English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

Overall, I am drained by the amount of resume help I have been getting recently. Not just these readings, but from other classes and workshops that I've attended. I really think that resumes will not please everyone, but that the resume should be designed and written to please the maximum number of reviewers as possible. Although I have had a lot of help already, these readings shined light on new areas that I have left in the dark until now.

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.

I just have to preface my post by saying that I am SO tired of getting resume advice. Just as the "Instructor Blog #2" says, if you ask 10 people, you get 10 different answers, and thus, I'm tempted to disregard about 90% of the advice I'm given -- unless it's from someone directly within the company to which I'm applying. That being said, I still think there are some universal truths, per se, to resumes that these readings hit upon.

While most of the readings talked about the basics of how to write a good resume/cover letter, they all seemed the same to me. The readings that did strike me though were the accounts of the actual recruiters and how they look at resumes and decide who gets an interview and who doesn't get a second look.

One of the main reasons for why I took this course was for the section on resume building. With graduation around the corner, I figured that it was time to get serious with my application materials, and these readings have really taught me a lot. One of my most common mistakes, according to “Skeptical Resume Reader Tells How He Really Thinks,” is the use of weak verbs. Up until now, my resumes have always included phrases like “participated in” or “assisted with,” and apparently this strategy does not appeal to employers.

After reading the articles, I compared the detailed advice it gave to my resume. I wanted to know how I measured up in the eyes of human resources. Having the fate of my résumé depend on someone who reads multiple others daily and spends less time reading it than it takes them to brush their teeth did not sit well with me. I asked myself, “How can I make it more appealing and unique then everyone else’s to have mine chosen”?

As I was reading though the assignments for last Friday, the article that stood out the most was “Rands In Repose: A Glimpse and a Hook.” The further down the article I got, the more intimidated I was by this individual. It’s bad enough to be so pessimistic in such a competitive and unforgiving market. And when I read this piece on how an individual looks at a resume, I pray that the person I hand mine into is more merciful.

I think this week’s readings serve up a ton of great information regarding your resume. While all of the readings differ slightly in some aspects as far as what to include and what not to, it should be clear to us now what makes a good resume good and a bad resume bad. I think what should be most important when producing your resume is trying to play the role of the recruiter or HR representative in your head, and thinking objectively about how he or she would judge what you’ve presented.

As was discussed in the instructor’s blog #2, it is so frustrating when you are writing a resume and putting all of this thought and time into it only to have a recruiter spend a maximum of 30 seconds skimming over it. It kind of makes me feel as though it would be impossible to please everyone and it has to do with luck of the draw whether the person that happens to be reading your resume likes the style you have chosen. That being said, I think the most valuable quote on this blog was from the Rockport Institute regarding the selling of a product.

After reading the many readings for this week, I feel like I am back to square one. The first reading gave me a lot of confidence and I felt like my resume would be easy to write if I used its tips. Then I read another and began to question myself. After a couple more readings, I am still quite scared to start writing my resume. I had written all of my past resumes mostly based off of sample resumes, and didn’t make use of the many resources out there to help.