What & How & Why

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Job Documents that work

part 4 notes


The Academic Skepticism Principle

Your job documents—CV, coverletter, teaching statement, research statement—need and deserve the same level of care that you give to any of the writing you do in your career, including your dissertation and publications.

draft 的注意事项
  • drafts 需要反复修改
    • drafts 必须描述事实(fact),而不是情感
内容上的控制
  • 不要事无巨细的将自己的经历写到 CV 中
    • The reader is going to see you as a graduate student who is lacking a clear platform.
    • commiitee 不会仔细读你的提供的细节。太多的细节会掩盖你真正相关的东西

Listing

  • 将所有的东西都列出来(listing)是一个主要的问题:
    • 列表这种形式会使阅读变得单调乏味
    • 列表是松散型,附加的论证形式,不是一个分析性的,有针对性的论点
dyads & Lisiting

Dyads(双重列举)是 Listing 这种写法的典型形式。两者是互相包含的关系。这种形式具有极强的催眠效果(下面是例子):

These findings challenge and refine sociolinguistic and anthropological premises and principles to encompass multilingual and language contact settings in both Japan and China.
My role as teacher is to enable students to develop their philosophical vision and literacy through an informed and sustained practice of traditional and contemporary philosophical methodologies coupled with critical study of philosophical history and theory. I see in the rigorous study of this history and theory an important tool for challenging undergrad and graduate students to go above and beyond the constraints and parameters of their initial understanding of formal and conceptual frameworks.

The outcome is a dizzying and tedious jumble of words that skims over a massive set of variables instead of clarifying a project.

不要滥用 list
  • 某些地方必须要用 List:
    • 研究的文本
    • 用的方法
    • 涉及到的主题
  • 少量 list 可能是有益的,但不意味着大量的 list 会更好

事实与情感

  • 大量使用情感代替事实进行写作会导致质量问题(反例如下)

* “I am sincere in my commitment to”; * “I delight in the work of”; * “I am so excited to be part of”; * “I consider it a remarkable honor and privilege to be able to”; * “I am passionate about.”

为什么不能使用情感代替事实
  • overused
  • 情感的东西不能描述真正的你
  • 任何结论都不能基于情感来得到
实际应用
  • Job documents 不应该提到任何基于你情感上的东西(你觉得的,你希望的,你相信的)(e.g: “I am passionate about teaching,”) 如果你喜欢教学,那么描述你的课程和教学法。
  • 避免形容词和副词:这两种词汇更加倾向于告诉(telling)而不是展示(showing),反例如下:
  • Incredible (incredibly)
  • Amazing (amazingly)
  • Striking (strikingly)
  • Serious (seriously)
  • Intense (intensely)
  • Remarkable (remarkably)
  • Considerable(considerably)
  • Very / Really

使用在句子中的反例:“This assignment produces some incredible student work!”

另外一些反例(无法描述研究本身,只能描述候选者自己):

Sincere / Eager / Earnest /Delighted / Excited / Honored / Thrilled / Passionate

  • reviewer 需要的是证据. record 是证明自身拥有激情的最好方式。

What’s Wrong with Your Cover Letter

本节起始页 P159。有问题请直接查阅书

Cover letter 可能出问题的地方
  • 格式
  • organzation
  • 内容
  • 语气

It is Not on Letterhead

  • Your letter must be on letterhead if you have a current academic affiliation of any kind.
  • 学校要是不给就去偷或者PS
  • CV teaching / research statement 不用

It Does Not Follow Norms of Business Correspondence Etiquette

  • letter必须遵循标准的信件礼仪
    • 日期在左上, letterhead 的下方
    • 紧接着是一个空行
    • 然后是收件人的地址,左对齐
    • 然后再一个空行
    • 最后开头写: “Dear Professor” / “Dear Members of the search committee”
    • 再接一个空行
    • 在写:I am writing in application to the advertised position in X at the University of X.”

  • 以上的内容不能做任何的删减
  • 以上的区域不要加入任何额外的内容
  • 不要以 “please accept this application” 为开头,你不是在恳求他们

It Is Too Long

  • 长度:must be two pages in length (junior, first / second job)
  • 文本(text)类型: 11-or 12-point type,任意一种专业字体(Garamond, Verdana, Times New Roman, and the like)
  • letter margins: one inch wide

注意使用 white space。页面上的留白更能体现出扩展性和你的自信。

You Are Telling, Not Showing

  • letter 中应该包括事实(证据),而不是基于情感的 claim

反例:

I am passionate about teaching

正例:

I used new technologies to create innovative small group discussion opportunities in my large introductory classes, technologies that were later adopted by my colleagues in the department

正例:

I worked one-on-one with students on individual research projects leading to published articles. Several students later nominated me for our campus’s Best Undergraduate Teacher award, which I won in 2015

