Writing Rsums

1
Writing Résumés

• English 308

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Assignment

• 1. Produce a hard-copy personal résumé aimed at
  a specific job application.
• 2. Produce an accompanying cover letter.
• Follow the guidelines in Technical Communication,
  Chap. 16.

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Bold, larger font
Space-saving form
Make a Table and change the borders to None
Arrange in reverse chronological order
Ask first!
Optional section
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Project Organization

• 1. Self-inventory
• 2. Prospective employer
• 3. Materials preparation

See Technical Communications, p. 448.
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Project Background

• Locate an advertisement for a specific job
  position in your field, using hard copy or
  electronic sources.
• Try WWW.bedfordstmartins.com/techcomm/
• or see Technical Communication, p. 450.

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Résumés--general guidelines

• Neatness counts
• leave generous margins
• use clear type and printer
• arrange for balance
• organize visually

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Problem

• Wrong state abbreviations.
• Abbreviate state nameswith 2 capital letters,
  e.g. AZnot Az, Ariz., ARIZ., AZ. with zip
  codes only.

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Problem

• Tucson area code
• ...is 520, not 502 or 602

9
Problem

• Be careful with acronyms
• Acronyms usually dont mean much in the
  outside world.
• Example What is PDK?

10
Problem

• Spacing
• Single space between items.
• Double space between sections.
• Fine-tune spacing at the end.

11
Problem

• Omit Social Security numbers, age, date of birth,
  height, weight, and marital status.
• These cannot be legally required and, to be
  safe, most companies dont want them.

12
Problem

• Use Active Voice without a pronoun
• Not I supervised three workers
• Not Three workers were supervised by me
• But Supervised three workers

For information about Active Voice, see Technical
Communication, p. 286-7
13
Problem

• Folding
• Do not fold your résumé.
• If you mail it, use a large white résumé
  envelope.

14
Problem

• Length
• Limit your résumé to 1 or 2 pages.
• Paper
• 20-24 lb.. weight, slightly textured, lightly
  colored if at all, but PURE WHITE if scanned.

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Problem

• Scanning
• Use sans-serif type Arial rather than Times New
  Roman.
• Avoid textured paper.
• Avoid some bullets, e.g. ?

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Remember

• The purpose of a résumé is to sell something.

Coming next class THE COVER LETTER.
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Project Background

• Locate an advertisement for a specific job
  position in your field, using hard copy or
  electronic sources.
• Try www.bedfordstmartins.com/techcomm/
• or see Technical Communication, p. 450.