Progress

I haven't posted much lately on the state of my work because I haven't felt that I had much to say. This summer, most of my work has been in small increments on several different fronts. I've been writing a bit, but that has taken a backseat to data collection. My first round of data collection is done, but now I need to review videos and audio files. This work will be scattered around the ongoing bits of writing.

I've also been collecting job market documents. CVs (different ones for teaching and research jobs), the teaching portfolio, the bones of a cover letter (to be adjusted to each position). Tonight I did some significant reworking of the CV-- I've kept mine pretty well updated, but it turns out that the format no longer showcases all of my fabulousness to its greatest advantage.

One reference tool I've been using in this process is Surviving Your Academic Job Hunt by Kathryn Hume. It came highly recommended and I appreciate its specific focus on humanities PhDs. On first glance, the book seemed intimidating-- but that only makes sense, given that it's offering you suggestions on how to maximize job offers so that you'll get the kind of job you want. Given this, I felt a bit disoriented when I realized that I am absolutely qualified to compete for the kind of jobs I want.

I'll back up a bit-- I am often hard on myself, evaluating my status by what I have not done rather than by what I have done. Constructing and refining my CV forced me to account for all of the things I have done and to recognize their significance.

There's much more work to do, of course, but it's important to give yourself credit for what you have done.

There's your moral of the story, kids. Go pat yourself on the back for something you've done. It's grand.

Cross-posted at Intent/Effect.