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Reading Response Week 1

esschill's picture
Wed, 06/13/2007 - 23:39 — esschill

I am happy to see that the reading covers more than just the typical resume and cover letter. Its not that these documents are not important, but there are others that can serve as a beneficial supplement when searching for a career. I am really glad the reading provided detailed examples and tips of what successful resumes should include. The question, "How long should my resume be" has always been an issue when I am making a new one. I want to include all important information, but not force a recruiter to read a book when glancing at my interview. I enojy having multiple forms of my resume. This way I can focus on key qualities that may attract certain recruiters more than others. Even after having my resumes critiqued numerous times by different people at the CCO, I have come to the realization that there really is not a perfect resume. The resumes only can do so much for you. It basically sparks interest. It is then up to the applicant to "sell" their qualities. Obviously having a cover letter for each company is a must, but I have found that having a few different resumes can really help as well. I found the list of terms especially useful. This will definitely help all of us understand specific concepts of not only this book, but in this class and when the time comes to create our actual documents.

I am really excited to learn the concepts this course has to offer. Since I will be starting to interview in the near future, I hope to learn as much as possible before my search begins. Having the basic knowledge to write a power cover letter and have an amazing resume will decide what kind of career I will obtain. From the initial reading and introduction of this course, I am not worried that I will be able to learn a lot. I am ready to continue with this this book, learn how to write professional documents, and land a career very soon.

Comments

Thu, 06/14/2007 - 15:47 — squasny
squasny's picture

The Importance of Resumes - Response

I think that the resume part of the book will be very beneficial to a job search. There are so many unanswered questions I have regarding my resume just like you mentioned, how long should a resume be. It is important to include imformation that will catch an employers eye as well as giving enough information without be over crowded. Resumes and cover letters are the way to advertise oneself when searching for a job. This book will help cover all the necessities of having a stand out resume.
Thu, 06/14/2007 - 16:58 — jtirrell
jtirrell's picture

RE: Reading Response Week 1

Mr. Schilling states:
Even after having my resumes critiqued numerous times by different people at the CCO, I have come to the realization that there really is not a perfect resume.

This is exactly correct. A resume, like any piece of communication, is not a formula. You can't ever make a single, perfect resume that works in all situations. No matter what, there is always some ambiguity about how effective a resume is going to be. Of course, this is true of all communication. Why is this the case? Because ultimately your audience will be a person or people (this is the case even with scannable resumes), and people are variable. Sometimes students get frustrated because their resume will be critiqued one way by one person, and a completely different way by another. But really, this shouldn't be surprising at all.

So, does this mean that it doesn't matter what we do with a resume? Does it mean that the situation is so isolated that any choice is as good as another? No, certainly not. Just because there will always be some gray area about how your resume will be received doesn't mean that there aren't generally effective strategies. And more importantly, this highlights what we must do to be effective when communicating. There isn't a formula for us to learn. What we must do is understand, as best we can, what the needs of the particular, specific audience and situation are, and then craft our text to suit them. This is what we mean by kairos. All situations are unique, so we must understand and suit them appropriately.

The instructor blog that deals with resumes discusses these issues. We will be reading it soon.

Fri, 06/15/2007 - 07:25 — blakngold703
blakngold703's picture

Reply to Reading Response #1

I never thought to have had a few different formats for your resume. It makes sense because like you said there really is no one perfect resume to come up with. Perhaps you have several different job experiences and activities but cannot fit it all in on one resume. Having a few distinct resumes might possibly increase your chances of landing a job simply because you would cater a particular resume to meet the standards the job is requiring. As far as having resumes critiqued, I know what it is like to go back and forth to the CCO. It is possible to go to them nearly every day and somehow they manage to find an error or a better recommendation in a certain area. This often confuses me sometimes on whether I should leave or remove something. The concepts involving resumes and cover letters within the text should clear up a lot of my questions.

Fri, 06/15/2007 - 11:14 — deagan
deagan's picture

Many Resumes

I agree that there is not one set formula for resumes. I have also gotten my resume checked at the CCO. A good story is when the CCO put on a resume critique from different companies. I took my resume to people from Shell and they asked me to take something out and add something in. Later in the day after fixing it I spoke with a lady from another company and she thought the new thing I had added from shell was unnecessary and should be removed. I told her that Shell had told me to include it and she explained how different companies like different formats and even different recruiters within her company like resumes differently.
Fri, 06/15/2007 - 23:06 — rmarschk
rmarschk's picture

Resume

I agree that there are many different ways to format your resume. That can sometimes get frustrating because you can get your resume critiqued by ten different people and they will all tell you something different. Some of the people will like it better in one format while others will like another. It especially bugs me when you have different teachers telling you how to improve your resume, and they are telling you contradicting things. I have found it helpful to organize it the way that you think is the clearest and best represents yourself. Then I would have someone whose opinion that you value highly to take on last look at it and make suggestions.
Fri, 06/15/2007 - 15:09 — bpeppler
bpeppler's picture

response

I agree with your views on the resume. It's hard for me to agree that there is a perfect resume when the one reading it will only spend about half a minute reading each one. If a resume was so "perfect" you would think that the viewer would be a little more astounded by it. I am not trying to say that resumes are not important, they are. A job would not require you to submit one if they served no importance. It reminds me of when I was taking ECON252 at Purdue and my professor said that a college education is not that important. He made some good points too. He said that when an employer looks at a person's degree, they didn't look at the actual degree as much as the dedication the person had to complete their studies. It proves that grades may not serve as much importance as they are portray to. They are both important for sure, but maybe one may be more important than the other. I can see where he was coming from because he brought up the example of Bill Gates being a college dropout. Even without a degree, he became one of the most successful people ever because he was dedicated. I can relate this to the importance of a resume.
Fri, 06/15/2007 - 19:29 — archit
archit's picture

Reading comment# 1

I totally agree with you on the fact that no resume can be perfect. Even I have been to the CCo a numerous times to get my resume refined. The only problem is that the resume is only one page and there isnt everything that one can put in that one page. I guess one can never decide as to which information is more important than the other for it to be on the resume. Apparently after this project we will exactly know how to produce the perfect resume.
Fri, 06/15/2007 - 22:00 — RachB487
RachB487's picture

Comment

I have always had many of the same questions about resumes as you said you have. I never knew how long they should be. I always had a hard time deciding what should be included and what should be left out. I think the pages in the book with the resume guidelines will be very helpful. When I read them, I got a better idea of what my resume should include. I also liked that it explained how to go about deciding the order of importance of the different sections.
Sat, 06/16/2007 - 22:39 — kim264

I agree

I agree that there is not a perfect resume. Resume functions as drawing the reader's interest firstly and articulating which skills you have and why you are qualified to make the company buy those skills and pick you up among other numerous applicants. I think we should adapt different kinds of resume format depending on the job's character. If the company wants a creative candidate, then one's resume can be in non-classical format. However, due to the conservatism of bank industry like in Korea, the resume will work best in classic and concise format.