English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

Like many of the other responses, I too was a bit shocked by the amount of time that is spent on reviewing résumés. It’s a bit discouraging knowing that even after spending countless hours perfecting a résumé, it might only be looked at for forty seconds. None the less, résumés are not going away soon, so with this knowledge, it is imperative to create a résumé that earns it extra attention.

Chapter 8 of “Technical Communication Today” stressed the importance of properly organizing documents. While the main concept of the chapter has been discussed in several of my other Communication and English classes over the years, it did contain some new information. It provided several ways of aiding in doing so as well as several different organizational structures.

For the job analysis, I chose a Telecommunication Analyst position with ExxonMobil. The job description can be read at http://www.exxonmobil.com/USA-English/HR/Jobs/HR_US_what_sample10.asp. My past experience as an intern with ExxonMobil was the primary basis for choosing this job. While working at ExxonMobil, I found that I not only enjoyed the work, but also enjoyed the people that I was working with. Both of these factors are very important to me when deciding where I am going to work.

After reading chapter 15 in Technical Communication Today, I felt as though I had gained additional insight into creating professional documents to aid in the search for a job. I found the information on two of the documents particularly important and informative. These documents were the resume and the application letter.

After reading chapter 3 in "Readers and Contexts of Use" in Technical Communication Today, the importance of profiling the readers to effectively target your audience in technical writing, was evident.