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[case_insensitive]

Given that I've been perusing CVs of applicants to our open positions... I've noticed some really stupid things on CVs.  So, here those of us who are older and wiser, or at least looking at many applicant CVs and seeing obvious problems, can share with those on the job market: What not do do...

Some suggested don'ts...

• Do not omit dates from your degrees. Do you think the search committee isn't going to find this stuff out? If you omit, it calls attention to it and makes the committee wonder... don't make the committee wonder unnecessarily.
• Do not include lots of detail for unrelated non-academic employment. Yes, list it, especially if it fills in a timeline to show what you were up to.  But, just the organization, job title, and dates are enough for most non-academic unrelated employment.
• Do not include details that scream Conceited! to the committee. No one cares of you are a member of mensa (do you know what that means in Spanish?).  No one cares what your GRE or GMAT scores were when you are applying for an academic job. No one cares what a high percentile rank you achieved in much of anything.  In fact, your GPA in  your PhD program is pretty irrelevant.  Summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude only apply to your undergraduate degree.  Period.
• Do not forget to run the spellcheck.  Search committees are pretty forgiving of the occasional typo that isn't easy to catch. But, typos that the spellcheck can easily check are a sign of real sloppiness.  Mispelling the name of something important, such as a heading or the name of journal, is also a big no-no.
• Do not provide incomplete information.  For example, do not mention teaching evaluations at a school that isn't listed in your employment or educational sections. That's a red flag. Don't leave the search committee with more questions about you than good feelings about your accomplishments and abilities.
• Do not send your CV out until you've had a few other folks look it over. Likely people include your dissertation advisor, a couple of colleagues, someone who has good English skills but isn't necessarily knowledgeable about your field, etc.

Anyone want to add?

[geonerd]

Please DO NOT forget to include your contact information. I've had a few candidates send CVs without a phone number or email address. I had to write to their letter of reference writers to ask how to get a hold of the person for an interview.

Please DO NOT abbreviate journal articles citations with First Author et al., or with Random Author and 5 others. I want to see exactly where your name falls in the order of authorship, and with whom you work.

Good luck everyone!

[zharkov]

Great points.....

I would add:  Watch the spin.  Don't imply that you already have a PhD or professional license when the realty is that you are a PhD Candidate or ABD, or have just passed part of a professional license exam.

Also, don't use the abbreviation ABD as though it was a degree.  That is, don't title your CV Hans Zharkov, ABD.

[seniorscholar]

To add to the "watch the spin" --

Do not list your graduate school seminar papers under "presentations" as "Form and Gender in Etruscan Poetry," Seminar in Prehistoric Literature, Your University (quick look at your u's online catalogue and you just hit the wastebasket).

Do not provide a mixed list of "Publications and Conference Presentations" even if you have only two of each.

Do not list your undergraduate honors paper (though you could mention it in your letter if it has something to do with your ability to teach in one of the three areas we've mentioned in the ad which is not the area of your Ph.D.)

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.

[oldassocprof]

Sorry, I've had good luck not listing the dates of my BA (1978) - age 33 and MA (1982) - age 37.  I DO list my PhD date (1996) - age 51.  The purpose of this is precisely to disguise my age and get me an interview, which it has a number of times. 

[oldassocprof]

Absolutely the only jobs I list on an academic CV are my academic ones.  I do give the dates on those, so someone could see that I began teaching as an adjunct in 1982.

[case_insensitive]

Sorry, I've had good luck not listing the dates of my BA (1978) - age 33 and MA (1982) - age 37.  I DO list my PhD date (1996) - age 51.  The purpose of this is precisely to disguise my age and get me an interview, which it has a number of times. 

I'm glad it's worked for you. However, I feel that a candidate who is trying to hide things is... trying to hide things.  Makes me much less interested.  Though the PhD year is most relevant, the years of degrees along with the dates of employment give an idea of the applicant's working and intellectual development.  Big holes or unknowns are generally a red flag (applicants who know they have red flags, can, of course, combat that with more pertinent info).

[case_insensitive]

And, I would like to add, the farther you are from the date of your PhD, the less relevant the dates of your BS/BA and Masters are, of course.

I'm mostly aiming this thread at new PhDs, ABDs and less experienced profs (i.e. the ones whose CVs I've been seeing).

[oldassocprof]

It probably doesn't look like I'm hiding things since I have continuous academic employment since 1982, but always adjunctive till 1997.  I see your point however.  I got two jobs showing the BA and MA dates, so in my case, it may be a wash.  I was told not to list non-academic employment in a professionalization seminar at UT, so I don't.  

[tortugaphd]

Sorry, I've had good luck not listing the dates of my BA (1978) - age 33 and MA (1982) - age 37.  I DO list my PhD date (1996) - age 51.  The purpose of this is precisely to disguise my age and get me an interview, which it has a number of times. 

How do you know that the reason why you got an interview was not simply because you were qualified but because you disguised your age?

[oldassocprof]

My experience at being a prestigious R-1 grad who has only been able to get jobs at regional state colleges leads me to believe that younger people (30s, late 20s) have a better shot at R-1 or SLAC jobs, or possibly any job.  It's the "bright new penny" phenomenon.  Much conversation with other older candidates suggests this is true (anecdotally, at least.)

[london1]

Don't forget the staple!  : - )

[case_insensitive]

Don't forget the staple!  : - )

I can't believe it took so long for someone to say that.

[imawakenow]

My understanding is that it may vary some by field, but in my field a completed master's thesis is NOT a publication unless it has been submitted to a journal--at which point it should be listed in the "publications under review" section.

Have also seen CVs with published, under review and in preparation listed in the same generic "Publications" section. Very annoying--especially lumping "in preparation" with other pubs.


WRT, new on job market CVs, here's a quote from an email sent to me by the professor who reviewed my CV (which had my graduate GPAs listed but thankfully now deleted!):

"Your future colleagues will be looking for a colleague to join them, not a graduate student. Your CV should demonstrate your confidence as a potential colleague, researcher and scholar, not a Ph.D. student searching for a job."   

[insomniac]

This has been debated elsewhere (someone who can navigate the infernal search mechanisms can perhaps help out here), but if you are not a US citizen, my feeling is that you should list on the CV your employment eligibility status.

When I applied for jobs, I listed that I was a Legal Permanent Resident (Green Card holder).

This is not something that the SC itself should be directly concerned about, but when it becomes an HR issue down the road, it's helpful to have a heads-up.

In my own experiences on SCs, the issue is not debated. However, if I were a candidate again, I'd want to make sure I'd crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's.