CV Questions

[Emelye]

I am a recent English Lit grad and am applying to a variety of lit and comp lit programs with a medieval literatire emphasis for Fall 2012. I'm putting together my CV, and it keeps getting more and more difficult because I keep thinking of things to add but I'm not sure if they really belong on there or if the will be perceived as "fluff.' So, here are the categories I have:

Education (including major, GPA, graduation honors, and the title of my honors thesis)

Research Interests (<100 word description)

Teaching Experience (including undergrad TA position, volunteer tutoring, and related self employment)

Academic Awards and Honors (things like Dean's List, merit scholarships, national awards)

Publications (I only have one...)

Other Publishing Experience (I wrote and edited for the school newspaper for two years)

and Languages (seperated by modern and ancient)

Now, I'm thinking of adding another section (after Publishing Experience) so I can include some honors research projects that I worked on closely with professors. I completed three of them (each attached to a class on my transcript but involving extra work), but none of them resulted in publication. I did one on Lollardy and Chaucer (a point of continuing interest for me), one on Japanese haiku and travel writing, and a final one on Islamic literature. For the last one, I even led an entire 70-minute class period.

So the reason I'd like to include them is because it highlights my interdiciplinary interests: medieval literature, religious traditions, cultural studies...that sort of thing. I also learned and accomplished a lot with the projects and worked closely with three different proffesors in order to complete the projects. So, is it worth it to include them...or would it seem like I was trying to pad my app with whatever I can pull out. These projects will not be listed anywhere else on my app (excpet indicated on my transcript by a single letter next to the course codes of each of the courses for which I completed these projects.) Also, how would I list them, if I did list them? Like, would I describe the project and then list the advisor and the class? Also, what do you think of my existing sections? Are the redundant at all?

Thanks!

Em

[GardeningGrad]

My two cents:

Objective/Research Interests (<100 word description)

Education (including major, GPA, graduation honors, and the title of my honors thesis)

Research and publications (including your honors projects)

Teaching Experience (including undergrad TA position, volunteer tutoring, and related self employment)

Academic Awards and Honors (things like Dean's List, merit scholarships, national awards)

A section for volunteer service/related experiences (include school newspaper)

Other Publishing Experience (I wrote and edited for the school newspaper for two years)

and Languages (seperated by modern and ancient)

If applicable, add a section for professor associations you're involved in.

good luck!

[runonsentence]

I agree with the suggestions to put your research interests (and possibly an objective statement as well) at the top. Mine simply read, "Pursuing PhD programs in Rhetoric and Composition with research interests in....."

I also agree with grouping your research projects along with your publication. On my CV I listed them by title, followed by a colon and a short (one-sentence) description of the project.

I think that the other publishing experience could be listed under a heading called something like, "Relevant Professional Experience." I have such a section at the end of my CV, which lists all my industry experience, my experience writing and editing for my undergrad's student newspaper, etc. (Basically, anything not directly related to teaching but still somewhat pertinent to the field.)

Edited June 14, 2011 by runonsentence