Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Resume, Updating your

An academic librarian shouldn't have a resume, but a curriculum vitae. This is apparently Latin for "long boring resume" and can be referred to as a "C.V." for short. A CV should contain a list of every meeting you've ever attended, every association you've ever been on the mailing list for, and every time you've spoken within earshot of your Dean or Department Head. Ever written a letter to the editor of your local weekly newspaper? Heck, throw that in too!

CVs, being longer than traditional one-page resumes, require more than the traditional one-page cover letter. You should try to summarize -- in narrative form -- every single item that is listen on your CV. Brevity won't get you a job, but prosaic self-congratulation will!

Expert search committee member,
J

2 comments:

Sal said...

Is the curriculum vitae thing a regional occurance, or is it widespread? Sounds like the kind of pretensious thing you'd only see from a native Northeasterner.

J said...

No, I'm afraid it's a nationwide epidemic.

J