Building a CV?

[Gara]

Hi guys! Just wondering whether anyone has advice about exactly what I should be doing early in my grad-school career (aside from studying, of course). Specifically, I want to use this time to be proactive about establishing connections both within and outside of my small department. I'm hoping that, by starting early, I'll give myself a better opportunity and more time to build a strong CV. I'm currently a master's student, but part of my motivation stems from a desire to to develop a CV that will help me grab the attention of PhD admissions boards in a year or two. I have some specific questions which I'll list below, but I'd appreciate any feedback, regardless of whether it directly addresses those questions. Okay, here goes:

• Should I be joining organizations like the MLA now, or should I focus on groups within my department?
• Would anyone recommend becoming an officer in my department's graduate student association?
• Should I be submitting any (good) paper I write for publication, or is it better to wait for a call for papers that corresponds to my research?
• Should I rely on my professors to help with newbie publications, or is this one of those take-the-bull-by-the-horns scenarios?

Reading these questions, I realize I sound a little like a politician; I'm not solely motivated by my desire to "get ahead." I love what I'm studying, and I love the work I do, but I'm also aware of Humanities budget cuts and increased grad school enrollment. Things are a little dicey in English departments right now; while I know it's entirely possible that I will fail to secure employment (much less tenure) at the end of this long road, I don't want to fail knowing I could have done more.

[UnlikelyGrad]

Hi guys! Just wondering whether anyone has advice about exactly what I should be doing early in my grad-school career (aside from studying, of course). Specifically, I want to use this time to be proactive about establishing connections both within and outside of my small department. I'm hoping that, by starting early, I'll give myself a better opportunity and more time to build a strong CV. I'm currently a master's student, but part of my motivation stems from a desire to to develop a CV that will help me grab the attention of PhD admissions boards in a year or two. I have some specific questions which I'll list below, but I'd appreciate any feedback, regardless of whether it directly addresses those questions. Okay, here goes:

• Should I be joining organizations like the MLA now, or should I focus on groups within my department?
• Would anyone recommend becoming an officer in my department's graduate student association?
• Should I be submitting any (good) paper I write for publication, or is it better to wait for a call for papers that corresponds to my research?
• Should I rely on my professors to help with newbie publications, or is this one of those take-the-bull-by-the-horns scenarios?

Reading these questions, I realize I sound a little like a politician; I'm not solely motivated by my desire to "get ahead." I love what I'm studying, and I love the work I do, but I'm also aware of Humanities budget cuts and increased grad school enrollment. Things are a little dicey in English departments right now; while I know it's entirely possible that I will fail to secure employment (much less tenure) at the end of this long road, I don't want to fail knowing I could have done more.

I know what you mean about sounding like a politician; I feel like that all the time.

Establishing connections is important, no matter what stage of the game you're in. Don't just get professors to think you're a smart person--you want them to WANT to bend over backwards to help you out. How do you do this? Mostly by volunteering to help them out. (Since I have limited time as a grad student, I try to do this selectively--I help in ways that will advance my career. Like subbing for them when they have to be out of town, etc.) I also try to help out the administrative staff when I have the chance, because they are good at pulling strings when push comes to shove.

This sounds very self-absorbed--like I only help because I want to get ahead. But that's not really the truth: I also do these things, in part, because I genuinely like them. (I have yet to volunteer to help the one faculty member in the department who I strongly dislike.)

You need to have the goal in mind at all times. What do I want? A career in academia. How will I get that? By publishing; by having good recommendations; by having a well-rounded CV. How can I get good recommendations? By befriending professors and helping them out. How can I get a well-rounded CV? By getting the right work experience (my politicking landed me a prime TA slot last semester) and impressing the right people (yes, I impressed the people who are in charge of picking the TA award--completely intentionally).

When I got my TA award, one of my officemates said: "Wow. If I'd known it came with money, I would have tried a little harder." I didn't know it came with money either. I did know it came with prestige, though, and would look good on my CV. And that's why I worked so hard to make sure I got it.

[Alette]

First: I LOVE your avatar! Too cute.

Second: Down to business. I'd join the MLA (it's much cheaper to join if you're a student anyway). Later on in your career, you'll need to join it to attend the job interviews hosted at the conference.

