Every so often I am asked to screen a CV by a job candidate, evaluate a cv as part of an internal review process or to serve an external reviewer for a tenure case.
For non-academics, a CV is like a resume - but provides a fairly detailed accounting of all aspects of academic life - degrees, jobs, research, grants, teaching and so on.
I am constantly surprised by the density of errors that I find in CVs.
On the one hand, you might think - who cares? It’s just a cv. If it is a dated or has typos - what does it matter?
On the other hand, you have to care bc your CV provides cues about what you priortize and what you think is important.
Frankly, while small typos don’t matter, they subtly change how you view the CV.
Occasionally, you come across bigger errors - like paper titles or author order.
Rarely, you come across important errors - such as reporting papers are in advanced stages of review or even published - when in fact they are not.
Typically, these are honest mistakes - occasionally- they are systematic & result in charges of academic misconduct.
So assuming the mistakes are honest, how do you avoid making them?
Most of my suggestions are blinding flashes of the obvious - so please stop now if you are not patient.
First, pick a citation format.
Use it consistently.
This makes it easy to read & easy to spot errors.
Second, keep just one CV.
I have friends who keep two CVs - one for public consumption & one for the job market.
I have another with a third that they use for grant applications.
I keep one CV & cut out sub-CVs for specific purposes from it.
A single master makes content control easy.
Third, I only put accepted or conditionally accepted papers & grants on my CV.
I keep a separate doc for pipeline.
This minimizes my chance for error. It also helps me organize what I have going on.
I only add pipeline papers & grants to a sub-cv if it’s required for a specific purpose.
Fourth, I update committee work, field based services, awards & so on my main CV as they occur.
I cluster them by dept, College, uni, field & so on.
I do this consistently.
After 25 years of additions, this makes the content more manageable & keeps it accurate.
Fifth, I try to keep the main CV doc as static as possible.
I don’t fiddle with font, margins etc - once they are set.
I do spell check - obsessively.
This creates less chance for error.
Sixth, I don’t put my home address etc on it.
in higher ed, we are so bad at data management, I don’t want to inadvertently disclose personal data.
Finally, I update my personal references periodically.
They should change as your career matures.
I find these simple rules have helped me avoid problems & create free time for what is important - coffee!
More importantly, minimizing typos allows me to tell my academic story (accurately) in a meaningful way to internal and external audiences.
Best of luck!
Comments