Should I put this on my C.V.? How should I/could I?

[carlyhylton]

Hi all!

 

I'm not sure if this is a good place to post this, but I don't know of anywhere else I could get feedback about this so I thought I'd try here!

 

I am an undergraduate psychology major who had been hoping to apply to graduate studies, but now for a variety of reasons I'm not. I hope in the future I will be able to. I am graduating and I have had RAships throughout my undergrad, and I am applying to new RAships now (hoping to start after I graduate). As such, my resume is formatted as an academic curriculum vitae. 

 

I was recently invited by my honours thesis supervisors to demo our virtual reality environment that we use for our research at the Ontario Science Centre for the Ontario Brain Institute's BrainFest as part of the American Museum of Natural History's Brain Exhibit.

 

I was wondering if I should put this on my C.V.? How and where would I put this? I ask especially because a position I just applied to wanted experience supporting knowledge translation, and I'm wondering if I can spin this as such....

 

Thanks for your help!

 

C

[C10H12N2O]

Conferences/Presentations? 

[carlyhylton]

Thanks @C10H12N20!

Any other opinions!

 

Ps congrats on your acceptances @C10H12N20!

[ginagirl]

I think if you will actually be presenting it, go ahead and put it under presentations/conferences. However from your phrasing it sounds like your supervisors just proposed that you do it/encouraged you to apply to do it ("..invited by my supervisors.."). Unless it's already been approved by the conference/meeting then I wouldn't put it.

[Cookie]

You can only list an activity after you've already done it. Have you? 

It should be under Presentations/Publications.

[fuzzylogician]

You can only list an activity after you've already done it. Have you? 

 

I disagree. You can definitely list conference presentations before they happen, once you have been accepted (that is, not after just submitting an abstract, but after receiving an acceptance notification). You simply list the conference with future dates. I personally do something like this: 

 

[2015]     "Catchy title," Conference of awesomeness, Glorious city, August 2015. 

[2015]     "I am so productive," Conference near university town, City, June 2015.

2015       "Yet another presentation," Society conference, Fun city, January 2015.

2014       "Presentation based on my dissertation." Big conference, Some city, September 2014.

... 

[Sigaba]

I disagree. You can definitely list conference presentations before they happen, once you have been accepted (that is, not after just submitting an abstract, but after receiving an acceptance notification). You simply list the conference with future dates. I personally do something like this: 

 

[2015]     "Catchy title," Conference of awesomeness, Glorious city, August 2015. 

[2015]     "I am so productive," Conference near university town, City, June 2015.

2015       "Yet another presentation," Society conference, Fun city, January 2015.

2014       "Presentation based on my dissertation." Big conference, Some city, September 2014.

... 

 

Before taking FL's sound guidance, I recommend that you first check the professional guidelines of the relevant professional academic associations in your field of study.

 

More generally, I respectfully recommend that you not use in public terms like "sell" or "spin" or "network" or "hook." While such terms may be popular among some of your peers and acceptable in some quarters, they may not strike the right chord among those who take their craft and their profession seriously.  Just my experience-based two cents.

[carlyhylton]

Thanks all and sorry for the delayed response!

 

I am afraid that I have confused everyone! I did already do this demo!

 

However, it was not a scientific/academic conference. It was a part of the Brain Exhibit at the Ontario Science Centre open to the public. So, the people who came by were everyone from scientists to toddlers with barely any command of English/French (the languages I demo'd in). For this reason, I am not sure if this is appropriate to list under conferences/presentations. I would appreciate any advice, again.

 

@Sigaba thank you for your response. Perhaps this additional information will shed light onto why I would like to emphasize knowledge translation skills I used during this demo. 

I think it was assumptive to criticize my use of the word 'spin'. I hope in light of the additional info you will see that I am not misrepresenting myself (as I think you might have been implying). I don't feel that I shouldn't have used the word 'spin'. While I am very early in my career and I could be wrong, I have been told that it is important to craft your resume to present and brand yourself in the best way for the job, even in academia. I don't feel that this means that I don't take my craft and profession seriously. For the meantime, I am going to respectfully decline to correct myself, as per your recommendation. 

 

I would however be curious to know what others think about @Sigaba's respectful recommendation.

 

Thanks again!

[carlyhylton]

Sorry for the double post but... "I respectfully recommend that you not use... the term... "network"... Really?!

Isn't that what ResearchGate etc is all about? Isn't science supposed to be collaborative and based on a network of peer reviews etc?

I just don't get this.

 

Perhaps this word is taboo in the humanities, but not the sciences?

 

Thoughts?

[Sigaba]

Just my experience-based two cents.

 

 

 Really?!

