resume and cover letter

For this assignment, you will create a resume and cover letter for a specific job or internship. Consider using Handshake (Links to an external site.), available through SDSU, to locate a job posting. Think of this as an opportunity to develop a cover letter and resume that you might actually be able to use now.

Begin this assignment by finding a job posting you will use to develop your resume and cover letter for. Save this job posting as a PDF immediately—you will be asked to submit this posting at several stages during this project. As you will discover, simply submitting the same resume and cover letter to multiple job postings is not the most persuasive or effective strategy to use when job searching. You must approach these documents rhetorically, thinking about audience, purpose, and context as you develop your argument that you are the ideal candidate for the position you are applying to.

Remember that resumes and cover letters are not simply lists of your skills and descriptions of your qualifications. They are rhetorical in nature in that they are arguing that you are the person for the job. These must be powerful, clear, and persuasive arguments.

These documents also are your first opportunity to showcase your communication skills. Remember that communication and writing are very valuable commodities in any discipline or career. The resume and cover letter should give the hiring manager a good first look at these skills.

A couple of things to consider about this assignment:

• You must create a new resume and cover letter, documents that you have not used previous to this class. I know that the resume assignment is often covered in other classes, but we will be approaching this assignment differently. There are many ways to write resumes—I am teaching you one of those ways. If you submit a resume you created previous to this class—even one you have actually used for job searches–it will not likely earn a high grade because of the varying methods and specifics of this assignment.
• Your resume and cover letter must not be longer than one page each. Again, I know there are differing opinion about the ideal length for a resume and cover letter, but in this class we are writing a direct, concise, clear, and well-designed one-page resume and cover letter. These documents should make good use of white space, direct language, and should be easy to navigate, skimmable, and easy to access.
• You may not use a resume template or create a highly stylized resume for this assignment. Your resume should be professional, straight-forward, and easy to read and access. Further, your resume should be compliant with resume tracking systems meaning color, templates, or resumes with man styles, boxes, tables, etc. should be omitted. Use the Resume Guide (Links to an external site.) from SDSU Career Services as an example of what your resume should look like.
• Your resume and cover letter should be specific to the job you are applying to. Think about the rhetorical situation here. How can you create an argument that you are the best candidate for this particular position for this specific company?
• Your cover letter should not simply be a summary of your resume. You should be able to be persuasive and innovative in your cover letter. Try to expand on your resume with more detail or add experiences relevant to the job that did not have a place on your resume.
• Once you find the job posting you would like to use for this assignment, be sure to save a PDF of the complete posting with all qualifications, experiences, and job descriptions clearly visible on the page. You will need to submit this at several points during this assignment. I will use this to see how you tailored your resume and cover letter to the job posting.

Project Components/Deliverables

• Job Posting: Choose a job posting from a jobs site such as Indeed.com, Idealist.com, Craigslist.com, or Handshake (Links to an external site.). This can be a job you are qualified for now or an internship. Be sure to save a PDF of the entire job posting including qualifications, experience required, and the job description.
• The Resume: Create a resume specific to the job you are applying to. This resume should be visually appealing, free of errors, and accessible to your reader. It should be either a chronological (or reverse chronological), skills, or hybrid resume. It will be no longer than one page in length and will include measurable results and highlight accomplishments in your experience and/or skills sections.
• The Cover Letter: Remember that the cover letter should bridge any gaps that may be present in your resume and should connect to the job description as well. The cover letter is also your opportunity to humanize yourself—give your application some personality. This should be in standard business letter format.

Project Guidelines

• All project components must be typed, saved, and submitted as a PDF. Use a font and style that you feel suit the genre and your audience. Think carefully about this.
• Design your document to be visually appealing, scannable, and accessible.
• All assignments must be submitted on time.
• Be sure to include the PDF of the job posting with your final project

Grading Criteria

• Do the resume and cover letter show adequate development? Is it clear that an argument is being made for a specific job at a specific company? Have key terms and phrases from the job posting been used?
• Does the resume use either the chronological, skills, or hybrid format/organization?
• Does the resume highlight measurable results and accomplishments?
• Is the cover letter clear, concise, and easy to read?
• Does the cover letter adhere to proper workplace writing conventions? Is it written in proper business letter format?
• Does the cover letter bridge any gaps between the job posting and the resume? Does it avoid simply restating what is already on the resume?
• Are both documents designed for easy navigation and reading? Are white space, lists, and other design elements used skillfully? Are these written without using a pre-designed template?
• Are they sensitive to rhetorical concerns (audience, purpose and context)? Are they persuasive?
• Do the resume and employment cover letter epitomize the purpose and design conventions of the genres?
• Is each document limited to one page?
• Are the resume and cover letter free of all typos, and are they correct grammatically?
• Has the job posting been submitted?

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