RESUMES AND COVER LETTERS

WHAT IS A RESUME? Type of genre writing –Professional –Type of writing by an author who is trying to get something (job, scholarship, award…) –Should be extremely persuasive

FORM, FUNCTION, & EFFECTIVENESS Form –A resume should look a certain way –People who read resumes expect them to include certain information (name, address, contact information, education, past jobs, volunteer experience, and special skills) –If it doesn’t look like a traditional resume, your reader may be confused and think the writer (you) is not educated on writing proper resumes

FORM, FUNCTION, & EFFECTIVENESS Function –It should inform your audience about you in order to accomplish something Effectiveness –Must demonstrate your knowledge of function and form Has a clear purpose that shows why you are writing it Is visually appropriate and appealing, easy to read Includes all necessary information about writer Is grammatically correct with no errors in punctuation or spelling

SAMPLE RESUMES What do you see as form, function, and effectiveness?

SAMPLE RESUMES What do you see as form, function, and effectiveness?

TWO TYPES OF RESUMES Chronological –Most popular –Contains an objective –Lists all employers/experience and related accomplishments in order of most recent to past –Usually for beginners Functional –Highlights abilities rather than chronological history –Summarizes work history –Usually for experienced seekers College Admissions High School Resume High School Students Need a Resume Too

BRAINSTORM Brainstorm the content for your resume –Use the form on the website to guide your thinking Share with your small group What was easy about filling out the form? Difficult? What sections contained the most information? Least? Why?

DEFINING AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE Why should we consider the audience or purpose when we write? –Audience refers to anyone who will review your resume, so we must consider all audiences, both primary and secondary. –Purpose refers to why the audience is looking at the resume and what they will be looking for, so we must ask ourselves what they want to read.

CONNECT How are audience and purpose related to the three Fs? Why are they important

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER On the website you will find a graphic organizer for building your resume. Utilize it at this point.

USING RESUME BUILDER Create a resume –Resume BuilderResume Builder –Word (there are lots to choose from)

PEER REVIEW Many resumes are submitted electronically, others on actual paper. It is important to know how your final product will look. Have a peer edit your working resume and make any necessary changes. –Remember to use the 3Fs as a guide as you review each others’ resumes. You are going to hand in a copy of your resume as your rough draft –May submit by sharing it with me or ing it to me

COVER LETTER

FORM, FUNCTION, & EFFECTIVENESS Form –Like resumes, cover letters have a typical form, that of a business letter. –The writer must know the correct placement of the heading, date, salutation, body paragraphs, closing, and signature –Readers expect a cover letter to have certain features. If they aren’t included, the reader thinks you are not knowledgeable and therefore, not ready for whatever you are trying to accomplish by submitting your cover letter and resume

FORM, FUNCTION, & EFFECTIVENESS Function –Cover letters accompany resumes to introduce the reader of the resume to the writer. –Cover letters personalize the resume, allowing the writer to provide more detail about himself and any relevant experience. –This is a way for the writer’s voice to come through

FORM, FUNCTION, & EFFECTIVENESS Effectiveness –An effective cover letter can combine both function and form –It personalizes the writer and provides additional information and any relevant experience in a standard form –It should: Have a clear purpose Be visually appropriate or appealing and easy to read Include additional, relevant information about the writer Be grammatically correct with no punctuation or spelling errors

SAMPLES What is the function of the cover letter? What is unique about its form? How effective will it be?

SAMPLES What is the function of the cover letter? What is unique about its form? How effective will it be?

SAMPLES What is the function of the cover letter? What is unique about its form? How effective will it be?

DEVELOPING YOUR COVER LETTER Use the graphic organizer on the website Look at the sample, fill in the blank cover letter; also on the website Complete a draft to be turned in –Either ed or shared