How to Write an Academic CV

Thank you to Professor Ahmed for presenting the last seminar on the preparation of an Academic CV! It was a great session where we covered not only the CV but resume tips at well.

Here are some notes if you weren’t able to attend:

Auto biographical Performance of self: Academic Vitae:

- Telling a story about self- academic credentials, some volunteer
- Curriculum Vitae is singular→ bold top of cv/ Curricula Viatae is plural
- Differences:
o Resume: short, 1-2 pages, brief synop: educational, work, skills experience
o CV: extended: 2 pages & beyond—LIFE time of publications, experience learned

- There is no one way of doing CV, everyone is different, context specific, CV is read in a specific context—type of school—ex… teaching school vs. research school,
- When give: scholarships, fellowship, applying to PhD, applying for position, research position
- Follow basic framework:
- Goffman: presentation of self
- Information to include:
o Personal details
o Education & Qualifications
o Work Experience
o Interests & Achievements
o Skills
o Referees
- A good CV:
o Job specific
o Carefully and clearly laid out- logically ordered and easy 2 read
o Informative but concise
o Accurate in content, spelling and grammar
- Tips on Presentation:
o Bold, italic & underline
o Separate Sheet of Paper
o Positivity (put yourself as over confident). Highlight strongest points
o Honesty
- General Expectations for “role” performance
o Full Contact info
o Educational Credentials (reverse chronological order)
• At this level- good to put high school on—esp. if can highlight an award received later on
• Advisor & Committee members names→ under ma
o Academic Appointments:
• University jobs, ta, ra, dates/ job titles/ institutions. Brief description of job
o Other professional appointments: w brief descriptions that make a link to job applying for
o Courses Taught: if TA-ing w professors name and brief description of job
o Research Interests: be really specific and direct relation to job applying for
o Scholarship/ research & conference presentations (take advantage of opportunities), also work in progress/ manuscripts that are being readied for
o Grants awarded.
o Awards & honors (And recognition– ex. example received top award for poster presentations). Competitions in high school
o Service: Volunteer CGSA—service to academic community—headers later
o Professional Memberships: Graduate Communication students, women for women international, check for free online ones—shows productive and dynamic, CCA
o Other relevant experiences: worked for Tim Horton’s okay to list show interpersonal cmn skills,
Final checklist:
- Overall impressions: (at end should be able)
o Free of typos
o Good grammar (sentence construction)
o Record of education, employment and other experience dates → dates are very important
- Format:
o Clear and easy to read
o Attractive font; not too big or too small (nothing smaller then 11, Arial, times)
o Effective use of margins (not below ½ in)
o Relevant use of indents
o Name & page number in the header
o No Blank page
o Consistent format & structure
o Record of a city and province/state, and country (if applicable) for each school attended and employment position held
o Chronological list of entries w each section
- Next Step:
o Never fold
o Revise your CV using the suggestions offered
End of session Comments:

- Random: if taken a program and not finished list it, list courses if you took a lot of courses, if lack something under research appointments: Ask Prof to do it even for volunteer—even if its just for research—cuz have completed a semester long
- Have to use oral presentations in class—if not done a lot of presentations—easily put poster presentation – hint put research presentations _label it as graduate research presentations
- Grant experiences:
- Service to profession:
o Volunteer: editorial assistant—webmaster/
- Implemented: peer mentoring in program.
- Graduate Course Work’
o Course & department & title of course
-Proficient: Languages, FRENCH

She concluded with some powerful words:

You are smart—just need to present yourself.

Intercom Roundtable Discussion on Research Issues

Intercom hosted its first roundtable discussion on the 20th which focused on research issues. Each participant was given about 10 minutes to discuss their own project and ask the group questions or for suggestions and advice on their own research project. Participants ranged from those just brainstorming thesis ideas, to those who have already completed their research.

It was great to sit down and learn about everyone’s research and help fellow students in their studies. There is such a range of research interests in our program, from right to water communication issues, to entrepreneurial recycling.

The success of this first roundtable discussion has prompted the Intercom committee to organize more roundtable discussions. If you have any suggestions as to possible discussion issues, like writing tips, please comment underneath this blog post.

Hope to see you all at the next Intercom. Stay tuned for the date and our invited speaker.

Hidden Resources on Campus Highlights:

On October 27th, the CGSA hosted its first academic seminar of the school year! We had three wonderful guest speakers. Olivia from the writing help centre and Louise & Consuela from the Grad Mentoring Centre. Here are just a few quick highlights if you missed the session.

Academic Writing Help Centre:

• Help for students with writing skills, structure, helping with lit reviews, how to construct a chapter, help with outline, etc. They work closely with the FGPS to ensure they are able to point students in the right direction
• Can discuss issues during one of the seminars they offer or you can contact them an make an appointment. Email for an individual appointment.
• Up coming Graduate Workshop Series:

- Writing a Literature Review. Friday November 13. 11am-12pm

- Information Management for a Research Project. Friday November 27. 11am-12pm

- la gestion de l’information pour un project de recherche. la vendredi 20 novembre

11 h 00- 12  h 00

• They are located at 110, rue Universite
• Olivia can be reached at cartu@uottawa.ca  OR  www.sass.uottawa.ca/redaction

Graduate Student Mentoring Centre

• We are there to help students complete our MA’s. The 6th floor is for grad students!
• There are 8 grad students working in the centre
• They offer seminars geared towards grad students. All in MRT room 611

- Life/ Work Balance: Tuesday November 17th 9-11 am.

-Equilibre vie/travail: Lundi 23 novembre, de 9 h- 11 h

- Gestion du Stress: Jeudi 26 novembre, de 13 h a 15 h

- Time Management: Monday, November 30th, 1-3.

- Gestion du temps: Lundi 30 novembre, de 9h – 11 h

- Stress Management. Thursday, December 3, 1-3 pm

• Career coaching services available! Career testing, Myers Briggs: Step 2
• Goal is to help students overcome any issues!  We are all studying at a higher levelr and it is high demand with a lot of hard work. Most students face motivation issues– exhaustion and the pile of work in front of you is like an elephant and it is easy to avoid socializing but it is important not to feel isolated! A mentor can help you find your balance! (Don’t forget that the CSGA students meet every Tuesday at la Maison)
• The Graduate Student Mentoring Centre can be found on the 6th floor of the Morriset Library or online at www.sass.uOttawa.ca/mentoring/graduate www.sass.uOttawa.ca/mentorat/superieurs

The CGSA would like to thank all of our speakers for their time and valuable information!

Don’t forget to come out to our next session. November 17th on how to write a thesis proposal!