 

 

Carly, my recommendation is based upon my experiences. That is, I have heard how some tenured professors talk about undergraduates who write/say things like "really?" in reply to guidance they don't like, what they think of individuals who, for what ever reason, attempt to squeeze a square peg into a round hole, and the process which some call "networking,"

 

In my experience, and maybe the halls of history departments are unlike other areas of the Ivory Tower, professors have codes of conduct and personal preferences. Sometimes, undergraduates and graduates don't know they've crossed a line, or that there even was a line, until they realized that they're not being mentored or supported while their peers are.

 

IRT to your usage of the word "spin," I made no assumptions. I suggested that you not use it so you would not develop the habit of using words that can be unintentionally controversial. (I once got my head ripped off for calling a professor "doctor".)

[carlyhylton]

@Sigaba I think you've taken this too personally and my comments too seriously. This is an online forum. I don't think anything I've said is inappropriate. I simply tried to explain my reasons for disagreeing and spark a conversation about this. As someone in the sciences, I don't like doing things just because someone "respectfully recommends so" or because I'm and "undergraduate" (and because you're a graduate student(?)). I like "evidence-based practice".

I hope you can agree to disagree and stop politely attacking me. Thanks in advance.

Finally, sorry to hear about your bad experiences. Getting "your head ripped off for calling a professor Dr..." sounds like a terrible experience.

 

Cheers.

[Cookie]

I disagree. You can definitely list conference presentations before they happen, once you have been accepted (that is, not after just submitting an abstract, but after receiving an acceptance notification). You simply list the conference with future dates. I personally do something like this: 

 

[2015]     "Catchy title," Conference of awesomeness, Glorious city, August 2015. 

[2015]     "I am so productive," Conference near university town, City, June 2015.

2015       "Yet another presentation," Society conference, Fun city, January 2015.

2014       "Presentation based on my dissertation." Big conference, Some city, September 2014.

... 

 

Conferences, yes. The activity OP is going to, no. You dont list a volunteer position until you have done it. That advice comes from the Professional Development team of my school.

[rising_star]

Conferences, yes. The activity OP is going to, no. You dont list a volunteer position until you have done it. That advice comes from the Professional Development team of my school.

 

The OP has said that they already did this demonstration. So, I don't know why you'd question whether it should be listed at this point if it's done...

[TakeruK]

I think Sigaba is right to mention that we should always be aware of what the "norms" are in each field. 

 

However, although I can't speak for all of the physical sciences, my experience with the my field and other physical science fields is that people are changing the negative connotations that might come with such words. For example, we are taught to have "hooks" when we write our research proposals (especially for grants). When we learn how to give talks, we are taught to "sell" the story convincingly, or put the right "spin" on the it for the right audience.

 

Understandably, some people are uncomfortable with such words because of the "used car salesman" vibe that comes along with it. However, modern usage in the sciences is not meant to swindle or trick the audience into believing your result but actually to effectively communicate your research's purpose and consequences. It's all about communication and providing the audience with what they are looking for, whether it is a reason to fund your research ("selling"), a reason to continue reading your proposal or to highlight how your proposal stands out from other work (a "hook"), or making sure you deliver context relevant information for the right audience ("spin"). For the last example, my research uses some advanced telescope technology to achieve the results, but if my audience is mostly theoretical, I'm deliver my presentation to highlight the physical consequences of my finding. But if I'm presenting to instrumentation scientists, I would "spin" this work as "look what we can achieve with nice instruments you built".

 

That is, it is simply not enough to "just" be good at your work. You need to be good at your work and be competent in communicating it to other people. Some might say you have to be able to "sell yourself", which is another way of phrasing it, but I really think it's all about effective communication. What good are researchers if we can't tell others about our work?

 

In my field, many professors are recommending this book, "Marketing for Scientists: How to Shine in Tough Times", as a guide for graduate students and young researchers on how to do all of this. The author is an astrophysicist who also writes country music as a hobby (initially) and as he developed that part of his career, he learned a lot about marketing. In the book, he translates the marketing skills learned in the music industry to academia. It also specifically addresses the discomforts academics might have about the "sleazy used car salesman" connotations of marketing related words. There are also special sessions on how to network in academia (and for jobs outside of academia) at the annual American Astronomical Society meetings. These terms are far from taboo in my field, and in fact, openly encouraged and addressed by our advisors as part of our graduate student training.

[carlyhylton]

Hi all! Thanks for your feedback... so if it's been done... and it has... it should be listed under conferences/presentations? Even if it was not an academic presentation presented during an academic conference? Just want to confirm.

 

 

Also, thanks TakeruK. This has been my experience as well, in the labs I've worked for in computer science/engineering/human factors/psychology/neuroscience. Perhaps it is different in the humanities.

[TakeruK]

If you put conferences and presentations into one heading, I would not put this presentation there because that implies academic presentations. Personally, I have a teaching and outreach section in my CV and I put things like this there, along with any public lectures etc.