Resume

Excellent

Adequate

Inadequate

Visual Appeal

The document is attention grabbing and conveys a professional feel. The student effectively uses the entire document space without it appearing too cluttered or messy.

The overall look is attractive, but it needs some fine tuning. Student has made an attempt at an attention-grabbing header, but it doesn’t look professional. The student may not use the entire length/width of the page.

Student has made little to no attempt to create an attention-grabbing header. The document may have far too much unused space or it may look cluttered. Font and style choices don’t convey professional feel.

Clear & Concise Writing

Little to no excess/redundant phrasing or content while maintaining a high level of substance. There are no clarity issues in the text.

There may be some wordiness, but overall the text is well edited and concise. Clarity issues are minimal.

Lacking effective editing which results in wordiness, redundancies, & lack of substance. There are clarity issues that impact the text’s effectiveness.

Grammatical/

Structural Writing Competences

Well written in all respects, with no errors in grammar, usage, punctuation, structure, style, and spelling.

Basic grammar and sentence/paragraph structure are adequate, but some errors in usage, punctuation, style or spelling are present.

Frequent inadequacies in one or more of the basic competencies impedes understanding of the text.

Overall Formatting, Layout & Accessibility

Documents use formatting techniques effectively to convey information. Careful consideration has been given to not only what is being said but also how it is presented on the page. Crucial information has been highlighted to make it more accessible.

Documents demonstrate that some thought was given to formatting and organization, but student missed clear opportunities to make information more accessible. Formatting considerations may be inconsistent, only showing up in one or two of the documents and not in others.

Documents demonstrate little consideration of formatting and organizational techniques. Typically characterized by large, block paragraphs and text-heavy presentation. Important information isn’t highlighted in any substantial way.

Structure/

Organization

Document demonstrates effective Resume conventions (header, contact info, work experience, etc.). The formatting is exact and consistent throughout entire page

Document demonstrates acceptable Resume conventions, but some areas may not be as specific as they could be. The page is, for the most part, organized and easy to access.

Documents is missing components or shows poor development. The page isn’t organized effectively or is inconsistent in how it organizes information.

Salesmanship

Student effectively highlights and describes qualities/experience that help to sell him/her as a potential employee. Student uses Power Verbs throughout document.

Student describes experiences in some detail, but the language used doesn’t highlight the qualities that would make him/her a good employee. Student uses some Power Verbs but is inconsistent with their use.

Student only describes responsibilities and not experience (or just lists job titles). Student doesn’t use Power Verbs.