Irrelevant work experience on an academic CV?

[Karou]

Hi guys,

So i recently went to the Career Centre at my current institution to get some help on how to construct an academic CV. The woman that helped me was lovely and helpful for the most part, but she said that I should talk about some of my work experience on there, even though it is completely irrelevant to academia. I've had many different "small jobs" in my life from waitressing to sales etc. I suppose I should trust her judgement but I'm EXTREMELY doubtful about this advice and I honestly do not want to put any of that in there. She said that it isn't necessarily impressive that I have a good GPA if all I did was go to school (which I thought was a little insulting tbh) and that showing that I worked on the side while studying would prove that I can handle myself or that I'm a hard worker or something to that effect. I have listed the research experience I have and I think that's more than enough. She also said to list volunteer work (of which there is only one instance in my case -shameful I know, I've lived in terribly small/isolated places quite a bit-, I volunteered at a cat shelter for a couple months, which, as a side note, was amazing). Not sure whether I should mention that ether. 

I've also travelled extensively (which I only discussed with her because I held those aforementioned small jobs in an array of different places), and she said I should put that under an 'Interests' section. As in, list the places I've lived in or visited for a relatively long period of time. Again, i'm not completely convinced that that's a good idea. 

I would appreciate any advice you may have on this! Keep in mind that I'm applying for MA programs, not PhD, and only 2 schools out of the 7 I'm applying to actually require me to send in my CV. So it's not a huge deal, but I still need my CV to be in good shape for those 2 schools.

Thanks so much!

 

 

Edited January 12, 2017 by Karou

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Can you spin the jobs or volunteer experience in a way that does relate to your research interests? I noticed your profile says history. Are you interested in the history of a particular region or a time period that relates to where you've traveled? 

If your CV doesn't look super empty without that information, I wouldn't bother adding it unless I could show how it relates to my future interests. Honestly, even at that point I'd probably just relay some of the highlights in my SOP if I wasn't comfortable with adding it to the CV.

[fuzzylogician]

There isn't just one correct way to do things, and at the end of the day you should only list things that you are comfortable having on your CV. It sounds to me like you got some very good advice, and I'm sorry if some if it was conveyed in a way you found offensive. Keeping a high GPA while working to support yourself is more telling about your character and abilities as a student than if you'd kept your high grades without also working, so I understand that advice. That said, it might also simply be something that you mention briefly in your SOP or some "do you have anything else to tell us" section of the application, if you are so inclined, and there is no harm in leaving this out if you don't want it on there. You can also choose to only mention some jobs but not others -- you are not obligated to mention them all. Same goes for the volunteer bit (which is fine to have, I think), and the travel bit, and that one I would be much more inclined to not mention at all because it's less obvious what it would teach the adcom that is relevant to their decision. An "interests" section is an odd one to have on an academic CV, in my opinion.

Overall your goal with the CV is to present yourself the best way you can, but it's also perfectly fine if your CV is quite short for an undergrad who is just applying for a Masters now. "Padding" won't do you much good, so instead the question to ask yourself about each potential entry is whether it presents an aspect of yourself that you want the adcom to know, and whether it supports you application or might help the adcom reach a positive decision in your case. That decision is up to you, so just do whatever feel right. If something doesn't help or you just don't want it there, then keep it out.

[Karou]

Thank you @GreenEyedTrombonist! This is pretty much what I was thinking, it's nice to have it echoed by somebody else. I touch on my lifestyle briefly in my SoP (it's relevant to my undergrad experience), but I'm not necessarily comfortable listing the details of it in my CV.

My research interests lie in the Italian Renaissance, and that's a very good point, but no I haven't really visited Italy besides a day or two in Florence unfortunately! I'm planning to remedy that next year.  

Thank you also, @fuzzylogician, that is very sound advice and I know you're right.  I guess I just found the comment not quite insulting, but I definitely heard it as one of those hard truths that can be a little jarring to hear and my ego responded by being pouty about it. I can definitely see her point though, I did my undergrad online while working and it was HARD. I have quite a few graduate credits under my belt (for which I actually physically attended university), and I did not work on the side, which was definitely less hard, so I know she's right! She did suggest, like you, that I pick and choose a couple of jobs to list, but I think I may leave that out altogether. Honestly, my "professional" CV is a bit of a hot mess and I feel like it may make me look like I lack direction and my academic background in untraditional enough as it is, I think it may be better to leave that out.

My academic CV is a bit sparse at this point, but I'm hoping that, as you said, it should be enough for Masters applications. I am definitely going to work on gaining more experience in the next couple of years!

Thank you both, this has been very helpful.