Academic CV with little experience?

[cybrid]

I'm applying to Masters programs in the (rather nebulous) field of Visual Studies, and part of the application process is submitting an academic CV; however I don't know if I really have anything to put on it! I completed my undergrad with a degree in Studio Art, and didn't realize until much later in my undergraduate career that I wanted to pursue postgraduate academic study. For that reason, I never conducted any research or did any kind of paper collaboration in the field. 

 

I got good grades and a good GRE score, and I've been told by my rec writers that my work samples both seem dandy, but there's really no way to hide a dearth of research or outside work in the field! Any suggestions? What should an academic CV look like if you haven't attended any conferences, won any requisite awards/grants, or contributed any published papers?  

[fuzzylogician]

Generally speaking, you put personal/contact info, education, awards, publications/presentations, teaching experience, research experience, service, other work experience (if relevant), other skills (field specific; e.g. programming skills, languages). In some cases you may also want to add a list of relevant coursework with short explanations of course content, if it's not clear from the transcript (e.g. "Topics in Art" can mean all kinds of different things and the adcom won't know what you actually did).

 

Look at CVs of students in the programs you want to apply to. What do their CVs contain? Perhaps in art fields you also add work you've created and showed or other similar entries. Look in particular at beginning students' CVs -- people in their 1st or maybe 2nd year, to get an idea of what kind of experience they had when they were admitted to these programs. It'll also give you an idea of how to structure your own CV. Don't pad -- it'll be obvious. Better a short but honest CV than a long but clearly faking it one. 

[cybrid]

Generally speaking, you put personal/contact info, education, awards, publications/presentations, teaching experience, research experience, service, other work experience (if relevant), other skills (field specific; e.g. programming skills, languages). In some cases you may also want to add a list of relevant coursework with short explanations of course content, if it's not clear from the transcript (e.g. "Topics in Art" can mean all kinds of different things and the adcom won't know what you actually did).

 

Beyond honor's lists and getting into a competitive course that you apply for, I don't have really anything to speak of: no awards, publications, teaching/research experience, or relevant work experience. Since graduating I've been supporting myself full time, and have not had the luxury of unpaid internships or volunteer work. 

 

So what I've got so far is personal/contact info, education and maybe explaining a couple courses. Is that even an acceptable CV? It sounds pretty bad. 

[MsDarjeeling]

I'm not in your field, but I had the same concern when I started writing my CV.  Limited research, had spent over a decade working in a completely different field, ummm aren't I only going to have a page of nothingness?  As fuzzy suggested above I started looking at CV's in my field.  I looked at those of seasoned professionals to first get an idea of what it will look like later on and then I looked at grad student ones to see what it may look like now.  From there I noted all of the sections that would eventually be on it, had that as my template, and started working.  Any section that I had nothing to put in was removed such as publications, presentations, professional associations, & grants/scholarships/fellowships.  Eventually I'll have things to put under those headings, but right now it would look silly to just put "none" under them.  Then for the sections I did have stuff for I was amazed at how much I could list there.  It helped to look at my regular resume/work history and have drafts of my CV reviewed by others for additional input on format and what to include.  It is now 6 pages and the feedback I've gotten has been extremely positive.

[cybrid]

Thanks Latte and Fuzzy, I really appreciate the advice!

 

My next question is this, then: I had decided to take a year off from academia to reevaluate my desire to go to graduate school, and worked outside of my field of study. It's definitely not academically relevant, but should I put it on my CV anyway just to show that I wasn't just loafing around at my parents house or something for that year? 

 

ETA: also, where do you usually find sample CVs? I've found plenty for professors, but I've been having trouble locating grad student ones; all of the programs I'm interested just has a list of its students with brief copy about their interests. Is Google usually the best tool?

Edited October 22, 2013 by cybrid

[fuzzylogician]

Yeah, I think it'd be fair to have a "other work experience" section at the end of your CV and list your employment there. It's probably not going to help much and also not going to hurt -- it just might answer someone's question of what you were doing with your time, though likely it wouldn't matter if you didn't specify your non-academic job either. 

 

In my field students often have their own websites and you can find links on the "people" page of different programs. If that's not the case in your field, you could use google. Find the names on the department website and then use google to find out if they have a website. If possible, try and find people who are just beginning the program and not ones who are further along to get an idea of what CVs of accepted students tend to look like, but I'd look at more advanced students' CVs for a better idea of the accepted format of the CV. It'll require some work if it's not just listed on the website, but I think it's worth it. 

[cybrid]

Thanks Fuzzy! This has been extremely helpful—and the promptness of your responses is really incredible. With Latte's and your advice I'm beginning to pull something together...it's still not particularly impressive, but at least it's something.