Due: Tuesday, February 3^rd

Résumé
Many of you probably already have a résumé, but for this assignment, we're going to fine-tune that résumé. We will want to shape the information on your resume to fit the job you're applying for. Keep in mind the types of information potential employers will want to see in your résumé:

• Career Objective—be specific and direct in your objective statement; vague statements show a lack of motivation or interest in a job
• Education—include areas of study and possibly even specific courses if they particularly relate to your potential job
• Employment Experience—find a way to make your past work experiences relevant to the position you desire; focus on skills from old jobs that might apply to potential jobs
• Computer Skills—if you have particular proficiencies within certain programs, be sure to emphasize those skills, possibly with brief descriptions of your abilities
• Honors—when you can, show your achievements in your field of study or previous work experiences
• Activities—demonstrate a well-rounded education, involvement with community, and interpersonal interaction
• References—often times omitted from the résumé under the assumption that you will submit references when an employer contacts you for an interview

Example: I am both a college instructor and a website designer. If I am applying to a university to teach, I will want to emphasize my teaching skills rather than my web-design skills (unless I wish to teach web-design or business communication skills, in which case I would focus on the relationship between these two sets of skills). If I am applying to a web-design firm, I will want to emphasize my web-design skills rather than my teaching skills (unless I am going to work as a consultant / trainer, in which case I would again focus on both sets of skills).

Here is my résumé.

Visual Design
Although by this point in the semester we will not yet have discussed much about visual design, think about the different parts of your résumé you want to highlight and how you can do that visually. Also, think about the different audiences for your résumé (employers at different companies will be interested in different skills you have) and how you can best present yourself in your résumé to that particular employer.

Cover Letter
You will also prepare a cover letter to a specific company, and possibly for a specific job, highlighting the particular skills you have that match with the interests of that company and the requirements of that particular job. Remember, your résumé is basically statistical information about you, and the job description posted by the company is statistical information about the position; so your cover letter should show how your skills match up with the requirements outlined in the job description. Consider your cover letter to be the link or bridge between your resume and the position for which you are applying.

Cover Letter Examples

• My Cover Letter 2002
• My Cover Letter 2003
• Student #1 Original Cover Letter
• Student #1 Modified Cover Letter
• Student #2 Original Cover Letter
• Student #2 Modified Cover Letter
• Student #3 Original Cover Letter
• Student #3 Modified Cover Letter

Accompanying Memo
With this assignment, you will submit a one-page memo, analyzing (not summarizing) the following:

• Tailoring Your Résumé—How did you choose to adapt your résumé to the specific job / company you chose? Be specific... Analyze the rhetoric you employ in your design and content.
• Résumé Design Choices—What information did you choose to highlight? In what ways? Why? Is this the information you feel most confident about?
• Interest in the Company—Why did you choose this particular company? What interests you about working for this company? Why not the same job somewhere else?
• Desired Position—Why do you wish to pursue this particular career? What aspects of this career entice you? How did you become interested in this area of work / study?