Resume and Cover Letter

For this assignment, begin by searching for a job. On line job sites are one place. You might also look in professional publications. Even the classified section of a newspaper can be useful. Narrow your search by considering what you are currently prepared to do. Your range of work experience and the number and types of college courses you've completed will determine what jobs to seek. If you are at least one year from graduation, an internship might be the best choice.

Like any document, resumes and cover letters are not about rules alone. Instead, they are about meeting reader needs, and supplying real evidence. To fulfill these needs, be sure to organize the documents for reader usability and to be specific about your qualifications.

Here are the requirements for the assignment:

• Find a job posting that falls within an area of interest as well as within your realistic grasp.
• Write a resume suitable for printing and mailing.
• Write a one-page cover letter for your resume. A four-paragraph model for solicited and prospecting cover letters will be discussed in class. Be specific in your particular qualifications.
• Turn in a copy of the job announcement. This is your way of showing the intended audience for your writing. Try to pick a job announcement that provides specific details or do some research on the company and position. You need to hand in either the specific job announcement or the job announcement and research.
• Make sure all of the work is absolutely free of sentence level errors.

The cover letter should interpret the resume and emphasize details that appeal to the reader. Instead of restating the resume, the cover letter should elaborate on the resume, offering specific and well-chosen details.

The resume should be perfectly proofread, neat and attractive, consistent in every way (layout, spacing, punctuation, capitalization), and emphasize the skills and experiences that fit the job sought.