Résumé and Cover Letter Final Draft
What: Final draft of your job documents assignment.
When: Due Monday, 11 August, at the beginning of class.
For Tuesday, please prepare final drafts of your resume and cover letter. In
addition, gather your peer response materials, plus any drafts or other relevant
material you have. Then place these in a folder with your name and userid (the
first part of your MTU email address) on the front.
I will ask myself the following questions as I evaluate the rhetorical appropriateness
of your documents:
Your Ethos
- Are your resume and cover letter suited to the job they're in application
to? That is, are you responding to a job ad that you could realistically apply
for, and are your documents tailored to that job?
- Do your resume and cover letter emphasize your most relevant qualifications
for the job? Do they do so in a compelling way (using active language, effective
salesmanship, and creativity)?
- Do your resume and cover letter reflect your enthusiasm for and knowledge
of the company?
- Do your resumes and cover letter reflect your professionalism overall?
Organization, Usability, and Design
- Are your resume and cover letters organized in such a way that they are
easily navigated and understood?
- Does your visual design match your information design? That is, does your
layout reflect and communicate the underlying organization? Are both the visual
design and the information design thoroughly consistent?
- Is your resume visually compelling? Would it stand out in a pile, without
looking outlandish?
- Did you use nice, elegant paper? (Okay, it's not so important for this assignment—but
for actual job applications this is a serious consideration.)
Context and Genre Expectations
- Do your documents live up to the formal expectations of resumes and cover
letters? Is your cover letter in an appropriate business letter format? Does
your resume look and act like a resume, without defying your readers' expectations?
- Are all your words spelled appropriately? Do you use appropriate grammar
throughout?