You Drone On and On About Your Dissertation

  • 招聘你的人不会关心你的 dissertation,关心的是其在学术/学科上的重要性和意义。
    • 你的 dissertation 是你作为学生写的,而他们招的不是学生
    • 他们只想知道的是你的 dissertation 是否与任何发表,会议,grant, teaching 或是 interventions
  • dissertation 应该被整理为一个更容易理解的段落
    • 在之后的简短段落中, specify the major debates in your field(s) that the dissertation intervenes in and the nature of the intervention it makes.
    • 然后从你的 dissertation 快速的过渡到基于 dissertation 会议论文以及发表,未来的计划,以及其如何影响和激励你的教学。

Your Teaching Paragraph Is Weepy

  • 招聘者只在乎你是否是一个有效率的老师
    • 你需要提供证据
  • 招聘者更希望你是有创造性的老师
    • 你也需要提供证据
  • 为此需要提供的内容:
    • 教学方法
    • 指定对应的课程,然后描述用了什么特定的方法在这个课程上
    • 如果有对应的 outcome(比如 award),一起附上
    • 如果有非常好的评价,简要的提议两点,但千万不要写上学生的,类似于(This was a really great class!” or “Professor X was well organized!)的 remarks
    • 如果你的 funding 不从教学岗来,你可以寻找一些教学的机会,做一些 guest lectures,并寻求一些有经验的老师帮助你制作与你领域相关的 proposed classes

You Present Yourself as a Student, Not a Colleague

  • 自信
  • 不要找借口
  • 依靠自己
  • 不要以 Profeesor so-and-so 这样的语体去称呼 facutly

You Don’t Specify Publication Plans

  • 介绍你的publication:
    • in press
    • in submission
    • in manuscript stage where you intend to submit them
    • book 提一下出版社

You Don’t Have a Second Research Project

  • ok

You Didn’t Do Your Homework

  • 了解并阅读系内其他 facutly 的研究(除导师之外的)
  • 说出两位可能与你有潜在合作可能性的 facutly member
  • 讲一讲系里的项目

You’re Disorganized and Rambling

P166,介绍如何写研究岗 cover letter

You Didn’t Tailor

具体事例参考 P 167

  • 申请模板根据 teaching 和 research 来区分

模板 P 168

Tailoring with Dignity

  • tailoring 不是求人
    • 是认识目标学校的
      • programs
      • initiatives
      • centers
      • emphases
      • specializations
  • 你需要可以有效的为以上的内容贡献生产力
  • 如果系里有可能合作的,你可以提一提这些人,但需要细节
  • 你需要展示你熟悉目标学校正在进行的项目,并表明你热衷于参与

tailering 的表现手法

  • 将博士论文或自己的项目与你申请工作的主题联系起来
  • 你教过的课程也应该对应广告里要求的东西

例子(正反):
反例:

I can teach/say/be anything you want….

正例:

I would particularly look forward to participating in the Ethnicity, Race, and Nationalism interest group in the department, and envision developing an upper-level undergraduate course, Ethnic Nationalisms in Eastern Europe, as part of that dedicated curriculum. I can envision collaborating with Smith on projects related to Eastern European politics and economics, and with Nelson on work related to the post-socialist transition. I am also interested in the activities of the Center for Democracy Studies on campus, and would look forward to bringing an anthropological and Eastern European perspective into those cross-disciplinary conversations.

上面这段的优点:

  • 熟悉单位的员工是个潜在的好员工(至少会往系里的需求方向去改变其教学研究目标,也会在其他场合代表系及其利益)
不要让别人觉得你在求人

反例:

* “I would be happy to teach any of your introductory courses, including Anth 103, 105, 112, or 121.” (Abject eagerness to fill adjunct-level teaching needs.)
* “I would be thrilled to be a part of a department like yours with such a long and illustrious history in the field of Asian studies.” (Undignified flattery.)
* “It would be a great honor to join the dynamic faculty of the English department at the University of X, and I would strive to be a productive member.” (Desperate pandering.)

反例 (flattery):

“Your department is an exciting and dynamic intellectual community.”
As one of the top-ranked programs in the country, your program is very exciting to me.”
Being home to one of finest student bodies in the country, your campus would be an ideal location for me to start my teaching career.”
“The University of X’s culture of teaching quality, commitment to institutional diversity, and unique partnership with the community are major strengths.
讲你希望为这个 program 贡献什么

正例:

The department’s long-standing strengths in Francophone cinema make this position a particularly appealing one for me. I would look forward to the opportunity to develop courses on emergent cinemas from West Africa and the Caribbean, and can also envision bringing material on those cinemas into introductory courses such as Introduction to World Cinema. I am familiar with the annual film festival hosted by the Center for Media Studies on campus, and I would enjoy collaborating with those organizers to increase the representation of Francophone cinema in that festival’s offerings.

