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[uk_bound]

Some of the key words in CV have different meanings in American and British English, and I'd like any advice you can offer on what to do about it. Some examples in American English are below. These examples are in sentence format, for the sake of asking questions here. In my CV, they're bullet points.

• My dissertation was an analysis of an online orientation course.
  
• I worked as an Instructional Designer, where I helped professors create online courses for distance education.
  
• I taught eight online courses as an adjunct faculty member.
  

The list below shows how these sentences would appear in British English, based on my own (limited) experience and a fairly good article at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences#Education ),

• My dissertation was an analysis of an online orientation module.
  
• I worked as an Instructional Technologist, where I helped instructors create online modules for distance education.
  
• I was an instructor in eight online modules.
  

The word "course" is causing the most problem for me, since it shows up often in my CV. The examples above use the word "module", but what do you think about using the word "class"? Do you have other comments about if or how I should change my CV?

Thanks in advance, yet again.

[snape]

The exact definitions of courses, module, unit, and class are not always clear within the UK, so there may not be too much point in changing these.

'Learning Technologist' is a job that exists in the UK. Does this sound like the right sort of thing?

[expatinuk]

Use class...

Brits don't really know what 'orientation' .... I assume you're talking about typical Freshman Orientation or Freshman/University 101? The Brits don't do that. They do have a one week 'induction' period, which is usually pretty useless.

Don't say 'Instructors' use Lecturers

[dyst_uk]

As far as module/unit/course goes, you could semi-personalise your CV by checking what the institution you're applying to uses.

[science_expat]

"Course" is a real minefield and I think you must check the institution to which you're applying. Where I am it means a program(me) of study and module is the appropriate modification but this does vary from place to place.

[scotia]

Hi uk_bound.

I would change 'dissertation' to 'thesis' if you are talking about a doctoral output. At my institution undergraduates and masters students produce dissertations and PhDs produce theses.

We are busy moving from 'modules' to 'courses' on some of our programs (if it were all, I might understand) so it might not even be consistent within a university. Modules does seem to be widely recognized as a subset of something, so this might be the safest option if you are unsure.

Professor (US) = 'lecturer' (UK) unless they are full chairs and the generic title for teaching faculty is 'lecturers'

I don't really understand why your CV is so abbreviated. Are you applying for an academic job? If so, I would want to see:

• Title of thesis and and when it was defended
• Dates and titles of the courses you taught and whether you were the 'lecturer' or a 'tutor' (if the materials were devised by someone else it is the latter). Simply saying '8 on-line modules' does not tell me whether they were all the same module 8 times or 8 different modules or when you taught them (all in one semester as 8 sections or across several years).

If you simply say 'Courses taught' and dates you taught them you don't need to worry about translation of 'adjunct faculty member'

[wegie]

Instructional Technologist should work fine, it's certainly a job title that you see around considerably more nowadays than when I first had it as a job title over a decade ago.

The usual translation for "adjunct" (or TA or Graduate assistant for that matter) over here would be temporary or part-time tutor. My three years as a PhD student tutoring on a variety of courses are just covered by "Part-time tutor" and a list of the courses I taught on.

[uk_bound]

Once again, I want to thank everyone for their replies. All of your comments have made my CV much stronger. Your comments will also be helpful if or when I get an interview. I should now be able to use language that is more appropriate.

As an aside, I wanted to reply to expatinuk's comment about induction classes. The online induction class I studied for my PhD thesis turned out to be even less useful than expatinuk described.

[scotia]

Hi uk_bound. Good luck with the applications: we will do what we can to confuse you further clarify things as your search progresses.

[expatinuk]

As an aside, I wanted to reply to expatinuk's comment about induction classes. The online induction class I studied for my PhD thesis turned out to be even less useful than expatinuk described.

This doesn't surprise me... but... there is a GREAT deal of good that can be accomplished with a semester long University 101 class. Although I think that it would be totally useless as an online class. One of the purposes of University 101 is to get students used to university life.

If you want to 'make a name' for yourself in the UK I would suggest that you look at ways of introducing the concept of University 101 into the curriculum. This would especially be of interest to schools who are getting increasing numbers of first generation students.

The UK is about 20 years behind the US in expanding who attends university... programs such as University 101 would be of great benefit and help reduce drop out rates which are around 20% (according to a Guardian article I read yesterday).