English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

One of the major differences between resume’s and cover letters is that cover letters are in essay style. They are not a collection of bulleted items which are optimized to be scanned, but instead cover letters are meant to be read from beginning to end. This offers the candidate additional techniques for presenting themselves. As mentioned in instructor blog #3, unlike a resume, a cover letter has a tone. Instead of simply conveying a series of facts, the candidate can tell a story which paints a mental picture of the candidate in the eyes of employer. They can also argue why they are a good fit for the position advertised.

Although different employers may handle resume’s differently, they all have something in common: they only glance or scan through the resume’s until they convince themselves that the resume is worth serious attention. Because of the limited time that employers have to read resume’s, many people believe that a resume should be as short as possible so that the employer can read it all. “Instructor Blog #2” says just that. At a first glance this sounds like good advice, but let’s examine it carefully.

I can't agree more with how important it is to structure a document well so that others can easily understand it. As a software engineer, I can relate this to programming. Programming is somewhat similar to writing English except in the case of programming, the documents written are meant to be read by the computer and other programmers. However, a lot of programmers forget that their code must be readable by other programmers and write it in a way such that only the author and the computer can understand them. There is a very large branch in software engineering dealing with how to write well designed and structured code.

I have no doubt that I want to pursue a career in computer science (otherwise referred to as software engineering). After I finish my education, I am interested in landing a high paying job that matches my passions.
The Software Engineer position at CRA International is a good fit for me. It matches my interests, skills, and my criteria. I love working with Microsoft technologies and I am very interested in finance. This is a software engineering position using Microsoft technologies at a financial firm – a perfect fit.

A resume is a document whose main purpose is to create a good impression. Companies go through many resumes and many times only the candidates with resume’s that stand out are invited for an interview.

Chapter 3, "Readers and Context of Use" stresses how important it is to know one's readers and write with that knowledge in mind.
I found the section on profiling readers quite useful. It breaks down the profiling process into six basic questions that the writer can ask himself: who, what, where, when, why, and how. If the writer correctly answers these questions to himself, his work will be much better tailored towards his readers.