Rhetorically Constructing Resumes
One reason I like analyzing job ads is that I think it helps you internalize some of the expectations and desires employers have. Over the years, I’ve gotten to the point where I can read an ad and identify cases where I can see that they don’t necessarily know exactly what they want–but I can think of another ad that probably speaks to their needs and desires. You probably won’t develop that sense just looking at 25 ads, but I do hope our first project made you a bit more comfortable analyzing an ad.
When I teach resumes at the undergraduate level, I emphasize the importance of an rhetorical approach. Rhetoric here means two things to me:
- First, it means that I attempt to read what the other person wants, thinks, values, and prioritizes
- Second, it means that I approach the situation without an expectation of control or mastery, that I understand that the situation calls for a calculation of risk
I contrast this rhetorical approach to the more “philosophical” approach that tends to drive the advice one would get from career services or from many resume books and websites. Philosophical approaches try to teach hard and fast rules for developing materials. Do this! Don’t do that! They are often more concerned with their own preferences; and thus overwrite the wide chaos one finds in ads with a more simple and controlled framework. They also tend to be more conservative when it comes to voice, tone, and content. I am skeptical of this kind of “cookie cutter” approach.
Rather, I think you should approach your job materials less in terms of a baking recipe and more in terms of a high stakes poker game. When you play poker, the cards you hold are important. But equally important is your ability to read your opponents, and to make sure that you adjust your play based on theirs. You cannot plan out a poker strategy before you play the game–you can have ideas, certainly–but those ideas have to be re-calibrated once the game starts and you begin familiarizing yourself with the players.
In terms of a job search and the construction your materials, it is useful to have drafted in advance material for a resume and a cover letter. But the resume and cover letter you send to a potential employer should always be transformed based on the position for which you apply. And these transformations shouldn’t be merely cosmetic–you should create content that you think speaks to that particular organizations needs.I’ve been on the job market twice in the past 15 years, and both times I started with a default letter and CV. This doesn’t mean I recommend writing a completely different letter for every job. I don’t, no one has time for that. [job letters-unc (teaching new media and tech writing), msu (digital rhetoric research), tamu (classical)]. But I do recommend spending time reading an ad carefully, thinking about how you arrange material, and making sure that the language you use in a letter matches up with the language you find not only on an ad, but also on an organization’s website (mission statement, about us, projects). Your resume and cover letter should show organizations how you can use research and rhetoric to craft more compelling prose.
Rhetoric is the art of adapting a message to a particular audience, of recognizing the affordances and advantages of a particular situation. It always involves elements of risk and chance. I believe job searches are particularly arbitrary–there is no system or pattern to what employers look for because every employer, every human resource director, is different, and brings to the process her own preferences, methods, and attitudes. The best we can do is to learn to analyze, listen, and think through possibilities–to be aware of the potential choices we have and to make precise calculations for every position to which we apply. While we can’t be certain, we can do our best to know our audience(s), and to tailor ourselves to their preferences.
Some Practical Advice that May Even Be Useful, in Some Situations, Some of the Time
Okay, with those rhetorical reservations in place, let me tentatively offer some advice. First, we need to make sure we are designing resumes that are ATS (applicant tracking system) compliant. This is probably the biggest change I have had to deal with in the 12 or so years that I have taught resumes–the increasing difficulty and prioritization of designing a document that 1) can “beat” the machine and 2) is still persuasive, compelling, and/or readable to a human being. The advice 10 years ago focused on the importance of keywords (previous link). So does the advice today . I think our Project 1 Coding Sheet is a great generic resource for identifying keywords–but be sure to code any advertisement to which you plan on applying to see if you can identify idiosyncratic language. Also, preparing resumes for ATS has implications for style and design. (Note: see tool at the bottom, see Common mistakes, short video)
So let’s assume that we’ve beaten the machine. Now our resume is in the hands (or more likely on the screen) of a human resource director or a manager who needs to wean a stack of 20-25 candidates down to a stack of 5 for interviews. Now we might have to beat the dreaded six second scan.. But beware keyword stuffing!
Let’s close this section with a review of some generic but staple resume advice–a few Squawkfox articles.
Resumes Part 2
New for 2022, Plain Text Resume
Wright, Dol, and Collins (2011). See sample resume description [could this go in a resume or a cover letter? Top of the resume for a person? Or bottom of a resume? Where to position this?]. See Wonderlic.
Another resource to help identify strengths/compatibility: Big Five personality test.
Here is my heuristic/template for starting a resume
- How to Reframe Service Experience
- How to Reframe Customer Service on a Resume
- A href=”https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/backstage-experts-answer-belongs-actors-resume-9089/”>Theater Arts Resume / CV
Volunteer / Potential Internship Opportunity
Homework Due Sunday, April 17th
Hi all. As you finish up your Community Engagement Projects, I have two small things for you to do. They are inter-related, so copying your answers for the first should help you complete the second.
- First, complete the Project Reflection form [Note: this isn’t just a gotcha assignment; project postmortems are very common in the professional world, where you have a meeting after a major project’s completion to talk about process]
- For the Deliverable #2 in Canvas, I’d like each team to submit a memo. The memo should list all team members, link to all team deliverables (anything from Deliverable #1 and anything finished since then). It should have some language that I can potentially copy/paste into my memo for clients regarding the project and the deliverables. Finally, it should have some instructions for how either a) an intern or b) another group next semester should approach/improve/extend/utilize your work. Again, you only need submit one of these per team. Again, a few of the questions in the reflection form should help generate this content.
Homework For Next Thursday
For next week’s class, I would like you to identify a job or internship for which you want to develop materials. Next week we will spend 20 minutes analyzing your ad and then 15 minutes generating content for a resume (I have a few heuristics to help with this process).
I will reserve the final 40 minutes of class next week for you to meet with your group and finalize your Deliverable #2.
