English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

I know the importance of a cover letter but I’m still a little apprehensive about writing one. All the articles I read about resumes and how they are quickly scanned made me wonder if employers will actually take time to read cover letters. We even read an article (by Rands In Repose) that said don’t even bother including a cover letter. However, I know in the end I will include a cover letter because I don’t want to be less prepared than another applicant. I guess it’s better to give the employer everything you can and then let them decide what they want to do with it.

File attached

After reading the “resume draft readings” I feel somewhat discouraged and intimidated about creating the “perfect” resume, however subjective that is. It is hard to tell exactly how each person should construct their resume because there is no standard for writing them and no standard for the person(s) reading them. However, these articles gave some good insight on how to make your resume better and present your personal information/experience in way that people will notice.

I found Chapter 8 – Organizing and Drafting to be somewhat of a review. Most of material we have seen since middle or high school, but I guess it’s important to really know it. I did, however, find a few interesting tips/comments on conclusions and genres. I just need to make sure I think about these tips when I’m writing.

Co-op/Intern/Summer Student - Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineer – Stantec

I found this week’s reading, chapter 15 “starting your career”, to be helpful but also a bit of a bummer. There were many helpful tips about resume writing/construction, cover letters, interviews, etc. All of this information will aid us in the search for our “perfect” job, but it’s not really a task I’m looking forward to. I wish it was possible to enjoy school all the way to graduation and then worry about this daunting task, maybe it is?

In chapter 3, Readers and Contexts of Use, the idea of knowing your audience and how to effectively communicate with them is introduced. In order to be an effective writer one must be able to present information or ideas in a way that allows everyone to understand. To achieve this goal the writer must evaluate the type of person that will be reading the particular document, its purpose, and formatting.