CV Question

[newenglandshawn]

I'm just curious about what others include in their CV when applying to doctoral programs. I'm specifically wondering about one's writing history. I've written a lot for "popular" audiences (including two books, published by denominational publishers), but I'm wondering whether including these types of things would be viewed as sophomoric, irrelevant - or helpful. 

 

Just to clarify: I am planning to apply to PhD/ThD programs that may have diverse attitudes towards this sort of thing (e.g., the ThD program at Duke Divinity may find it a little more relevant than the PhD program at Harvard). So perhaps I could submit a different CV to the different types of programs? Or maybe I should just avoid including these types of things altogether?

 

PS. I may or may not have asked this same question on here before - I can't remember (and you can't do a search that has fewer than three letters - thus "CV" can't be searched)!

[dr. t]

I find it's one of those things that goes at the end of my CV, right before my languages and professional affiliations, and gets cut quite frequently. For me, however, it's mostly work that was never published in hard copy, so it's not quite the same situation.

[newenglandshawn]

Awesome! Thanks for the feedback. As I said, I think I would be inclined to include it for Div School/Schools of Theology, but probably not to other programs.

 

Another area, though: when I was an undergrad, I was in choir, etc. Do you see any of these programs giving two hoots about such things? How much do we "pad" our CVs with extra-curricular stuff that ultimately has little relevance to a PhD/ThD program? 

[diazalon]

Awesome! Thanks for the feedback. As I said, I think I would be inclined to include it for Div School/Schools of Theology, but probably not to other programs.

 

Another area, though: when I was an undergrad, I was in choir, etc. Do you see any of these programs giving two hoots about such things? How much do we "pad" our CVs with extra-curricular stuff that ultimately has little relevance to a PhD/ThD program? 

 

Don't pad your CV, especially with irrelevant information. It is nice that you were in a choir, but the committee will see that and think "s/he is grasping at straws here" instead of "oh how nice, s/he can sing." Everyone knows what padding looks like, so its better just to leave it off and give only relevant information. Similarly, if your previous written work is non-academic, I would leave it off. It doesn't help, and could definitely hurt. 

[dr. t]

Awesome! Thanks for the feedback. As I said, I think I would be inclined to include it for Div School/Schools of Theology, but probably not to other programs.

 

Another area, though: when I was an undergrad, I was in choir, etc. Do you see any of these programs giving two hoots about such things? How much do we "pad" our CVs with extra-curricular stuff that ultimately has little relevance to a PhD/ThD program? 

 

Yeah, no one cares about choir or other activities. I would disagree with diazalon, though - even if your other work is non-academic, it shows you know how to navigate the publishing world, and it shows what you've been up to. It seems to me like one of those things to keep until you have something better to go in that space.

[marXian]

This has been a live debate before at AAR--whether one is self-destructing one's career by publishing a pop text before a major academic one (or many major academic ones). Though I don't necessarily agree with it in principle, I would err on the side of caution and only include academic publications--and by that, I mean only publications that have been accepted in journals that are more or less widely recognized as reputable (which would include some denominational journals, but definitely not all) or books published by university presses. 

 

As diazalon said, committees can tell when one is padding--though what that looks like will probably differ among each committee member. What I mean is that some profs will encourage students in their first year of a PhD to begin publishing and others don't want their advisees publishing anything until exams are passed and dissertation prospectus is approved. That may be a little overkill but the reasoning is that it isn't until then that one has a good enough understanding of the field and one's own project to publish things that won't be embarrassing later. So if you have committee members who assent to the latter way of thinking about publishing, they are most likely going to immediately discount any publication that isn't in a major journal.

 

It is much better to have a "lighter" CV than to have one weighed down with items a committee will find irrelevant.

[squirrelBnuts]

On a related note, any recommendations for an uncluttered CV template?

 

I recently graduated with an MDiv after having been out of school for nearly a decade, so my academic work is somewhat limited. Yet I would like to start attaching a CV to emails I'm sending to persons of interest. Any thoughts on whether or not to include basic work info, say, as part of a timeline? 

[turktheman]

What about adding SBL/ASOR conference presentations to CVs? I am on the fence about including regional meeting presentations, but I do feel better including the presentation I gave last year at national. I don't want to pad, but in my head including regional meeting presentations will inform the committee of a long term (four years now) of attendance and participation at regional meetings. But it could also be padding! Any advice? 

[sacklunch]

Conference presentations, even regional ones, are perfectly fine to add. 

[newenglandshawn]

Conference presentations, even regional ones, are perfectly fine to add. 

 

Yeah, I was going to say: I'd give up to half my kingdom to have even regional presentations to put on my CV. 

Edited September 8, 2014 by newenglandshawn

[AbrasaxEos]

When you are applying, you may well feel as though you have quite a pitiful-looking CV, especially if you go and take a look at those of the profs you would like to work with (or possibly the bloated bloviations of graduate students who include every course they ever took, books they've read, and hallway conversations held with big names at SBL/AAR as the exemplars of knowledge falsely so called).  Despite this, if you scroll back through those same CVs of the profs you like and match up the listed achievements with their years of graduation from their various degrees, you'll probably find that back in 1984 when they graduated from HDS or something, their CV would have been quite slim as well.  AdComs know this and mostly expect it.  Your CV is a easy place where they can find your degrees thus far, interests, language preparation, and perhaps a few tidbits like regional or national presentations, etc.  Don't pad it with unnecessary information. If you think it might be directly relevant to your acceptance into the program, then put it in, but if you find yourself asking whether or not it has relevance, just leave it off.  You want your CV to be easy to navigate and to clearly demonstrate the things that will be important for your acceptance, so if they are buried four pages back in a whirlwind of barely relevant class presentations, fiction books reviewed for the student newspaper at your undergraduate institution, and membership records for the local rotary club, I don't think you achieve this.  In terms of templates, go look at a few examples and ask yourself whether or not they clearly allow you to locate information that you might be seeking.  I have seen some execrable examples of CVs where everything is in one long column, barely separated, in the same font, same size, with lines jutting out like a poorly-trimmed hedgerow.  Don't do that.

[marXian]

(or possibly the bloated bloviations of graduate students who include every course they ever took, books they've read, and hallway conversations held with big names at SBL/AAR as the exemplars of knowledge falsely so called). 

 

Possibly one of the best sentences (or asides) I've read [on this forum.] Especially the phrase "bloated bloviations."