There is a golden rule for writing a good CV: Break all the rules for writing a good resumé. A good CV will always be longer than one page and should include a full listing of your scholarly accomplishments. What scholarly accomplishments? If you're getting a Ph.D., you have some even if you think you don't. What papers have you written? What significant research have you done? Have you assisted a professor on his/her research and received credit? Comb through your academic history.
A CV can be broken into the following sections:
What type of position do you want? How can you help the institution?
List all degrees after high school.
Describe all research and teaching experience and other relevant work experience.
If you're not a member of a professional organization yet, join today. What are you waiting for?
List refereed publications first.
Specify any talks you gave that were by invitation.
List honors before college only if they were highly prestigious (i.e. they enjoy a national reputation) or are relevant to your future academic career.
On a separate sheet of paper, list four or five professional references including your thesis advisor. Other good candidates for references include professors on your dissertation committee, professors at other colleges and colleagues from professional organizations.
The tone of the CV is serious, and the language is a mixture of plain English and the jargon of your specialty. Emphasize teaching experience and communication for positions in small colleges and research experience for positions in research universities. Spell-check and have others critique your CV before you send it anywhere. Putting your CV online makes a loud nonverbal statement that you have the skills of a 21st Century scholar.
After personal contacts, professional organizations and The Chronicle of Higher Education, the weekly newspaper of higher education, are the best sources of tips and information for academic job hunters.
In a best-case scenario, your CV will result in a few invitations to institutions you have applied to. In this all-day academic interview, you will typically give a seminar, talk to and be interviewed by the other professors in the department, be interviewed by a dean, and go to lunch or dinner with several faculty members. This interview requires preparing the seminar and your credentials, and looking and acting your professional best. You can leave student behavior at home with your jeans and tennis shoes.
If you're not invited to one of these coveted interviews, you will have only gained experience in applying for academic positions. Do not despair; you are in the majority, and you have several other options.
Non-tenure track or temporary positions are easier to obtain and may be available to you. Since the academic job market is tight, it's a good idea to apply for some of these when you apply for tenure-track ones. In today's job market, candidates hired for tenure-track positions have often completed several temporary teaching or research positions already. The silent reality may be that experience from a temporary job is necessary to get a tenure-track position in your field.
If both tenure-track and temporary academic job offer don't come your way, there are still other opportunities. Be advised, however, that few research advisors are aware of non-academic job opportunities for Ph.D.s. The resources and personnel in your university's career center will be more helpful.
Be prepared for negative remarks about getting a non-academic position. These usually come from professors who have the security of tenure and six figure salaries. These people may suggest that a non-academic career is a degrading life and that you and your family should live nomadically and at the poverty level indefinitely. If you think these people are out of touch with reality, you are probably right.
If you must make a living and don't have an academic job offer, you need to follow an alternate career plan. Cut your CV into a resumé and follow all those rules for writing a good resumé that you broke before. Omit scholarly work and skip the professorese. Use active verbs and emphasize the relevant skills you have gained from your research. Remember that success in the corporate world requires abandoning academic elitism, developing a service-orientation, and valuing work performance more than academic degrees.
Your transferable skills may include:
Taking short courses or workshops may bridge the gap between your academic preparation and the skills needed for a nonacademic career. Your specialization and personal and financial situation may make self-employment an option. Many books and websites offer advice on changing careers and on gaining entry-level positions. There are numerous general job boards as well as ones for specific professional fields and geographic locations. A warning: You may feel like just an average Joe once you leave the academic arena, get over it, you are entering a new world now.
As you get your Ph.D., you will receive many congratulations on reaching the highest level of academia. You are justified in taking pride in your achievement. That pride will energize you as you ascend from your new position to whichever rung of the professional world you can grasp. |
