resume writing

Resume and Cover Letter

Format for Submission:

Three pages:

1. 15% of grade: First page will include:

a. Screen shot of job offering.

b. Research on nature of the job and industry

c. Research on Company and Person you are writing too.

2. 35% of grade: Second page your Resume.

a. Must follow guidelines and examples noted in class.

b. Must clearly apply to the specific job you are applying to.

3. 50% of grade: Third page you Cover Letter

For this assignment I want you to research a real job or internship, determining the character of the company or organization. Then, in light of your rhetorical situation, you will compose a highly focused Resume and accompanying Cover Letter.

Yourself: Who are you?

· What are your goals and achievements?

· What do you need?

· Where do you want to be in 5 years, 10 years?

· What do you want in your work environment?

· What would you definitely not want in a work environment?

· Do you want a career or a job?

· Do you want to stay with an organization or leave after a few years?

· How important is money to you?

· Are you willing to relocate?

· Do you have particular needs that may differ from other employees?

Your Audience:

Your rhetorical situation requires you to know as much as you can about the actual company or organization. Usually you can find information on the company website. Or you may find information through friends, people who have or are working at the company.

Research and Discover:

· What problem does the company have that you might help solve? What does the organization or company values?

· How long have they been in business or working as an organization?

· Who are some of the main people, founders, board members, president, executives, or major shareholders?

· Is the company or organization for- profit or non-profit?

· What has the organization accomplished?

· What are the organization’s future goals?

· Find as much as you can about what the company wants from employees and workers?

· Find out who will be reading your resume and cover letter. Address your letter to that person.

Resume

Your Resume:

1. Writing: Be clear, concise, coherent, emphatic, engaging—with “Power Verbs.” Professor Philip C. Kolin emphasizes that employers want resumes that are: “honest,” “attractive,” and “carefully organized,” “concise,” “accurate,” “current,” and “relevant” (138-39). So, then, in your resume apply these attributes well.

2. Visual:

a. Unity of form

b. Easily read in 30 seconds

c. Margins: .6 inches on all

d. Columns information spaced across page clearly

e. Rows with Headings in bold for categories: Education, Skills, Experience

f. White space, avoiding clutter

g. Bullets, followed by action words

h. Brief Objective: 5 or 6 words

i. Quantify: “served 6 tables with up to 10 customers per 4 hour shift”

For example:

Cover Letter

Your Cover Letter extends your Resume. DO NOT simply repeat what is on your resume. Your cover letter tells your story; it shows your unique qualities, values, and job expectations. Professor Kolin argues that your cover letter must have the “three P’s.” A persuasive cover letter “should be personal, professional, and persuasive” (151).

Keep in mind, when writing your Cover Letter:

1. Whereas your Resume is objective, informational, your Cover Letter is personal—you writing to another person.

2. Your resume and cover letter must suit your rhetorical situation: time, place, reader.

3. They must fit your goal, your experiences and needs, and suit the addressee—the organization or company you will work for.

4. Remember, in many ways you are not applying to a company. You are applying to people, people with whom you will work long and often hard hours.

5. Block Formatting; single spaced, your personal info at top

The letter is, like most writing in the western rhetorical tradition, organized around a beginning, middle, and an ending. Follow the examples for formatting.

· Format in Block style, with your letterhead, date, receiver’s full name and address

· Margins: 1.25 inches on sides

· Enclosed: Resume at bottom margin

· Salutation: MUST be addressed to a PERSON

· Opening Paragraph: Professor Kolin recommends that in your first paragraph note: 1) why you are writing, 2) where you leaned of the position, and 3) highlight your “most important qualification” (153). Keep it simple, but not too simple.

· 2 Body Paragraphs do not simply repeat what and where you have worked. Rather, here you go beyond the data on your resume. Personalize.

· Body Par 1: Educational qualifications

· Body Par 2: Experience/Personal Story qualifications. In your last body paragraph, note that you enclose your resume.

· Paragraphs: The body paragraphs should be concise, no more than 4 or 5 sentences. Avoid long, complex sentences. However, avoid choppiness too. Sentences should be clear and emphatic and engaging—choose your words, then, carefully. Use numbers, dates, names—be precise.

· Closing paragraph reasserts your best points, politely asks for an interview or phone call, AND importantly, Kolin notes, clearly states TIME to call.

· Closing/Valediction: Sincerely, Yours Sincerely, Respectfully

· Your full Name 4 spaces below closing

· Tone: Kolin strongly urges writers to consider how your audience/reader will be seeing you. Avoid too many ‘I’s. The challenge is to be forthright, but not obnoxious.

· REWRITE several times; no typos or grammar errors.