The CV Doctor: CV for an A.B.D. in the Humanities

We chose this CV because in many ways it is already a good vita for a humanist and can serve as a model for others. The candidate has categorized his experience in interesting ways, so our suggested changes are relatively minor. One factor of the original CV that should not be changed is its visual quality. Information is laid out in a thoughtful way that is also aesthetically appealing. For example, the candidate leaves plenty of white space without going too far in the other direction and wasting space. He has had experience formatting printed material, and it certainly shows. Of course, a CV isn't a beauty contest, but any vita that is easy on the eye is off to a good start.

-- Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick

Examples:

• CV for an administrator
• CV for an M.F.A.
• CV for a Ph.D. with a prior professional career
• CV for a Ph.D. in the health professions

1.) In the "Education" section, an alternate format would be to list each university only once and then list applicable degrees under it. This may give a more coherent visual impression of the candidate's academic career, but is certainly optional. The section on the candidate's Ph.D. should include information about his areas of specialization, given how broad a field like English is, and also could list his dissertation title, adviser's name, and even his committee members -- making this key information available at a glance.

2.) In English, it's quite common to provide the kind of abbreviated dissertation abstract that appears here, so we wouldn't say not to do it. To us, however, the space limitations of including it on the CV seem to be a bit of a straitjacket that doesn't allow you to develop your arguments in the way that a separate one-page abstract would. We commend the candidate for including the titles of the works on which the dissertation is based. Many literature candidates entirely forget to do this! Also, any description of the dissertation can move from the "book report" format (e.g., "I argue") to the more authoritative voice taken by the expert, which, on his or her topic, the dissertation writer now is. For example, the abstract might begin, "A sociocultural perspective is essential to a full understanding of the outburst of literary production. ..."

3.) The candidate has a strong list of awards. However, he includes a few that are less than impressive, such as his listing in Who's Who Among American Colleges and Universities. (Any "honor" that requires you to pay to be listed in a directory is of limited credibility.) We'd suggest that the original list be pared a bit.

4.) The candidate's research accomplishments are impressive, but now even research-oriented institutions demand good teaching as well. For that reason, we'd suggest moving the short "Teaching Experience" section up, placing it after the section on "Honors, Awards, Fellowships, and Scholarships," which themselves suggest research productivity. Since all three teaching positions have been at the same institution, the university could be named once, with each position listed under it. Either way, the university's city and state should be included with its name.

5.) The section called "Academic Support Experience" is a very interesting category. It could be used to good effect in applying for positions that involve providing special support to students. However, some of the entries could also be construed as teaching experience. The first position listed, "coordinating group leader," involved leading required training sessions for composition instructors. That would seem to indicate a strong departmental vote of confidence in the candidate's teaching ability and would be better included under "Teaching Experience." Since it's not uncommon for candidates with strong research backgrounds to dislike teaching composition, demonstrating strength in this area is a real plus.

6.) The title of this section -- "Electronic and Textual Editing Experience"-- might be good if the candidate was applying for positions outside academe. But for academic jobs, it emphasizes the production side of his editing experience and downplays the candidate's contributions to the actual content. A hiring committee is more likely to value the latter in a prospective faculty member. This section might better be called "Professional Service," or "Scholarly Service."

7.) "Admissions Experience" is unlikely to be required in a prospective faculty member. This category should be eliminated. The Kaplan entry should be dropped entirely, and the other entry moved to a new category called "University Service." This new section would also include some of the activities that the candidate now has listed under "Professional Service." We recommend retitling that section to "University Service" so as to make a distinction on the CV between service on one's campus and service to one's profession. The "graduate mentor" position could be moved under "Academic Support Experience."

8.) Including the names of references on a vita is optional, since usually candidates are asked to include their names in a cover letter or make sure they send letters of recommendation. However, it can be useful to include the names on a CV when they are well-known scholars. In that case, while it's not necessary to include their mailing addresses, it's very useful to list their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, to make it easy for someone on a search committee to make the kind of quick informal reference check that is likely to result in the strongest, most credible reference.