Publications and career trajectory in the 'About me' section of a job talk I am preparing for an upcoming job talk for a tenure track assistant professor position. I am strongly encouraged by the hiring committee to have an 'About me' section mentioning my career trajectory (like here) and to show a glimpse of my publications.
I am wondering what is the best way to do this in a manner that won't come across as aggressive or showing-off or shamelessly being proud of myself. Showing a list of publications as a slide looks like an uncomfortable thing to do as the audience will just get an idea of the volume of work I have done, without being aware of the quality of the content in the papers. What can possibly be the best way to do this?
Also about the career trajectory, I am trying to see what can be the natural way to 'fit' this information in the talk so that it is not abrupt. Of course, there is a way to tell the audience which universities I have been a part of while I am talking about my work. However, this needs to be done separately in the 'About me' section.
Any thoughts or ideas on this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Since they have asked for it specifically, it won't come across badly unless you make it &quot;over the top&quot;.
But talk about how your publications set a base for future studies and, and maybe how you see your work benefiting future students in their own studies. If it is &quot;in person&quot; then a slide listing your publications could save you some time and words. Maybe in an online talk you could do likewise. Let the publications speak for themselves, but say some things about what they imply for the future &quot;trajectory&quot;.
OTOH, sometimes &quot;over the top&quot; is a good ice breaker. &quot;Greatest mathematician since Poincaré&quot; would do it.