* 首先,表明了申请者在像 facutly 一样思考

  • 其次,表达了申请者希望参与到学校项目中的意愿,并希望通过自己的参与提高系里的 program 的知名度
talioring 必须具体

反例

“I am excited to develop my career in research and teaching at your department.”
“This position appeals to me because of the excellent faculty and resources on campus.”
“I would be interested to develop a range of undergraduate and graduate courses in the department.”
“I am intrigued by the many possibilities for collaboration in the department.”
“My specialization in X will be valuable for the graduate students in the department.
tailorling 不是你认为的匹配
  • 匹配不匹配你自己说了不算

反例

“My combination of experience in X and Y makes me an excellent fit for your position in Z.”

Your goal is not to prove you are “qualified,” but to demonstrate the ways that you are exceptional.

Rules of the Academic CV

General Formatting Rules

  • One-inch margins on all four sides
  • 12-point type throughout
  • Single-spaced.
  • Consistent type size throughout, except the candidate’s name at top, which can be 14-or perhaps 16-point type.
  • Headings in bold and all caps.
  • Subheadings in bold only.
  • No italics except for journal and book titles
  • One or two blank lines before each new heading.
  • One blank line before each subheading.
  • One blank line between each heading and its first entry.
  • All elements left justified
  • No bullet points at all, ever, under any circumstances. This is not a résumé.
  • No box or column formatting (会干扰到 CV 的调整/更新)
  • No “cont’d” headings at the tops of pages. (同上)
  • The year (but not month or day) of every entry in the CV is left justified, with tabs or indents separating the year from the substance of the entry.
    • 允许看 cv 的人更快的根据时间轴来查看你的成果
    • candidates are evaluated by their productivity over time, and when you produced is as important as what you produced.
  • No narrative verbiage anywhere.
  • No description of “duties” under “Teaching/Courses Taught.”
  • No paragraphs describing books or articles.
  • No explanations of grants/fellowships (“This is a highly competitive fellowship.”).
  • No personal stories.
  • No self-indulgent ruminations (“My work at the U of X is difficult to condense.”).
  • Optional dissertation abstract: Some advisors insist on a separate heading for “Dissertation” with a short one-paragraph abstract underneath it. One year or so beyond completion of the dissertation, it should be removed.

Heading Material

  • Name at top, centered, in 14-or 16-point type.
  • The words “Curriculum Vitae” immediately underneath or above the name, centered, in 12-point type, if appropriate to your field.
  • The date, immediately below, centered, is optional. Senior scholars always date their CVs.
  • Below the date, your institutional and your home addresses, plus phone numbers, should be on the left and the right side of the page, respectively, parallel to one another.

Content

Education
  • 按 degree 来排
  • 使用简写,比如 Ph.D. M.A. B.A. in decending order
  • 给出 dept, insititution, year of completion. 不要给 starting date
  • ABD,或是毕业不到一年的 Ph.d. 可以将 Dissertation/Thesis Title 或是 “Dissertation/Thesis Advisor 写进去
  • Do not include any other verbiage
Professional Appointments
  • ABD candidates may have no professional appointments(可忽略)
  • 这个区域写的内容写你签过合同的职位,比如
    • TT
    • insutructorships,
    • visiting positions
    • pso doctoral psosition
  • 给出职位所在学校,部门,title, 被雇佣的时间时间(year only)
  • joint appointments 也应写入
  • 不超过一年的临时任职,TA等非职业聘用的经历不应该写
  • Courses that you taught as an adjunct are not listed under professional employment. No courses are listed in this section;
Publications

如下的内容写入该区域:

  • books
  • edited volumes
  • refereed journal articles
  • Book chapters
  • conference Proceddings
  • Encyclopedia Entries
  • Book reviews
  • Manuscripts in Submission (Give journal title.)
  • Manuscripts in Preparation
  • Web-Based Publications
  • Other Publications (This section can include nonacademic publications, within reason.)

Note that forthcoming accepted publications are listed with published pieces if they are accepted without any further revisions; they are listed at the very top since their dates are furthest in the future. If they are in press, they can be listed here with “in press” in place of the year, or “forthcoming” if they are accepted but not yet in press

Awards and Honors
  • name of award
  • institutional location
  • Year (at left)
  • Always in reverse descending order
  • Listing dollar amounts appears to be field-specific
  • check with a trusted senior advisor.
Grants and Fellowships
  • funder
  • insititutional location in which received/used
  • year
  • Listing dollar amounts appears to be field-specific;
Invited Talks
  • talks to which you have been invited (not yours!)
  • title
  • institutional location
  • date(year only) at left
  • Month and day of talk go into entries.
Conference Activity/Participation
  • using subeadings
    • Conferences/Symposia Organized
    • Panels Organized
    • Papers Presented
    • Discussant
  • entries 包括
  • name of paper
  • name of conference
  • date(year only) on left
  • Month and day of talk go into entries.(e.g. March 22-25)
  • No extra words such as “Paper title.”
  • Future conferences should be listed here, once you have had a paper officially accepted but not before
    • It is not the convention to use the term “forthcoming” for any conference activity.
    • dates will be future dates (the first date they will be listed)
Campus or Departmental Talks

此处放置

  • 在自己学校/系做的 talk

Guest lectures in courses should not be listed here or anywhere on the CV unless you are a very green candidate with little other content.