Publications - If you get a seminar paper that suggests publication, and/or a professor offers to help you revise it to be publishable. The professors at my MA were very generous with their offers, but were rarely taken up by the students. Don't let such an opportunity go!

Publications, II - Beyond papers, see if you can't assist with a professor's book. Jumping into an editing project is relatively easy.

TEACH. As many different classes as you can.

Those are the major things. I believe the Purdue OWL has a sample C.V. that includes an English PhD grad, which might be helpful to look over.

[mudlark]

Here's my take.

• Should I be joining organizations like the MLA now, or should I focus on groups within my department?

• Would anyone recommend becoming an officer in my department's graduate student association?

Sure! As long as it doesn't interfere with your grad work.

[*]Should I be submitting any (good) paper I write for publication, or is it better to wait for a call for papers that corresponds to my research?[*]Should I rely on my professors to help with newbie publications, or is this one of those take-the-bull-by-the-horns scenarios?

Ask your profs. They're the ones who know if your work is publishable yet. A good publication would be awesome, but you'd want to carefully develop a paper and then try to place it well. Not something a group of internet strangers can help you with!

Here are some things I would add to your list:

- Apply for every scholarship that you're eligible for, even if it's short notice or you don't like your odds. An extra small award here and there can help you land big ones later on.

- Attend talks on campus. If there's an interesting conference being held locally, or somewhere that you wouldn't mind taking a working vacation, consider attending, even if you're not presenting. It'll give you a good sense of what's going on in your field.

[StrangeLight]

are you writing a masters thesis? if so, try to get that published. in one subfield in my department, they pretty much expect us to publish our MAs and it's disappointing to them if we don't. you can only send an article out to one journal at a time, and they review it and accept or reject it before you can send it somewhere else. so your first place shouldn't aim too high (we're new, we won't be in flagship journals), but you want to pick a journal you've at least heard of. someone's online journal that's had two issues in 5 years is not a good choice.

CONFERENCES. not every paper you write is worthy of publication. i'm not sure how it works for literature, but for history, articles need to be based on a lot of primary research. a term paper for a seminar just doesn't cut it. BUT those can be excellent papers to transform into conference submissions. even before you've written anything, send out 250-word abstracts to every conference that is even tangentially related to what you do. beyond lengthening your CV, conferences are a great way to network and talk to professors about what you do. you may decide to apply to their PhD programs, and they may remember that you gave the really interesting presentation on X in virginia last year.

FELLOWSHIPS. apply for every fellowship, scholarship, essay prize, or whatever else that you are eligible for. this can be time-consuming but it's worth it. there's a hierarchy with fellowship and grant awards in academia. the people that get awards during their BAs and MAs get fellowships during their PhDs, get grants as professors, etc. also, these things usually come with money, and money is nice to have.

RESEARCH. not sure how this works for lit students, but doing your own primary research/original scholarship is important. getting a research assistantship with another professor can also look good on a CV, and it's a source of funding.

TEACHING. umm... this will build up your CV, but most PhD programs aren't looking for people with teaching experience. they're looking for future scholars. when you go on the job market, then teaching will be important, but just for the PhD? not so much. that said, having a teaching assistantship pay your way through a terminal MA is a big deal and worth having. but in that case, it's less about the teaching experience and more about being able to say "this school funded my MA degree."

[rising_star]

are you writing a masters thesis? if so, try to get that published. in one subfield in my department, they pretty much expect us to publish our MAs and it's disappointing to them if we don't. you can only send an article out to one journal at a time, and they review it and accept or reject it before you can send it somewhere else. so your first place shouldn't aim too high (we're new, we won't be in flagship journals), but you want to pick a journal you've at least heard of. someone's online journal that's had two issues in 5 years is not a good choice.

Before doing this, check with faculty in your department. While publishing from the MA thesis is standard in some disciplines/sub-fields, it's a horrible idea in others. And, if you do publish from a thesis, make sure the publication goes in a quality journal that you won't be embarrassed to list on your CV ten years from now.

FELLOWSHIPS. apply for every fellowship, scholarship, essay prize, or whatever else that you are eligible for. this can be time-consuming but it's worth it. there's a hierarchy with fellowship and grant awards in academia. the people that get awards during their BAs and MAs get fellowships during their PhDs, get grants as professors, etc. also, these things usually come with money, and money is nice to have.

