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http://thepro fesso risin.co m/2012/01/12/dr-karens-rules-o f-the-academic-cv/

Dr. Karens Rules of the Academic CV

Todays post is a long overdue post on CV s. While t he CV genre permit s a wide range of variat ion, and t here is no consensus on t he value or desirabilit y of one part icular st yle, I am going t o present a list of expect at ions t hat govern my own work at T he Prof essor Is In. T hese expect at ions will produce a highly-readable, well-organized CV on t he American academic model. Brit ish and Canadian CV-writ ers will not e t hat t he f ont is larger, t he lengt h is great er, t he margins wider, and t he whit e spaces more abundant t han you may be used t o. T hese are t he t ypical norms f or American CV s (again, admit t ing of enormous variat ion among f ields and individuals). T hese norms govern t he paper CVs t hat are submit t ed as element s of a job applicat ion. T he CV can be creat ed in a program like Word but submit t ed as a PDF t o ensure proper f ormat t ing on t he receiving end. T hese rules do not encompass online CVs, which may employ element s such as bullet point s t hat I reject . Candidat es seeking work in t he UK or Canada might want t o consult wit h expert s f rom t hose count ries f or opinions on whet her t his American model CV will work against candidat es in searches t here. Wit hout f urt her ado: Dr. Karens Rules of t he CV. I. General Formatting Rules One inch margins on all f our sides. 12 point f ont t hroughout Single spaced No swit ching of f ont sizes f or any element , EXCEPT t he candidat e name at t op, which can be in 14 or perhaps 16. Headings in bold and all caps. Subheadings in bold only. NO ITALICS OF ANY KIND EXCEPT FOR JOURNAL AND BOOK T IT LES (Brit s, Im t alking t o you) One or t wo f ull ret urns (ie, blank lines) bef ore each new heading. One ret urn/blank line bet ween each heading and it s f irst ent ry. Lef t just if y all element s of t he cv.

Do not f ull/right just if y any element of t he cv. No bullet point s at all, ever, under any circumst ances. T his is not a resume. No box or column f ormat t ing of any kind. T his int erf eres wit h t he const ant adjust ment s a dynamic prof essional CV will undergo on a weekly/mont hly basis. No XXXX, cont d headings. Page breaks will const ant ly move as CV grows. YEAR (but not mont h or day) OF EVERY ENT RY T HROUGHOUT CV LEFT JUST IFIED, wit h t abs or indent separat ing year f rom subst ance of ent ry. Why, you ask? Because candidat es are evaluat ed by t heir product ivit y over t ime. Search and t enure commit t ees wish t o easily t rack yearly out put . When you produce is as import ant as what you produce. Year must be visible, not buried in t he ent ry it self . (t able f ormat t ing anot her opt ion as described in comment st ream) NO NARRAT IVE VERBIAGE ANYWHERE. Brit s, Im t alking t o you. No descript ion of dut ies under Teaching/Courses Taught No paragraphs describing books or art icles. No explanat ions of grant s/f ellowships (ie, t his is a highly compet it ive f ellowship). No personal st ories. No My work at t he U of XX is dif f icult t o condense et c. et c. One possible except ion: a separat e heading f or Dissert at ion wit h a VERY short paragraph abst ract underneat h. I disapprove of t his. Some advisors insist on it . One year beyond complet ion, it must be removed. II. Heading Material: Name at t op, cent ered, in 14 or 16 point f ont . T he words Curriculum vit ae immediat ely underneat h or above, cent ered, in 12 point f ont . T his is a t radit ional pract ice in t he humanit ies and social sciences; it might be opt ional at t his point in t ime, and in various f ields. Please doublecheck wit h a t rust ed advisor. T he dat e, immediat ely below, cent ered, is opt ional. Senior scholars always dat e t heir cvs. Your inst it ut ional and home addresses, t el, email, parallel right and lef t just if ied. III. Content: 1. Education. Always. No except ions. List by degree, not by inst it ut ion. Do not spell out Doct or of Philosophy, et c.; it s pret ent ious. List Ph.D., MA, BA in descending order. Give depart ment , inst it ut ion, and year of complet ion. Do NOT give st art ing dat es. You may include Dissert at ion/T hesis Tit le, and perhaps Dissert at ion/T hesis Advisor if you are ABD or only 1 year or so f rom Ph.D.. Remove t his af t er t hat point . Do not include any ot her verbiage. 2. Prof essional Appointments/Employment . T his must go immediat ely under educat ion, assuming t hat you have/had t hese. Why? Because t he reader must be able t o inst ant ly place you inst it ut ionally. T hese are cont ract posit ions only t enure t rack or adjunct . Post doct oral posit ions also

