proposed research/dissertation"

How would I change this to make it more appealing and incorporate the fellowship?

Thanks.

[zookers]

I have been identifying this on my cv as:
(2007-____) Doctorate work & research
- "-------brief description of my doctorate degree areas & proposed research/dissertation"

How would I change this to make it more appealing and incorporate the fellowship?

Thanks.

You can't make a PhD program "more appealing," without it sounding like a stupid CV trick (all profs know what a doctoral program is -- you can't make it sound better than it is without raising suspicion).  List it as:

2007-present  Ph.D., Department of _______, University of ______
    Thesis: ______
    Advisor:  Dr. X

Also list your prior degrees in the same section.

Make a separate section for "Fellowships and Awards," and list your scholarships under that heading.

[mikey]

There's no cut-and-dried CV format, so you CAN have both transparency and tailored job info.  It's simple, use two categories, one for "professional experience" and one for "other work experience."  Then list everything, including dates.  You could also have a section titled "work history" that combines ALL work in chronological order, but does not include descriptions of the work you did, just title of employing organization, title of your position and dates worked.

The way I worked my CV was to provide a list of key skills to summarize and highlight relevant skills that contribute to the job.  Don't say how you got these skills, just that you have them.  It acts as a teaser to read further in - like a cover letter, only bulleted.  That, combined with the header info (name, contact info) took half a page.  The other half was my education, including dates.  Second page was "Professional Experience" (which I am fortunate to have a page worth of), third page was "Related Experience," fourth page and on was the rest of the stuff, like classes taught and pubs/presentations, etc.

There are plenty of helpful books out there that give guidance on writing a CV and especially for writing a resume with this kind of situation. 

Thanks, magimax.  I agree.  This is an excellent way to handle accounting for nonacademic employment while highlighting academic employment.  It worked for me: I completed my BS in 1975 and worked many years outside academe in an fairly unimpressive job.  When I finished my MS in 1996 and went on the community-college job market, I asked my mentor to look over my CV.  He suggested that I put my teaching (as a TA) on page 1 and create a section on page 2 titled "Nonacademic Employment."  In this way, I featured my teaching experience  while maintaining transparency.

On a related note, the age issue is worrisome.  I list my education first on my CV, together with dates.  I am reluctant to omit the dates because in my experience most community colleges require a completed application anyhow, which of course has that information.  Now I am preparing for early retirement from my current community college and going on the job market in another state.  What should I do?  Omit the dates?  Bury the education section to some later page in the CV?  This raises the question of order.  What sections come first?  Last?

Thanks for an important thread.

[prephd]

I have been identifying this on my cv as:
(2007-____) Doctorate work & research
- "-------brief description of my doctorate degree areas & proposed research/dissertation"

I've listed mine as

Ph.D. (in progress)       Widgetological Studies          2007-pres.         

Dissertation: Widgetology and the Post-Modern Theoretical Framework
Expected Graduation Date: May 2011

But, really, I'm not sending it out for any reason right now, it's just for my own pleasure that I keep it updated.

[mdwlark]

I keep mine updated in part so that I can remember the dates of all that stuff.   Plus these days I can send it out with the click of a mouse. 

[donquixote]

Ok, folks.  I'm gonna throw out this line, what the heck...

Was on a panel for a conference.  Presented my paper, but ended up also "chairing" the panel as the panel chair never showed.  There was no contact with the panel chair before or since, from either end, though there was of course contact with the larger organizers who were informed. 

Classifying as "chairing" experience -- "officially" yay or nay?

I think I know the answer, I'm just gonna see if I can attract some crazy fish...  ;-)