RESUMES AND JOB

LETTERS
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1.
Resumes
Print and Scannable resumes
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INTRODUCTION TO RESUMES AND JOB LETTERS

WHAT DO RESUMES DO?

Resumes summarize your education, work experience, and other major accomplishments for
prospective employers. When you write a resume and application letter you are making an
argument for why that employer should want to meet you, and perhaps hire you. The two texts
together advertise your talents and abilities.
A resume, along with an application letter and interview are all major components of your self-
presentation to a potential employer. Sending a thank you letter after an interview completes
your presentation.
Although resumes, application letters, and thank you letters are three very different genres, they
all share a common purpose and audience.
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Print and scannable resumes
Print
▸ Presented on paper
▸ Designed to highlight key
information typographically
▸ Action verbs are used to
emphasize accomplishments
Scannable
▸ Can be delivered on paper or
via email
▸ Formatted to be read by a
computer
▸ Keywords are used that
match the computer’s job
description database
▸ Nouns are used to emphasize
accomplishments
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Organizing your resume

Chronologically, Targeted, or Functionally
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Chronological vs Targeted vs Functional

WHICH TYPE TO USE?

A chronological resume lists you academic and work experience chronologically.
A targeted resume will announce the specific goal on top (beneath your name) and offer
information selectively showing only experience and skills relevant to the goal
A functional resume is organized around various kinds of experience and is not chronological.
You would write a functional resume if you wish to demonstrate a lot of experience in more
than one area.
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Guidelines for a Resume

▸ A resume should always be short, usually one page.

▸ Entries should be parallel but do not need to be complete sentences.
▸ The design should be easy to read and scan
▸ On a print resume: typography, white space, and alignment matter and
your name should be bold on top. Major section should be labeled
with headings and in a slightly larger or bolder font.
▸ On a scannable resume: standard font should be used throughout and
no italics, boldface, bullets, or indents should be used.
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Writing a Resume

Purpose Audience Stance Media/Design

What position Who are you How do you want How do you plan
are you applying writing the to come across to present and
for? Are you resume for? as to the send your
seeking a job? What sort of audience? What resume? On
An internship? person is the personal and paper or through
What organization professional email?
information seeking for? qualities do you
should you What want to convey?
include? experience and
qualities should
you highlight?
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Presenting yourself

WHAT TO INCLUDE?
Contact information: On the top of every resume, your contact information should
be listed on top. Contact information should list your full name, a permanent
address, a permanent telephone number with your area code, and your email
address (should be professional).
Education: Always start with the most recent: degree, major, college attended, and
minor where applicable. If you have a high GPA (at least over 3.0) you should list
this under education along with academic honors and major accomplishments
received.
Work experience: List your most recent job first (unless you have extensive work
experience in the place you are applying for). You should include the job title,
organization theme, city and state, start and end dates, and responsibilities.
Describe them in terms of your duties and accomplishments.
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Presenting yourself cont.

WHAT TO INCLUDE?
Community service, volunteer, and charitable activities: List your community
services and volunteer activities as well as the skills you learned or helped you
develop or demonstrate.
Other activities, interests, and abilities: What you hobbies are and what skills your
leisure activities require.
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Print Resume
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Scannable Resume
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Important factors to consider

References
It is always good to have references on your resume or to offer them upon request, but it is
important to have references ready before you send out your resume. When asking someone to
be your reference you should provide them with a one page summary of relevant and recent
information about you.
Wording and grammer
Write your resume professionally and remember to what wording is appropriate for the type of
resume you are writing. When writing a scannable resume determine the appropriate keywords
to use and be honest in your writing by not embellishing the truth.
Design elements
Resume should be centered on the page, use simple font (such as serif for print or sans serif
for scannable), print on white or off-white paper, and limit resumes to one full page. Again,
scannable resumes should not include bullets, boldface, indents, italics, or underlining.
Proofread
Make sure there are no typos, proofread your resume and have others proofread as well.
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Application Letter

An application letter is typically

sent together with your resume
making a favorable impression.
The letter should be cite details,
identify a particular position, and
state your credentials and
availability.
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Application Letter

WHAT TO INCLUDE?
▸ Street address, city, state ZIP and date
▸ Recipients name and title, organization, address
▸ Salutation, with a colon
▸ Position identified
▸ Experience and job description
▸ Availability
▸ Closing
▸ 4 lines for signature
▸ Sender’s name, typed
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Application Letter
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Thank You Letters

A Thank you letter is a way of

showing appreciation for the
interview and restating your
interest in the position. It
should be sent within a day or
two of your interview.
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Thank you Letter

WHAT TO INCLUDE?
▸ Remind the interviewer of your qualifications
▸ Write in a reasonable and pleasing tone
▸ Demonstrate you will be the kind of employee the company wants
▸ Have a conventional businesslike format. The most common is block format
that includes the writers address, the date, recipients name and address, a
salutation, he message, a closing, and a signature.
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Thank you Letter
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Guide to writing Application and Thank you letters
Businesslike
Application and thank you letters
are not personal you it is
important that you keep them
focused. Include only relevant
information and stay on topic.
Salutation
Know who you are writing to and
address them accordingly. If
they have a title, use it, otherwise
use their full name. If you do not
know whom you are writing the
letter to, “to whom it may
concern” or a subject line can be
used.
Purpose Make your argument
State the purpose in the first When applying to something, you
sentence. Unlike essays which are making an argument that you
develop a thesis or emails that are the most qualified person for
state the topic in the subject line, the position, Support your claim
letters should state their purpose with evidence
in the beginning
Proofread
Remember that this is a
professional letter. Typos and
grammar errors should not be
present when you send the letter.
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Organizing your Resume and Application Letter

Resume (education and work experience are interchangeable)

Name and
Work Additional
Contact Education References
Experience Information
Information

Application Letter

State your Give

Identify your Add any
Qualifications information on
position and pertinent
and your references; end
where you information
interest in by saying you
heard about it that is not on
position will call for an
your resume
interview
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Organizing your Thank you Letter

Thank you Letter

Thank the Briefly restate

your Express your
interviewer for
qualifications or interest.
meeting with you. Note any
note information Thank the
Mention the you forgot to enclosures interviewer
position you are mention during again
applying for the interview
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THANKS!
Any questions?
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Credits

▸ Bullock, Richard H. The Norton Field Guide to Writing. W. W. Norton &

Company, 2019.