go here. Give inst it ut ion, depart ment , t it le, and dat es (year only) of employment . Be sure and ref lect joint appoint ment s if you have one. ABD candidat es may have no Prof essional Appoint ment s, and in t hat case t he Heading can be skipped. TA-SHIPS, ET C. ARE NOT LIST ED UNDER PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT. COURSES ARE NOT LIST ED UNDER PROFESSIONAL APPOINT MENT S. 3. Publications . Subheadings: Books, Edit ed Volumes, Ref ereed Journal Art icles, Book Chapt ers, Conf erence Proceedings, Book Reviews, Manuscript s in Submission (give journal t it le), Manuscript s in Preparat ion, Web-Based Publicat ions, Ot her Publicat ions (t his sect ion can include non-academic publicat ions, wit hin reason). Please not e t hat f ort hcoming publicat ions ARE included in t his sect ion. If t hey are already in t he print ing st age, wit h t he f ull cit at ion and page numbers available, t hey may be list ed t he same as ot her published publicat ions, at t he very t op since t heir dat es are f urt hest in t he f ut ure. If t hey are in press, t hen t hey can eit her go int o t hat sect ion, or int o an Publicat ions In Press sect ion. T he line is f uzzy and should hinge on t he complet eness of t he cit at ion you can provide. 4. Awards and Honors . Give name of award and inst it ut ional locat ion. Year at lef t . Always in reverse descending order. List ing $$ amount appears t o be f ield-specif ic. Check wit h a t rust ed senior advisor. 5. Grants and Fellowships (if you are in a f ield where t hese dif f er cat egorically f rom Awards and Honors). Give f under, inst it ut ional locat ion in which received/ut ilized, year span. List ing $$ amount appears t o be f ield-specif ic. Check wit h a t rust ed senior advisor. Year at lef t . 6. Invited Talks. Give t it le, inst it ut ional locat ion, and dat e. Year only (not mont h or day) at lef t . Mont h and day of t alk go int o ent ries. 7. Conf erence Activity/Participation . Subheadings: Panels Organized, Papers Present ed, Discussant . T hese ent ries will include: Name of paper, name of conf erence, dat e. Year (Year only) on lef t as not ed above. Mont h and dat e-range of conf erence in t he ent ry it self (ie, March 22-25). No ext ra words such as: Paper t it le: Fut ure conf erences SHOULD be list ed here, if you have had a paper or panel of f icially accept ed. T he dat es will be f ut ure dat es, and as such t hey will be t he f irst dat es list ed. 8. Teaching Experience . Subdivide eit her by area/f ield of t eaching or by inst it ut ional locat ion, or by Graduat e/Undergraduat e, or some combinat ion of t hese as appropriat e t o your part icular case. Give course t it les BUT NEVER GIVE COURSE NUMBERS! Course numbers are meaningless out side your campus. If your quant it y of courses t aught exceeds approximat ely 15, condense t his sect ion. TA experience goes here. No narrat ive verbiage under any course t it le. No list ing of dut ies or responsibilit ies. T here is one small except ion t o t his rule, as not ed in t he comment st ream (near comment # 100). If your depart ment is one t hat has it s TAs act ually design and sole-t each courses, t hen t his needs t o be clarif ied. Language t o be added can include, (Inst ruct or of record) af t er course t it le, or (As TA I designed and sole-t aught all courses list ed here), et c. Keep it short and sweet . 9. Research Experience . RA experience goes here, as well as lab experience. T his is one locat ion where slight elaborat ion is possible, if t he research was a t eam ef f ort on a complex, mult i-year t heme. One det ailed sent ence should suf f ice. 10. Service To Prof ession. Include journal manuscript review work (wit h journal t it les [mss. review CAN be given it s own separat e heading if you do a lot of t his work]), leadership of prof essional organizat ions, et c. Some people put panel organizing under service; check convent ions in your f ield. 11. Departmental/University Service . Include search commit t ees and ot her commit t ee work,

