Assignment Overview

Résumé Content

Résumé Exercise

Résumé Format

• Vital Statistics
• Job Objective
• Education
• Experience
• Honors
• Skills
• References
• Sample Résumés

Application Letter

Application Letter Exercise

• Letter 1
• Letter 2
• Letter 3

When you send your résumé to a company that has a job opening, you are making a claim. Your claim is: "You should interview me for this position."

First, you must be familiar with the requirements of the position and the audience you are attempting to persuade. Consider the claim: "You should interview me for this position." Who is the "you"? "You" will be the company that is advertising the job opening. Find out as much as possible about "this position" and about the "you": the company offering the position. What steps are necessary to obtain this information?

• Examine job ad/job description: Identify required skills, education and experience for this job.
• Research the company: Identify the company's products and services, goals, philosophy, benefits and salary ranges, stability, size, age, location(s), etc.

Once you have learned all you can about the company and the job opening, consider the claim once again: "You should interview me for this position." In order to persuade the company to grant an interview, you must substantiate this claim for the reader with evidence. Your reader will need information about you (the "me" in the claim) and particularly how you would fit the position and fit into the company. The evidence you use will effectively support your claim, if your evidence is based on the same warrant; that is, the same general criteria, that the company will use to evaluate your claim. The specific warrant of each company may not be explicit, but as a rule of thumb, you can expect your prospective employer to be looking for evidence that meets the following criteria: Sufficient, Typical, Accurate, and Relevant. To help you remember these criteria, use the acronym STAR. Your evidence must be:

S: Sufficient

Give "sufficient," that is, "enough" information about yourself and your qualifications. Be thorough. For example, under work experience be sure to list dates of employment and job duties, not just employer name and job title. If you have been out of school for awhile, make sure there are no chronological gaps in your record. How much evidence will be sufficient is also tied to how "typical" it is (see next section).

T: Typical

As a rule of thumb, if your qualifications are "typical" of (analogous to) the requested qualifications, you will need less detail than if your qualifications are less typical of the position's requirements. You should note, however, that while the evidence should be "typical" of the requirements for the position, the more "exceptional" the quantity and quality of that "typical" experience, the greater your advantage as an applicant. For example, if you have experience designing web pages and you are applying for a web designer position, your experience is likely to be very typical of the position's requirements. If, however, you have not been employed to design web pages, but do have your own homepage and are familiar with HTML, your experience is somewhat typical/analogous, but other evidence will be needed to be fully persuasive. If your qualifications are not "typical," you may compensate by showing how they are "relevant" (see below). If this doesn't work, perhaps you are applying for the wrong job!

You should also be sure to use "key words" to indicate that your experience is typical of the job requirements. For instance, if the job description indicates that the successful candidate will be proficient in C++, be sure you list this computer skill on your résumé.

A: Accurate

Accuracy is crucial to your credibility. Your audience will form an opinion about your work habits from the care you use to ensure that your résumé is mechanically accurate. Even one grammar error will adversely affect your chance to obtain an interview. You must also be accurate in the facts you give, so your audience will know you have integrity. Avoid ambiguities. For example, if you have not yet graduated, be sure to include your expected graduation date or classification so you do not leave the impression that you have already received your degree. If you list "Dean's List" under "Honors", say which semesters or "5 out of 6" semesters, etc. Otherwise you imply you were on the Dean's List for all semesters. If you list computer skills, your audience will probably assume you are proficient unless you specify differently.

R: Relevant

Your résumé must, of course, include education and work experience. But you will also wish to include other information if it is pertinent to the position. For instance, you may wish to list several "relevant" courses. Other possible additions, if related to the position: GPA, volunteer work, activities and interests. These added categories will generally carry less weight, but if your qualifications are equal to all candidates in other respects, a relevant course or activity could distinguish your résumé and earn you an interview.

Think like an employer about relevance. Employers want employees who are responsible, self-disciplined, and professional, and who are creative problem solvers, good team players, and effective communicators. Evidence of these abilities is pertinant to many positions.

Overall, your résumé is an argument. Support your claim by substantiating it with STAR evidence. Your goal is to persuade, because