I actually disagree with this advice. Applying for grants, essay prizes, fellowships, etc takes a *lot* of time, particularly if you want to put together a quality application. It also requires effort from your faculty to write supporting letters of recommendation. Yes, there's a hierarchy where people who have gotten funding in the past tend to get funding, but that doesn't mean you should apply for every little thing out there. (Note: by little, I'm not referring to the amount of money winners receive. I have gotten numerous travel grants for $200 or $500. But, while competitive, those weren't that difficult to obtain, which is why I applied for them.)

Essay prizes are even worse sometimes, because you may have to write an entirely new research paper to have something to submit. If writing that paper doesn't further your research interests or goals, it's probably not worth applying, even if you are eligible.

TEACHING. umm... this will build up your CV, but most PhD programs aren't looking for people with teaching experience. they're looking for future scholars. when you go on the job market, then teaching will be important, but just for the PhD? not so much. that said, having a teaching assistantship pay your way through a terminal MA is a big deal and worth having. but in that case, it's less about the teaching experience and more about being able to say "this school funded my MA degree."

In lit programs, they probably are wanting an applicant with at least some teaching experience, mainly because they're going to through you into teaching freshman comp in your first semester at most PhD programs. But, that doesn't mean you should go out of your way to teach as a volunteer or something. Getting a paid TAship is great, as would any other assistantship in a library/research setting. Teaching is also important to do as a MA student because it can help you decide whether or not teaching is what you want to do as a career, and lead to accompanying changes in PhD program selection.

[KM3]

• Would anyone recommend becoming an officer in my department's graduate student association?
• Should I be submitting any (good) paper I write for publication, or is it better to wait for a call for papers that corresponds to my research?
• Should I rely on my professors to help with newbie publications, or is this one of those take-the-bull-by-the-horns scenarios?

Ok, I recently completed my MA in History with the PhD starting in the Fall and here's my two bits. (I'm numbering the above questions).

1. Depends. You can definitely overstretch yourself and if you are new to grad work, take a semester to gauge the work load. Know how much you can do and how much personal time you are willing to sacrifice for putting in extra work on top of the enormous work load already on your plate. I held an executive position on a grad/faculty interdisciplinary research board and helped to organize two conferences (CFP, panel selection, budget, the works) while earning my MA. These things are always good for the CV, but were an enormous time-suck, making it very stressful to do while working on everything else.

2. My advisor once told me that anytime you write a research paper, you should consider publishing. Once you've got some of your research done, definitely seek out CFPs--good way to see where the discipline is headed and make potential networking contacts. I suggest sending work to conferences where possible to present your work, network, get a sense of where your scholarship fits in with the other research and see what others are working on.

3. I just recently sent my first publication abstract out, so I'm not much help here. Any ideas where you would publish/what journals seem in step with your research/methodologies? I would talk with an advisor about it.

You definitely have the right idea.

Edited March 27, 2011 by KM3

[far_to_go]

I'm in the first year of a Ph.D. that will take a long time (6 years if I'm lucky). I'm doing my darndest to stay on top of coursework, but I also try to engage in the CV-building stuff. In fact, I've set a personal goal of trying to either present at 1 conference or publish 1 article per semester. So far it's working out; I presented at a national conference last semester, and a regional one just last week. Conferences really are a good way to network and get new ideas. Plus, an excuse to travel? Yes please!

Don't forget to keep an eye open for CV-building opportunities close to home. My department has annual Best Essay and Best TA awards for its grad students; I applied for both awards, as the app process involved relatively little work ("Best Essay" was supposed to be one already submitted for coursework, not written from scratch). I may not win either award, but that's ok; I think the process of applying for things can be valuable in and of itself, as it can encourage useful self-reflection. Also, the more awards you apply for, the more chances to eventually win something! :-)

Volunteering/service within the department can also be a CV builder, in addition to building capital in relationships with profs. One of my profs runs a center which organizes panel discussions and other events, and I'm one of the "interns" (i.e. I help with putting up fliers, getting refreshments, etc). May seem a bit lowly, but it doesn't take up too much of my time, and in my department it's very important to be seen as a "team player." And, of course, another line on the ol' CV...

[Kurlee]

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