appoint ment s t o Facult y Senat e, et c. Sorry t o be a pain, but here t he convent ion is t hat t he Tit le or Commit t ee is lef t just if ied, wit h t he year in t he ent ry. Dont ask me why, and only a convent ion, not a st rict rule. 12. Extracurricular University Service . [Opt ional. ] Can include involvement in st udent groups, sport ing clubs, et c. 13. Community Involvement/Outreach. [Optional.] T his includes work wit h libraries and schools, public lect ures, et c. 14. Media Coverage. [Optional.] Coverage of your work by t he media. 15. Related Prof essional Skills . [Opt ional.] Can include t raining in GIS and ot her t echnical skills relevant t o t he discipline. More common in prof essional schools and science f ields; uncommon in humanit ies. 16. Non-Academic Work. [Opt ionalVERY opt ional!] Include only if relevant t o your overall academic qualif icat ions. More common in Business, sciences. Edit orial and publishing work possibly relevant in English and t he Humanit ies. 17. Teaching Areas/Courses Prepared To Teach . [Opt ional]. You can give a brief list of course t it les (t it les only!) t hat represent your areas of t eaching preparat ion. No more t han 10 courses should be list ed here. 18. Languages. All languages t o be list ed vert ically, wit h prof iciency in reading, speaking, and writ ing clearly demarcat ed using t erms such as: nat ive, f luent , excellent , conversat ional, good, can read wit h dict ionary, et c. 19. Prof essional Memberships/Af f iliations . All prof essional organizat ions of which you are a member list ed vert ically. Include years of joining when you are more senior and t hose years recede int o t he past demonst rat es lengt h of commit ment t o a f ield. 20. Ref erences . List ref erences vert ically. Give name and f ull t it le. Do not ref er t o ref erences as Dr. xxx, or Prof essor xxx. T his makes you look like a graduat e st udent . Give f ull snail mail cont act inf ormat ion along wit h t el and email. To do ot herwise is amat eurish, even t hough we know nobody is going t o use t he snail mail address. Do not give narrat ive verbiage or explanat ion of t hese ref erences (ie, Ph.D. Commit t ee member, et c.). T he only except ion is a single ref erence t hat may be ident if ied as Teaching Ref erence. T his would be t he f ourt h of f our ref erences. IV. Principle of Peer Review. T he organizing principle of t he CV is priorit izing peer review and compet it iveness. Prof essional appoint ment s are ext remely compet it ive, and go f irst . Publicat ions are highly compet it ive, and go second, wit h peer reviewed publicat ions t aking place of honor. Awards and honors reveal high levels of compet it ion, as do f ellowships and grant s. Invit ed t alks suggest a higher level of individual recognit ion and honor t han a volunt eered paper t o a conf erencet his is ref lect ed in t he order. Teaching in t his cont ext , ie, as a list of courses t aught , is not compet it ive, and t hus is de-priorit ized. Ext ra t raining you seek yourself , volunt arily, is f undament ally non-compet it ive. Et c. Et c. What is never included: Overseas t ravel

Career goals Anyt hing youd see on a business resume. [T his post will be added t o lat er; I've run out of t ime just now! In t he meant ime, please f eel f ree t o add your t hought s on anyt hing I've missed.]

About Karen
I am a f ormer t enured prof essor at t wo inst it ut ions--Universit y of Oregon and Universit y of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. I have t rained numerous Ph.D. st udent s, now gainf ully employed in academia, and handled a number of successf ul t enure cases as Depart ment Head. I've creat ed t his business, T he Prof essor Is In, t o guide graduat e st udent s and junior f acult y t hrough grad school, t he job search, and t enure. I am t he advisor t hey should already have, but probably don't .