Guidance and FAQs for PIs ARRC Narrative CV study.
This study is a strand of a wider project called the ‘Action Research on Research Culture’ (ARRC) project, a three year research grant from Research England, looking to build an evidence base for interventions to improve research culture. This strand of the study looks at an initiative designed to improve recruitment - the Narrative CV. The Narrative CV was developed by the Royal Society in 2020 and has been promoted by UKRI (among other funders) to help move away from an over-reliance on metrics and to allow researchers to present a broader view of themselves and their career goals and achievements. However, there is no empirical evidence that the Narrative CV format achieves these aims. We are testing the most basic requirement for this to be the case: whether, and how, Narrative CVs affect the shortlisting process. We are enrolling PIs who are recruiting for post doc positions at Cambridge. Candidates applying for these positions will be asked to submit both a Narrative and a traditional CV, and we will test if CV type affects shortlisting decisions (we recruited the researchers on the ARRC project in this way).
The use of the Narrative CV in hiring for academic positions is an initiative that is being rolled out as we speak. It is already requested in some fellowship applications and may be adopted for researcher job applications and promotions. As noted, there is limited empirical insight as to how the Narrative CV changes recruitment processes. Participating in this study will therefore help develop an evidence base for the effect of the Narrative CV, by allowing us to observe whether Narrative CVs have the intended effects and identifying any unforeseen problems. You will also be ‘ahead of the curve’ in terms of viewing and evaluating this new CV format. Participating in this study means you are contributing to efforts to improve positive research culture at the University of Cambridge and across the higher education sector. We have a number of UK and international partner institutions and will be sharing our results widely. Research culture is an issue that is rising on the agenda of many institutions and funders in higher education. We are keen to keep Cambridge at the forefront of these initiatives.
The effectiveness of the Narrative CV in grant applications and academic hiring processes is an emerging and rich area of interest for institutions, funders and researchers. One study, conducted by the University of Glasgow in 2021, piloted the ‘Resume for Researchers’ of 8 junior researchers in a simulated panel made up of managers and funding bodies. The ARRC study will extend this work and test its findings by reviewing the influence of Narrative CVs in live recruitments across the University of Cambridge. Following their research project, the researchers at the Glasgow produced a short training video on how to write a Narrative CV. We will direct applicants to this resource in our advert text.
We have developed guidance to distribute to other members of your recruitment panel. They will essentially be completing the same shortlisting process as you (the PI). We will provide support to them throughout the process.
If you choose to enrol in this study you will be asked to:
i) We will arrange a call or meeting with you to talk you through the details of what you need to do, and we will continue to support you throughout the shortlisting process.
ii) Include a short standard text explaining our involvement in the recruitment in your advertisement, and an extra paragraph in the further particulars. To do this we will liaise with the admin staff in your department. This text can be found in Appendix 2, at the end of this document.
iii) When the advert goes live, one of our administrators will be given access (by your admin / HR department) to the recruitment portal for this job application.
iv) You will be asked not to view the applications until the closing date. We can keep you up to date on how many applications have been received and make arrangements to give you feedback on how many of the applicants are credible, if that is how you normally monitor your recruitments.
v) When the advert closes, we will immediately send you packet 1: a shortlisting grid and the first set of CVs (one for each applicant). You will complete the shortlisting grid and send it back to us. Please use the grid as you normally would. Our main interest is in the ranking that you provide, which we realise may not exactly correspond with the scoring grid.
vi) Your panel members will receive the CVs in a different order to you. Please do not do this initial assessment together.
vii) We will quickly check the shortlisting grid and then send you packet 2, which contains the alternate CV for all applicants.
viii) You will shortlist again, using the same shortlisting grid and taking into consideration all of the information about the candidates you read across both packet 1 and packet 2.
ix) After you have returned packet 2 to us, the recruitment process proceeds as normal, with no further involvement from us.
x) We will ask that you or your admin team let us know who your first choice candidate ultimately was.
xi) After the recruitment process has concluded, we will also ask if you would like to participate in an interview (max 1hr) with one of our researchers. This will be to obtain your thoughts on the process / on working with the Narrative CV format. The timing is at your convenience and can be in person or remote.
This project is being run by the ARRC team, based in the Research Strategy Office working in association with the Bennett Institute for Public Policy. It is co-led by Steven Wooding (Head of Research on Research – Research Strategy Office, and Affiliated Researcher at the Bennett Institute) and Liz Simmonds (Head of Research Culture - HR).
Although there is no formal research on this point, our experience when recruiting for roles in our team suggests that asking for additional information (such as the Narrative CV, a writing sample etc.) may deter some speculative candidates but is unlikely to deter serious applicants. This is something we are keen to monitor. Also, the burden of writing a Narrative CV is not in excess of providing a writing sample, or a description of fit for essential / desirable criteria. To encourage applicants:
- As a key benefit to applicants we will be offering feedback on their CVs from a professional careers consultant (contracted by our team) once the application process is complete to help them with future applications.
- We will link to training resources on how to create a Narrative CV.
- We will note on the enrolment materials that the experience of writing a Narrative CV may be advantageous in the longer term, if this format is widely adopted.
As noted above, applicants will see our standard text in the advert and further particulars explaining the study. This will contain the link to the Narrative CV training. It also contains an email for our project team so that any queries on this aspect of the application will not be directed at you or your department. All applicants will submit both CV types regardless of inclusion in our study; this is necessary to keep the recruitment process fair. You will not be told which applicants have consented and which have not (again, to avoid bias). You will still see everyone’s CVs.
We ask that you do not view the CVs during the open advert period. This is to preserve the randomisation order of how you assess the CVs – which is crucial to our study. You will be sent the first packet of CVs by our administrator approximately a day after the advert closes. We understand there is a time pressure on recruitment and we will do as much as possible to make the shortlisting efficient. You can also contact us at any time, and we can tell you how many applications have come in, so that you know if there are less or more than you were expecting.
We anticipate it will add an extra couple of days to the process depending on how quickly you tend to shortlist and how many applicants there are.
We hope to examine the shortlisting process as it typically happens. Therefore, please do not change any of your usual processes or habits, with the exception of reviewing the two packets of CVs separately.
If you want to ask any questions or obtain advice or guidance on any part of the process, at any time, you can contact: arrcproject@admin.cam.ac.uk
We will be monitoring communication closely throughout participation in the study and also sending out regular status updates.
Our involvement in the recruitment process is confined to the advertising / shortlisting phase. We aren’t involved in the interviewing or final selection process. We’d like to know who your top ranked candidate was after interview regardless of whether this candidate accepted the position. If you rank everyone who interviews we would also find this information useful. We can get that information either from you or your DA.
After you have selected your top ranked candidate, one of our researchers will contact you to arrange an interview (max 1hr, at your convenience). This interview is designed to collect your thoughts on the study and on the experience of evaluating Narrative CVs. The interview can be remote or in person.