How to improve your CV as a historian

[fishsauce]

Earlier this week I had an interview with a POI at my top choice school which just went as magnificently well as such interviews can go.

 

Two days later (tonight) I go into a panic, realizing that my application to that school is full of flaws, and that said school is extremely competitive and that in general I do not feel confident of my ability to make the cut.

 

So, here's my question. What on earth does an applicant such as myself, with an MA in area studies, looking to jump to history, do to improve my application before the next admissions round? There aren't really any research jobs for historians with MAs out there, after all, particularly those of us dealing with non-contemporary history.

 

I'm thinking I will just do research on my own and try to publish papers and present at conferences. Is this worth attempting? Is it possible if I'm not affiliated with a university?

 

What have other people done in this situation?

[Katzenmusik]

Calm thoughts! You haven't been rejected yet. Indeed, they called you for an interview, and it went well! That's a good sign.

It's still a good idea to pursue academic accomplishments that you can add to your CV. So if you have a decent seminar paper or thesis excerpt (your writing sample?), go ahead and spruce it up and send it to a journal for review. Submit proposals for a big conference or two. Independent (unaffiliated) scholars do this, and it can't hurt to try.

Maybe also work on language skills.

Don't worry about having an actual research job at this stage, just continue on in your free time as you can.

If you have apply again next year, you can focus on revising your SOP, perhaps going over it with a professor who knows your work and who can suggest changes.

Good luck!!

[New England Nat]

First thing you should do is calm down. No one's application is perfect. This time of year brings out all sorts of fears, rational and irrational, try not to get too caught up in them.

[plasticWaterBottle]

There isn't any reason not to present at conferences. If you have a M.A. you no doubt have papers sitting around just waiting to be turned into presentations. Also, what about teaching as an adjunct? Teaching experience I would think would definitely help your app. I am an adjunct instructor and I put every different class that I teach on my CV.