In the comments section of our "Ask a search-committee member" thread, I posed the following query:
… I recently heard a job-marketeer [ask] on social media…whether candidates with significant citation counts (viz. Google Scholar) or download numbers (at Philpapers, SSRN, etc.) should put these things on their CV. I recall the person suggesting it might be helpful, as it would provide search committees with evidence of scholarly impact (that they might not otherwise be aware of). But I also vaguely recall people discouraging the person from doing it. I think it might be good to hear from actual search-committee members what they think about this.
I'm actually really curious about this. Although my memory is hazy, I seem to recall most people suggesting that the job-marketeer not put this kind information on their CV. However, this seems strange to me…
In a job-market as competitive ours, impact seems to me to be relevant and potentially important information. After all, making an impact in the literature is an achievement of sorts, particularly for an early-career person trying to get a permanent job. It indicates that the person has not only been able to publish, but that others have found their work worth reading, citing, and engaging with. Two candidates might otherwise look similar on paper–say, with publications in similar journals–but if one has had more of an impact, that seems indicative of something. Is the worry perhaps that 'impact' isn't a good proxy for actual accomplishment (since it could be more indicative of networking or publicity)? On the one hand, I sort of get this point. On the other hand, impact is otherwise taken to be relevant throughout the profession–in tenure and promotion decisions, conference invitations, and so on. Given that impact matters in these ways, why shouldn't it matter for candidates on the job-market? As someone who has served on multiple search-committees myself, my own inclination is to think that a CV that included strong impact numbers might 'perk up my ears' a bit on the candidate, leading me to look at their file more carefully. But this is just me, and I could well be idiosyncratic.
What do you all think, particularly those of you who have served on search-committees? Is a good idea or bad idea for candidates to include impact numbers of their CVs?
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