Resume

This week you will be completing the Reverse Chronological Résumé for a Targeted Audience. Please view the Résumé content item located under Week 1 for the details of this assignment.

 

The Reverse Chronological Resume will be graded using the Week 1 Resume rubric.

 

 

Some students may not have a great deal of experience formatting business documents, but almost all of us have written a resumé. Therefore, most of us have a good idea of how important the layout and design of this business document can be. Chapter 18 in Business Communication Today covers the three traditional formats of resumés:

• Chronological Resume (click link to see a sample reverse chronological resume): Work history and educational history are each listed starting with the most recent.
• Functional Resume: Focus is on skills and experiences — what was done rather than when it was done. (This format may cause red flags for employers, who want detailed employment information.)
• Combination Resume: This method combines the formats of the reverse chronological and functional resumé formats.

NOTE: Your resumé should be original. Although you may use a sample for layout/design, do not copy wording from any source. If you are using a previous version of your resumé, please revise it to make it stronger.

A successful resumé will:

• Be written for a targeted audience (job posting selected).
• Include an introductory section with a Target Job Title and Qualification/Professional Summary that reflects the student's skills and experiences relative to the job description.
• List employment and education history presented in reverse chronological order.
• Summarize the student's work experience in four to five points under each position held, focusing on concrete, measurable accomplishments.
• Present work experience, skills, and achievements in original terminology.
• Use parallel active verbs (see page 515 in e-text for suggestions).
• Not use first person singular.
• Use appropriate headings and appropriate design elements (e.g., white space, bold, underline, italics, varying font sizes***) to improve readability. ***Note: Students should not attempt to use all of these elements in one document.
• Make efforts to limit the resumé to one – two pages.
• Demonstrate proper writing conventions, including correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.

Points%Description1518.75The resumé is tailored to the industry/company/position addressing a targeted audience. Copy of job posting is submitted.1012.5The resumé includes an introductory section such as Career Profile or Qualification/Professional Summary. Section is written clearly and appropriate to writer's degree and field. 1012.5Education section includes name of degree, name of university, and expected graduation date. Reverse chronological format is used.1518.75Employment Experience section has each position listed in reverse chronological order providing position, company, city, state, dates. Each position is fully developed with skills/duties/responsibilities/accomplishments1518.75The writer has written the document in a correct resume format. Uses good layout and design features. 1518.75The writer has written the resumé in his or her own words and is free of grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. The resume is written in parallel form, uses action verbs, and avoids personal pronouns.80100A quality resume will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.