[ATTW-L] Teaching the resume

Wed Nov 7 15:55:21 UTC 2018

Hey Mark,

You're getting some good responses, so I'll defer to people doing research on this topic.

In my experience, though, resumes are still vitally important, but their roles are changing. Almost all job applicants still need to upload some kind of resume into job search engines and employers ask for a resume before an interview. So, having a resume ready to go is important. Pedagogically, making a resume is also a good way to show students (and future job applicants) how to get their credentials together into one concise space.

Job search engines may slice and dice resumes, and an individual resume itself may never be seen by recruiters. But, the content of the resume is necessary for that knife work. A PowerPoint introduction or YouTube video isn't an adequate replacement. The resume is still one of the most concise ways to package an applicant's credentials and experiences in a scannable form, whether it's being read on paper or by a computer.

Resumes are also used for other purposes, which is why they are still needed. In today's agile teaming environments, resumes are used internally within companies to locate the right people for specific projects. Also, resumes are still added to proposals and other documents to show who will be on a project. Resumes are used for reviews and promotion discussions.

My point is that the purposes of resumes may be changing, but I still think the resume is a useful assignment in a tech comm or business comm course. I'm also a bit cautious about shoveling dirt over long-time genres, because they often end up being more resilient than people expected. (I would agree that cover letters are just about dead.) Teaching the resume is still important.

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Professor Richard Johnson-Sheehan
Department of English
Purdue University
500 Oval Dr.
428 Heavilon Hall
W. Lafayette, IN 47907
rjohnso at purdue.edu<mailto:rjohnso at purdue.edu>
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From: ATTW-L <attw-l-bounces at attw.org<mailto:attw-l-bounces at attw.org>> on behalf of Ray Boxman <boxman at eng.tau.ac.il<mailto:boxman at eng.tau.ac.il>>
Date: Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 11:18 AM
To: 'Rebecca Walton' <rebecca.walton at usu.edu<mailto:rebecca.walton at usu.edu>>, "craniac at gmail.com<mailto:craniac at gmail.com>" <craniac at gmail.com<mailto:craniac at gmail.com>>
Cc: "attw-l at attw.org<mailto:attw-l at attw.org>" <attw-l at attw.org<mailto:attw-l at attw.org>>
Subject: Re: [ATTW-L] Teaching the resume

Hi Mark,

We teach CV and resume preparation in our Communicating Science short course (directed at STEM grad students) – see http://communicating-science.com. Our approach is conventional, however, based on common practice and not supported by any current research effort. Most of Chapter 9 of our text book (https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/10145) is directed at CV’s, resumes, and other job-hunting documents.

Regards,
Ray

From the home of:
Prof. Emeritus Raymond (Reuven) Boxman
School of Electrical Engineering
Tel Aviv University
Tel:  +972-3-640 7364
Cell: +972 544 634 217
Room 507, Computer and Software Engineering Building
http://www.eng.tau.ac.il/~boxman/index.html
CEO Clear Wave Ltd. – http://clrwave.com<http://clrwave.com/>
Scientific Writing Courses – http://communicating-science.com<http://communicating-science.com/>

From: ATTW-L <attw-l-bounces at attw.org<mailto:attw-l-bounces at attw.org>> On Behalf Of Rebecca Walton
Sent: יום ד 07 נובמבר 2018 16:55
To: craniac at gmail.com<mailto:craniac at gmail.com>
Cc: attw-l at attw.org<mailto:attw-l at attw.org>
Subject: Re: [ATTW-L] Teaching the resume

Hi Mark,

You might check out Chalice Randazzo's work. She has done important and interesting research on reflexivity in the process of resume design, gaps and silences in resumes and cover letters, and other considerations-- almost all of which is positioned in the context of teaching students this genre.

rww

Rebecca Walton
Editor, Technical Communication Quarterly
Associate Professor, Technical Communication & Rhetoric
Department of English, Utah State University
Pronouns: she/her/hers

On Wed, Nov 7, 2018 at 7:43 AM Mark Crane <craniac at gmail.com<mailto:craniac at gmail.com>> wrote:
Hi,
I was wondering if you teach resume creation (and by extension, branding one's self and tools like LinkedIn) in your introductory courses, and if so, if you have any suggestions for doing this in a way that is supported by existing research.  My own sense is that resumes, although important, seem to be less important than they once were.

We'll be collecting research about resume writing and the semantics of electronic resume filtering processes in class today, but I thought I would "drink above the horses" as it were and ask the experts as well.
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