Teaching Experience
  • 内容: 可以按位置 / 领域 / level 或者三者组合起来(合适自己的就行)
  • 格式
    • 在多个学校教过:
      • 每个学校需要用一个 subheading
      • 将教过的课往下靠左排列(这里不能使用 year-to-the-left 的格式)
      • 在每门课的右边, in parentheses, give the terms and years taught (用于简洁的展示你教了多久)
      • 只给课程的 title,不需要给 course number(学校间并不统一)
      • 如果教的课超过15门,简化一下
      • TA 的experience 也放到这里
      • No narrative verbiage under any course title
      • No listing of “duties” or “responsibilities”
Research Experience
  • RA 在这里写
  • LAb 经验在这里写
  • 可以稍加说明,但如果项目比较大,一个详细的句子说明就足够了
Service to Profession
  • journal manuscript review work, with ournal titles (如果reivew工程量很大,可以单独起个 subheading), leadership of org 等等
  • 有些领域内 panel organizing 也可以放到这里
  • entry 左对齐,年份包含在 entry 中
Departmental/University Service
  • search committess
  • other committees work
  • appointment to faculty senete
  • the title or committee is left justified, with the year in the entry
Extra Training (optional)
  • 欧洲人,UK 多用这样的
  • professional skills, seminars, short programs
Community Involvement/Outreach (optional)

lincludes work with libraries and schools, public lectures, and the like. Media Coverage (optional). Coverage of your work by the media. Do not include blurbs or quotes from reviews. These are not movie trailers.

technical skills relevant to the discipline. More common in professional schools and science fields

Nonacademic Work (optional)

Include only if relevant to your overall academic qualifications.

Teaching Areas/Courses Prepared to Teach (optional)

You can give a brief list of course titles (titles only) that represent your areas of teaching preparation. No more than about eight courses should be listed here.

Languages
  • 会的语言都在这里垂直列出
  • proficiency 按 reading, speaking, writing 的顺序
  • 使用 native, fluent, excellent, conversational, good, can read with dictonary 等清楚的评价来说明
Professional Memberships or Affiliations
  • 将所有的,你是成员的专业组织垂直向下列出
  • 如果资历够资深(加入了很多,请写出加入的年份)
References
  • 将 References 垂直往下列出
  • 写出 name 和 fuill title,不要加 “Dr” 或是 “Professor” 前缀
  • 给出完整的 mail 地址,以及电话和 email
  • 不要写任何关于 references 的解释性的东西(比如“Ph.D. committee member,”)

备注

  • 当申请 teachging 职位的时候,将 teaching 的内容放在前面(紧接着 education)
  • 不要移动 research 的内容(很多 teaching shcool 也希望看你的研究内容)
  • peer-reviewed 内容更具竞争力,因此优先级要比不是 peer-reviewed 内容更高
  • 非常有竞争力的内容:
    • peer-reviewed publications taking place of honor
    • Awards and honors
    • fellowships and grants
  • individual recognition
  • invited talk 高于 volunteered paper to a conference (用顺序的方式体现这个)
  • teaching / traning 没有竞争力

Just Say No to the Weepy Teaching Statement

主要的问题

it is too long
  • 不能超过一页
  • 重要性不及 job letter 和 CV
  • 11 or 12 point type and one-inch margins

when you write a professional job document, write everything you think need to say, then go back and take half out. Always write less than you think you need.

You Tell a Story Instead of Making Statements Supported by Evidence

反例

I always like to use multimedia materials in the classroom. I first discovered the value of these when I taught Introduction to Cultural Anthropology at East Tennessee State last spring. In that class I had the opportunity to use a wide range of videos and online materials. Students told me that they really loved these, and I came to feel that these are excellent methods for promoting in-class discussions. I plan to use them in future classes as well.

问题有:

  • telling instead of showing
  • We want principles of teaching, and evidence that you exemplify these principles in specific classroom goals and practices.

正确的步骤:

  1. wide general good
  2. teaching strategies that manifest this good
  3. examples from specific classes
  4. evidence that the strategies were effective
  5. conclusion.
You Express Sentiments That Are Saccharine, Obvious, and Indistinguishable from Countless Other Applicants’