Thread by @CindyBVeldhuis

Two years ago I went through Columbia's academic job market bootcamp. It was many weeks long and we prepped our materials and got feedback on them. Here is some of what we learned: A🧵 #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter #AcademicJobs

First: CVs
CVs differ from resumes in purpose, audience, scope, content, structure, length and formatting. CVs document your career history - they tell the story of your work. Structure and length vary and may vary by fields.

Formatting may vary by fields too, but it is important to have a consistent format with defined sections, and some white space.

Use a standard 11 point font, use bold, italics, underline, all caps to differentiate sections and levels. Make sure it is super easy to scan/read. Number paged with your last name - try to avoid awkward spill overs (e.g., heading on bottom of page and the items on the next).

Use action verbs and bullets. Put things in reverse chronological order (most recent first), format pubs and other products in a way that is consistent with your field's practices.

The actual sections will depend on your experiences and your field.

Under education, list universities, location, degrees, date - they said it is optional to list your diss/thesis titles and advisors' names, but I think it is helpful. Can include awards you won related to your schooling here - or on awards page.

Research interests/exp. Can include brief statement with interests. List all research-related positions: institution, lab/project name, city, state, job title, dates. State concisely (bullets?) contributions/accomplishments. Use good verbs! Think about how to engage reader.

Publications/presentations
Use your field's style and keep consistent. Bold your name, note if you are senior author with an asterisk or something. Can include section on pubs under review or in progress. These help committees know what you are working on now. HOWEVER...

make sure your manuscripts in progress are far enough along that if someone asked to see a draft, you could whip one out.

Teaching experience: name of school, city state, title, dates. No one way to org this - can describe courses or just list. Can bullet your unique accomplishments. Include teaching eval scores?

Related professional experience - can include to explain time gaps or if they relate to unique skills/experiences.

Service: committees, organized events, leadership roles, reviewer for journals, etc.

Honors and awards: can explain awards if helpful for understanding the prestige/importance.

Personally, I like a section right under education that is your current position. Super helpful. They also didn't mention a grants funding section, which is important.

This is the org of my CV: education, current position, research experience, research funding (current, completed, pending), honors and awards, peer reviewed pubs, chapters, other non peer reviewed pubs, preprints, under review papers, papers in progress.

Next sections of my CV:
Invited talks (national/international then local/regional), conference presentations (symposium chair are their own section first), oral presentations then posters.

Next CV section: service to the profession, committees and other admin service by university, professional memberships, teaching (by university reverse chronologically - this section includes guest lectureships). Mentees by university then media and other coverage.

Can also include volunteer experience, community engagement, continuing ed/prof development, and languages. DO NOT include your social security number, birthdate, or other personal info.

Old school people include all of that. I once read a CV of someone who listed his current wife and children (and their ages and names) and then his ex wives! He also listed his time as an eagle scout. I think listing stuff older than college is maybe not helpful?

Look at other people's CVs - see what you like or don't like about them. How easy are they to just scan and get a sense as to who the person is? Application reviewers are busy - make sure yours is easy to take in very quickly.