Resumes

1
Resumes

• JT

2
Basics of resume writing

• Your resume is an important element of your
  future success
• Academic resumes are different from business
  ones.
• Usually detailed and comprehensive.
• Normally do not contain a summary statement of
  goals or reasons for applying for a job.
• Expected to help the reader understand
• Your training and skills
• Your research
• Teaching experience
• Service contributions
• Factually must be accurate
• Very damaging if you are caught out
• Treat it as a living document update it as you
  make contributions to it.

3
Basic Information

• Name
• Contact information
• Previous positions/appointments
• Position place and dates
• Only the relevant ones (dont bother about
  waiting and bar jobs etc.)
• Education
• Degrees
• Date and institution
• Theses and dissertations
• Title
• Advisor
• In every component work from the most recent and
  then backwards.
• It must look professional and it must be
  completely honest

4
Status of publications

• Refereed vs unrefereed publications.
• In the former the paper is sent to independent
  reviewers for peer-review.
• In the latter the paper is published as is and
  can conceivably contain significant flaws.
• Usually if an article is in a refereed journal
  then it will have some corrections or alterations
  made to it after the review process based on the
  suggestions of reviewers.
• These may be minor or sometimes quite demanding.
• Some of the classes of publications may not be
  that relevant to you now, but you should be aware
  of them for the future.

5
Research - publications

• Types of publications
• Refereed papers in journals
• Enormous difference in status of journals
  increasingly important.
• Refereed proceedings of conferences
• Not normal in Geography (people sometimes pretend
  that this is the same as having a paper accepted
  for inclusion in a conference, but it is not)
  important in computer science and hence in
  GIScience.
• Book
• In the humanities and some areas of social
  sciences publication of at least one book prior
  to tenuring may be very important.
• Book chapters
• Depends on field but becoming less prestigious. A
  refereed paper is MUCH better.
• Edited book
• Edited special issue of a journal

6
Publications

• Text book
• Unrefereed proceedings
• Normally this should be followed up with the
  results in a refereed journal.
• Published abstract (e.g. AAG)
• Book review
• Unpublished report

7
Status of publication

• Important to distinguish between the following
  and in a long resume would be in separate
  sections
• Submitted for publication
• In press or accepted for publication
• In revision may also need to be used if a
  significant rewrite is needed
• Published, when full details of page numbers,
  volume number etc can be provided.
• In preparation has a somewhat desperate air
  about it and should be used sparingly if at all.
• Always include the authorship as it appears on
  the publication
• (dont use vague terms like jointly with)

8
Research - publications

• Authorship
• Single author
• First author in multi-author publication
• Second author in two author publication
• Second author in multi-author publication
• Etc etc.
• Co-authoring with a well-known scholar can be
  very helpful in gaining recognition.

9
What decides where you are in the authorship list

• Worth sorting out as soon as possible.
• Often the first author is the person who writes
  the paper.
• Can be disputes or at least hard-feelings between
  advisor and student as to who appears where on
  list.
• The student is vulnerable to some degree.
• But if you are inexperienced in writing papers
  then being a second author on papers that appear
  in a timely fashion can be a lot better than no
  papers at all.

10
Types of publications

• Refereed papers in journals
• This is what you you are seeking primarily
• Advantageous to have at least one paper in the
  refereed literature at least in press.
• May be necessary to offer the paper to a very
  prestigious outlet and then be prepared to come
  down progressively.
• Journals articles can take a long time to appear.
• Book chapters
• Can take as long if not longer than a journal.
• Impact normally less
• But chapter may appear in a context which means
  it is more likely to be read than if it is an
  obscure journal.

11
Getting published

• Choose the right journal
• If you have no citations to the journal that you
  are submitting to then this is probably the wrong
  venue.
• Adhere to the format required by the journal
• Make sure the abstract is very well written
• Have your paper internally reviewed by peers and
  faculty before submission
• Adhere to the highest possible standards of
  professional presentation.
• There is a place to publish just about anything
  ultimately.

12
Getting published if the paper has problems

• Almost all papers have to have some corrections
  made to them
• Dont take it too personally
• Some reviewers use unreasonable language
  develop a thick skin,
• Can be acceptable not to deal with some issues if
  this means there would be an enormous amount of
  additional work. A comparison with African
  catchments should be included Right!
• If you do not intend to be responsive, then speak
  to or e-mail the editor to try and obtain
  agreement on how you want to proceed.

13
Help the editor understand how you have been
responsive.

• Sometimes there may be many detailed comments to
  deal with.
• In a separate cover letter or note take the
  comments one by one and state how you have
  addressed the issues and indicate where the paper
  has been changed.
• If you think a reviewer just simply misunderstood
  the point then say so, but also try and and deal
  with the comment by clarifying your English

14
Grants or contracts

• Levels of responsibility
• Principal Investigator, Co-Principal
  investigator, o-investigator
• Only if you are at least a co-investigator would
  you list these.
• Required information
• Title
• Agency
• Period of award
• Amount of award.

15
Papers presented at conferences

• These should be listed in a separate section.
• Some will list these and the proceedings or
  abstract.
• At your stage this is recommended.
• Some presentations are not associated with a
  paper as such at all.
• Some people include papers in this section even
  if they are not the presenter
• Personally I dont, but some would nevertheless
  do this.
• Always mention if the paper was an invited one.
• State if a presentation was an oral one (as
  opposed to just a poster presentation).
• Worth mentioning if you are an invited
  disputant or discussant of a paper.

16
Teaching

• Normally course title, number of course, possibly
  level and number of students at a minimum
• When starting out important to indicate even when
  asked to give an occasional guest lecture.
• Main body of information might be included in a
  statement of teaching philosophy (sometimes
  specifically requested by departments).
• Important issues are whether course was revised
  in a significant way and if so, when and in
  particular if the course is a new one.
• Role as a teaching assistant should be included
  especially where you are in charge of a
  particular section e.g. discussion section of
  Geog 100.
• May be that you have a role in advising
  undergraduate students.

17
Service

• Only include material directly relevant to your
  professional career
• Normally tree-hugging, looking after the needy
  etc would not be included.
• Types of service
• Department
• College
• Campus
• Professional associations
• National organizations
• Federal/Non-federal
• International organizations
• Many of these are clearly not directly relevant
  to you but you should be aware of what will be
  important.

18
Other types of service

• Giving talks
• Overlap with conference presentations
• Serving as a panel member
• Chairing of a session at a conference
• Reviewing papers
• State the journal you are reviewing for
• Reviewing grant proposals
• State the program and the agency/foundation

19
The benefits of service

• Service is expected professionally
• Improves your knowledge base
• Networking
• Understanding what makes organizations tick
• Getting a heads up on what will likely happen
  in your discipline
• Ultimately may help you shape what happens in
  your discipline.

20
Other items

• Awards of any sort

21
Final comments

• Ensure it looks professional.
• Keep it up-to-date all the time
• Keep it honest
• Use it as a method of assessing your own
  progress.
• Note that in the US not normal to include
• Date of Birth
• Marital status
• Nationality or visa status,
• though it may be advantageous if you are a
  permanent resident or citizen with an exotic name
  to do this.

22
Prepare your Resume/CV

• If you let me see your resume I will critique it
  and advise you on how to improve it.