Employment Project: Resume Workshop the Real Deal

Employment Project: Resume Workshop--The Real Deal

Here's how we're going to do this workshop:

● Sort resumes into five piles.

● Get into five groups (four or five people)

● Designate a Hiring Manager (to coordinate the show)

● As a group, look at all the resumes and sort them into "Yes" and "No" piles

○ This should be done quickly--as it is for reals--based on the visual appearance and a quick skim of the contents of the resume

○ The Hiring Manager will label each resume as "Yes" or "No" and sort into two piles

● Once you have your piles, go through each resume and supply feedback on what worked/didn't work on each resume

○ The Hiring Manager can distribute the resumes and have each person make comments then pass the resume on to an open person

● After each resume has comments, discuss general trends as a group.

○ The Hiring Manager should take notes for discussion as a class.

● Try to get as many comments as possible on each resume. You're providing feedback as a fellow job seeker, not grading the resume. Everything is helpful.

○ Identify what works and what doesn't (on both "Yes"s and "No"s) and offer recommendations for improvement. Feel free to "like" another person's comment if you agree with it.

● Once you've complete comments and group discussion, we'll discuss the resumes as a class based on the Hiring Manager's notes.

● Once the workshop is over, you'll get resume back with comments.

Here are some ideas on what to look for as you comment. You don't have to comment on all this stuff.

Visual Design

● Is the design visually engaging? Does it draw the eye in? Is it visually messy or too complex?

● Are the font choices appropriate for the field/job? Are there too many fonts or text effects?

● Is the first place the reader's eye goes (usually the top left quadrant) include the information that you, as the reader most need to see at first glance? Does the resume lead the eyeball sheep through the resume to the sheepsnacks?

● Is the resume consistent in its use of fonts, headers, design elements (i.e., bullets)?

● Is white space used effectively? Are all quadrants used, and used symmetrically? Can you identify holes where Pickle Rick could go? Is the page balanced?

● Does the design show conscious effort to make good design choices? Is the resume boring (and why)? Does it look like a template?

● Is the resume clear and legible? Does it scan easily?

Content

● Is it clear what position the rhetor is applying for? Do you see an effort to use keywords? Do you get the sense that the person has tailored the resume for a specific audience, or is it generic?

● Does the content included cohere into a well-rounded representation of relevant experience/skills? Does the content seem randomly selected--like a hodgepodge of stuff, rather that a thoughtfully crafted presentation of the rhetor's experience/skills that is oriented toward a specific goal?

● Is the organization of the resume thoughtfully constructed to foreground the most persuasive elements of the rhetor's experience/skills (i.e., if the resume is from an inexperienced applicant, maybe work experience shouldn't be first).

● Are the headers used effective in presenting the rhetor as a professional? Is information included in the resume that isn't effective/persuasive/professional? Do you think other headers might be more persuasive?

● Are the skills and/or job duties listed both concise and clear? Are they too generic? Is there too much detail? Is the resume too wordy?

● Is there information that you would like clarified, defined, or developed? Are there terms that aren't defined or clear?

● Are all bulleted lists consistently formatted, written in parallel structure, and deployed with active verbs?