It’s that time again!
Alert readers know that each Spring I provide a limited-time CV Strategizing Session service between February and April. The idea is to look ahead to the Fall 2015 market, and help graduate students going on the market for the first time, as well as experienced job seekers who haven’t yet landed the kind of position they are seeking, utilize the next six months most effectively to build a competitive record for the job search. In six months, you can get out a peer reviewed article, arrange to teach a summer course, apply for a grant or conference… all manner of things that will make a difference on your CV.
In the CVSS, I review your CV (note: I don’t edit it! I just evaluate it for content), in light of what you tell me are your career goals, aspirations, and concerns. Then I give you the low-down on what I see as the strengths and weaknesses of your record, and suggest some steps you can take to strengthen it. If I think you’re doing everything right, I’ll let you know that too (it has happened once or twice!) You follow up with clarifications, questions or comments, and I’ll respond to those. The service covers two email exchanges.
LIMITED TIME
CV Strategizing Session: $200
**Feb-April only**
What you do in the next six months is critical for your competitiveness on next year’s market. In this short-term service, I will examine and evaluate your CV for any gaps, weaknesses or red flags, and help you create a plan to remedy them in time for the Fall job market. Covers two email exchanges.
This is actually a great time for you to do this, because the record you can build in 1.5 years is obviously much stronger than what you can build in .5 year. We can approach it that way in our work.
This reminds me of a pre-job market advice meeting held in our department this past fall, where one student (who will probably go on the market in 2016) asked what they could do to strategize before then. The answer (from the person in charge of graduate placement): just finish.
yes…. and no. a finished diss is not a magical talisman without pubs, grants, etc.
I was told that I needed to finish my dissertation write-up in 2 years because hiring committees will pass me up if I take too long. Is this really true? Does graduating quickly really make a difference/give me an edge on the job market?
No, search committees pay no attention at all to the length of your program. All they care about is the objective record: is the diss done, do you have high-status publciations, etc.