Resume-Shrugging

[DavidOdden]

I plan to keep my professional resume about two pages. I think this is appropriate for entry-level Ph.D. positions.

Suppose your complete CV (record of production) were 4 pages long so you could only keep it to 2 pages by omitting information. If your dean requires you to provide a complete CV for hiring or promotion, would you refuse on principle?

[KendallJ]

Suppose your complete CV (record of production) were 4 pages long so you could only keep it to 2 pages by omitting information. If your dean requires you to provide a complete CV for hiring or promotion, would you refuse on principle?

Hi David, I think DW specifically was talking about his professional CV. We don't have deans out here. And he's right, the R&D types usually want a 2 pager rather than a 1 pager.

Also, the original poster was specifically asking about the aspects that are necessary vs. those infuriating things that are purely arbitrary in communicating information about yourself for hiring / application purposes. So, your senario, until you tell me what the hell you need it for, seems quite arbitrary.

[DavidOdden]

Hi David, I think DW specifically was talking about his professional CV.

Okay; I misunderstood what he was trying to say, since I thought he was pursuing an academic career (as his profession) and the underlying question is about acadmic CVs.

So, your senario, until you tell me what the hell you need it for, seems quite arbitrary.

The "scenario" where you have to provide a full CV? I don't particularly need it, it's just a fact (so of course it's not arbitrary). If DW had been making a claim about what he would not do to get or keep an academic position, then, well to be blunt, he would be acting irrationally in thinking that it is possible to both pursue an academic career and refuse to provide a full CV. It surprised me that he would make such an irrational claim, but since he's probably saying that he wouldn't pursue an academic career, the contradiction is resolved.

[TheEgoist]

I must admit I plaster all the COmmunity Service I've done on my resume.

[DarkWaters]

Suppose your complete CV (record of production) were 4 pages long so you could only keep it to 2 pages by omitting information. If your dean requires you to provide a complete CV for hiring or promotion, would you refuse on principle?

!!!!! No, this is not what I was insinuating at all! Kendall is correct, I was referring to a professional resume.

Okay; I misunderstood what he was trying to say, since I thought he was pursuing an academic career (as his profession) and the underlying question is about acadmic CVs.

For contextual clarity, I am presently considering both academic and non-academic positions, so I have an academic C.V. and a professional resume. My field (operations research) offers plenty of lucrative opportunities for Ph.D.s outside of academia that still require rigorous optimization techniques. For example, an associate research position at a freight logistics consulting agency. My interest in non-academic positions blossomed after my experiences with a very integrated consulting company this past summer.

Anyway, when I asked about academic CVs, my question was meant to be one of honest inquiry and not of the form "why do you do X because I think you should be doing Y?"

Even before your response, I agree that it would be utterly irrational and self-defeating to refuse to provide a complete CV on a poorly justified principle. Such a protest sounds like a contradiction between life and philosophy.

[grizzly8566]

I have a few thoughts:

1. If the school or program you are applying to only takes the kind of students that have "embelished" resumes, then as an objectivist, you would probably not benefit by involving yourself with them. They are second-handers. Even the prestige of having an Ivy League shingle is not worth the compromise of your objectivist principles.

2. have you looked at Pepperdine university? According to a conservative columnist named Mike Adams, it is refreshingly not dominated by liberals. That's not to say they're objectivists, but they might come closer than the rest.

Griz