Section Overview

In this section, you will find a brief overview of Project 2: Career Documents, which asks you to create a résumé and cover letter tailored to a specific job posting.

Your Professional Persona

In Project 2, you’ll have the opportunity to develop a professional persona through your career documents. A professional persona is the way you present yourself in professional situations. It includes both how you act when you are in the room and how you appear through your documents. Though the latter may seem trivial, consider this question:

The answer to that question is that your professional persona tells them who you are. Your professional persona gives a prospective employer an idea not just about your skills and experiences but also your work ethic, what motivates you, and your approach to seeking and maintaining productive workplace relationships.

In other words, having a professional persona (or personal brand) that shows up in highly customized, tailored career documents is one of the ways you can show an employer…

• You’ve done your homework. This shows up in cover letters when you’ve spoken about specific needs the company has or indicated that you’ve done your research on the company by referencing a project you’d be interested in working on. It shows up in résumés when you arrange document sections to highlight specific skills the employer has asked about in the ad.
• You know how to write for a particular audience. Don’t underestimate this skill – showing that you know how to talk to people in different professional situations is a critical “soft skill”^[1] you’ll need throughout your career. In fact, you’ll need to think about your audience when you make pitches, ask your boss for a raise, or try to persuade a client to make a purchase. Persuasion in the workplace starts with your job documents; through them, you show an employer who you are and what you’re about.
• You have personal qualities that make you a good fit for a position. You know your skills and talents the best – and customized, tailored career documents help you showcase them so that employers will notice what makes you special as a potential employee. For example, if you’re applying for a graphic design position, you would want your résumé and cover letter to show good graphic design and elements that match or coordinate between documents (like using the same fonts, colors, or document layout elements).

You can read more about how to develop a professional persona in Chapter 6: Tailoring Job Materials.

Project 2: Career Documents^[2]

The purpose of this project is to create a set of career documents (résumé and cover letter) for a specific job ad of your choosing. With your instructor’s help, you’ll find and analyze an ad for a job in your field. Then, you’ll create a résumé and cover letter, using your skills to compose and design content specifically tailored to the position. You will produce two documents: a résumé displaying your contact information, skills, and qualifications, and a cover letter expressing your interest in a specific position.

Completion Requirements: 

• [1/2] page résumé
• [1/2] page cover letter
• revision letter

Note: You may have created documents like these for another class. However, because we are learning how to tailor job materials for a specific job posting, you should not reuse those materials “as-is.” If you already have a resume and cover letter, this project is an opportunity to practice tailoring them to a specific position. Expect to make changes!

Project Steps

During Week 3, you’ll learn about the job search process and take an inventory of your skills and interests. You’ll search for job ads and learn what kinds of questions to ask to help you prepare for tailoring your materials for a specific position.

By the end of Week 3, you should choose a job ad to respond to for this project and annotate it thoroughly. It’s especially important to make notes about how your qualifications match the job.

By the beginning of Week 4, you should be drafting your resume and cover letter. You can use the questions below to help you develop your content.

Questions for Résumé Drafting:

• How will you display important information like your name, contact information, and qualifications? Can you use design choices like contrast, proximity, or repetition?
• Which of your skills and qualifications match specifically with the employer’s needs? How can you highlight this information?
• Where could you incorporate keywords from the ad?
• Which designs will be both readable (the reader can easily find information) and concise (keeps your information on one page)?

Questions for Cover Letter Drafting:

• Who is your likely audience? Will they have the same skills and qualifications as you, or will you need to explain some of the content on your resume?
• As a candidate for this position, what are your strengths? How do they distinguish you from other candidates?
• How could you incorporate language from the job ad? In what other ways can you show the employer that you read their posting carefully?
• How will you “chunk” information so that each paragraph has a clear main idea?
• Which design decisions will make your letter look professional, clean, and readable?

By the end of Week 4, you should both participate in Peer Review and turn in a draft of your career documents to your instructor for feedback.

By the end of Week 5, you will decide how to respond to the feedback you received. You’ll take time to revise your materials and write a revision letter detailing how you responded to your reviewers.

Content and Design Tips

Resumes and cover letters can vary in content and design depending on who is applying to which job. Though you can personalize these documents in a variety of ways, the design of your documents should suit their purpose.

In other words, your résumé should be designed so that your qualifications and skills stand out and your cover letter should provide a narrative that showcases you, your interests, and your attention to the employer’s needs.

You can find more information on how to design and format your documents in the following textbook chapters:

• Chapter 5: Applying for Jobs
• Chapter 6: Tailoring Job Materials

Due Dates

Revision Letter

When you are ready to submit your final draft, you must include a revision letter that explains the revisions you made to your original draft and why.

Final Submission Checklist

[Give instructions to students on how to format their assignments here.]

• Résumé
  • 1-2 pages
  • responds to a specific job ad
  • uses document design to convey important information
• Cover Letter
  • 1-2 pages
  • responds to a specific job ad
  • uses letter formatting
• Revision Note
  • describes feedback you received
  • describes how you used feedback to revise