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Thinking of going on the job market for a leadership position in higher ed? Then you’ll need an “administrative CV.”
Having served on search committees at different types of higher education institutions, I’ve reviewed my fair share of candidate curriculum vitae (CVs). The ideal CV included enough information for the committee to select the candidate for a first-round interview. But there was often variability among candidates. For some, their leadership qualifications were buried under their faculty accomplishments. For others, they failed to provide enough detail to differentiate themselves from others with similar job titles. So, how do you craft an effective administrative CV?
Unlike traditional faculty CVs that focus on scholarly accomplishments, teaching, and service, administrative CVs highlight leadership and administrative experience and accomplishments. The administrative CV informs search firms, search committees, and hiring managers that the candidate has acquired the leadership mindset, skills, and knowledge to be successful in the advertised position. Failing to convert a CV into this format may result in a candidate being passed over for a job they are uniquely qualified to do.
Building an Effective Administrative CV
Keep your audience in mind when building your CV. Rather than a committee of faculty peers, your materials may be evaluated first by a search firm, followed by the hiring manager and/or the search committee. For positions starting at dean or director roles, many, or even most, of your search committee members will be outside of your discipline. For this reason, it is important that you steer clear of jargon and acronyms that might only be known to people in your field.
If you are applying to lead an institute or center, your scholarly accomplishments and accolades may continue to be relevant. For academic deans and provosts, too, scholarly accomplishments may ensure some committee members that the next leader has lived experiences to understand their needs and advocate for them. Yet for most leadership roles, your ability to manage and lead human, fiscal, and capital resources will often take precedence over research and creative accomplishments. For this reason, the administrative CV foregrounds leadership skills and requires that you provide some detail about your roles and responsibilities. This is different from many faculty CVs, where publications, grants, and other products come first and leadership roles are reduced to titles alone.
Finally, time is precious, and search committees are often juggling many responsibilities in addition to serving on a search committee. You can value their time by organizing your CV so that your audience has enough information they need to make a wise decision. Make it easy for them to recognize the great candidate you are.
Structuring Your Administrative CV
Start with your contact information, being mindful of how much information you divulge; CVs are sometimes available to a wide audience. Do not include email addresses or phone numbers that others also check (e.g., an assistant) if you wish to keep your candidacy private.
After providing brief information about your educational history (e.g., schools, degrees), list your leadership positions in reverse chronological order (i.e., most recent appears first). Include your title, institution, and dates. Follow this information with a bulleted list of key responsibilities, including as much information as you can to provide an accurate picture of the scope of responsibility. For instance, consider including the staff titles and the number of people you directly and indirectly managed; the size of your budget; and key collaborators in your work.
Next, continue to use a data-driven approach to briefly explain your key accomplishments. This is your time to shine by sharing what you uniquely bring to a position. Consider including the number of gifts or amount of money you raised; new partnerships or programs you launched; increases in student and employee retention; and hard-won strategic planning or policy changes.
As you pull together your responsibilities and accomplishments, take the perspective of your search committee by reviewing the leadership profile. Ensure that you include information to show you are prepared to take on similar or new responsibilities in the new role.
Front-load those responsibilities and accomplishments in your lists that align with the sought-after knowledge, skills, and behaviors. For instance, if the position is outward-facing, consider listing board memberships or professional service.
A special note about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging: Many candidates can profess a commitment to inclusive values. Similarly, I have read CVs in which candidates take credit for increasingly diverse classes of students. This is particularly problematic at schools and in regions that are experiencing the demographic growth of historically marginalized populations that are beyond the control of the leader. To stand out, it is important to explain any concrete actions you may have taken to institutionalize inclusive values, including professional development programming, recruitment and retention strategies, and policy changes.
As a concrete example, take Dr. Jessica Park, a (fictional) dean who is now applying for provost roles. Some of the entries for Dr. Park might include:
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the North, Anytown, USA, July 2021-present.
Responsibilities:
- Led the largest academic unit at University of the North, comprised of 500 faculty and staff who delivered a general education curriculum to all 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students
- Developed innovative curriculum to meet the needs of students, including approximately 2,000 undergraduate majors and 30 graduate students
- Supervised 20 academic department chairs and a dean’s office team, including four associate deans, assistant dean of students, budget and grants officer, personnel officer, website and marketing specialist, advancement director, and 5 administrative staff
- Managed a $40 Million base budget and an additional $10 Million in restricted and gift funds
Key Accomplishments:
- Championed the College of Arts and Sciences through record-setting fundraising, including 3 endowed professorships and named humanities gift, totaling $10 Million in two years.
- Advanced equitable and inclusive governance by revising advisory council by-laws, which resulted in a more diverse and active membership.
- Led collaborative strategic planning in the College, resulting in a 5-year plan (“Together We Excel 2025-2030”) for curriculum reform and development, revenue generation and cost savings, and faculty, staff, and student metrics for recruitment and retention.
The administrative CV provides a quick overview of your leadership potential and experience, so be as brief as possible while still providing enough information for reviewers to understand your work. You can always expand on the context or details in your cover letter, where you make a case for having the prerequisite mindset, skills, and knowledge to excel at the advertised position.
And for readers who have no intentions of applying for leadership positions right now, consider building an administrative CV anyway. You never know when opportunity will strike, and it pays to be ready!
