the cover letter and résumé assignment instructions,
You have been randomly assigned to a group for this discussion. To start, review the cover letter and résumé assignment instructions, including the instructions for choosing an appropriate job announcement.
Recruiters average less than ten seconds reviewing a résumé! What do they focus on in that time?
We will spend more than ten seconds reviewing cover letters and résumés in this discussion forum!
Step 1
Skip to Step 2 if you do not wish to use an AI tool as part of your writing process for your résumé or cover letter.
Use Hiration.com to create a résumé for yourself OR to review a résumé you have already created for yourself. (You may also use Hiration.com to create your cover letter.) As an APUS student, you have FREE access to all of Hiration.com. You must first create an account.
Step 2
Revise the rough draft of the résumé generated or reviewed by Hiration.com. An AI-generated résumé or cover letter is just a rough draft for you as a writer to use as a tool. You must revise any phrases of more than 3-5 words that you did not write yourself so that the résumé and cover letter reflect your communication skills and personal style.
After revising the rough draft of the résumé generated or reviewed by the AI tool (or after completing a self-review of your résumé), post the following before THURSDAY midnight:
your cover letter
your résumé
the job announcement text or link
a discussion of the following:
What were 2-3 suggestions provided by Hiration.com? Why did you or did you not use these suggestions? To answer, consider if the suggestions use or do not use the Six Cs of Communication. (If you did a self-review and did not use the AI tool, then identify 2-3 revisions you plan to make to improve the use of the Six Cs of Communication in your résumé.)
How well does your résumé and cover letter reflect your communication skills, personal style, and career accomplishments, all of which would be of interest to your audience (the potential employer)?
What revisions will make your résumé and cover letter more specific and personal and ultimately as unique as you are?
NOTE: If there is any information in your cover letter or résumé that you would prefer not to share with your classmates, replace that information with hypothetical or alternative content, such as replacing your actual phone number with (123) 456-7890.
Below is a sample discussion response for Step 2 (and the cover letter, résumé, and job announcement would also be attached):
Hiration.com recommended some grammar and punctuation revisions, all of which were necessary to improve the correctness, which is one of the Six Cs of Communication. Hiration.com also made the helpful suggestion to not repeat “manage” and instead use synonyms like “supervise” or “direct.” This was a good suggestion because it will help my résumé by more easily scannable by ATS systems used by employers because these words show better the scope of the managerial work I have performed. Using these terms helps to make the résumé more concrete, which is one of the Six Cs of Communication.
However, Hiration.com suggested that I remove certain technical language to make the résumé easier to understand to those without technical experience, but I think that language is needed to show that I’m familiar with the jargon used within this field. Using that language shows that I’m a professional and understand industry terminology, and using that terminology helps build “you” attitude because the reader will know those terms as well. This jargon also improves conciseness (another of the Six Cs of Communication) because I can use short jargon expressions instead of explaining the same ideas in a longer way.
An additional revision I plan to make to create a more personalized résumé that reflects my unique experience is adding specific numbers. For instance, one sentence created by Hiration.com was “Counseled employees in performance of job duties, establishing objectives, and professional development.” I plan to change that sentence to “Conducted 20 monthly performance reviews, setting goals for training and improvement while providing career counseling that led to promotions for more than 50% of staff.” Providing those specific numbers will make my résumé and job accomplishments stand out.
Step 3
Before SUNDAY midnight, provide a peer review of ONE person’s cover letter and résumé. For this forum, you have been auto-enrolled into groups of 5, so you will only see postings in this forum made by members of your group. Review the cover letter and résumé of the group member who posted most recently in time AFTER your posting. The last person who posted in the group should review the cover letter and résumé of the FIRST person who posted in the group.
If you didn’t post your work in Week 5, then do a peer review for anyone in your group. If your group gets “out of sync” or confused about whose work to review, then do your best as a group to make sure that everyone receives at least one peer review.
Your peer review should answer all of the following bulleted questions:
CONTENT Are the cover letter and résumé COMPLETE? Does the cover letter and résumé address each of the 3-10 most important required or desired skills the writer chose to list from the job announcement? After reviewing the job announcement, are there any additional skills that you think the writer should address in the cover letter or résumé?
Where in the cover letter and résumé does the writer provide quantifiable and CONCRETE examples to demonstrate experience and skills? If revision is needed, where in the cover letter or résumé could the writer be more quantifiable or concrete?
What are some ways that the writer makes CLEAR that the writer has the necessary education, experience, or skills? If revision is needed, how can the writer be clearer in either the cover letter or résumé ways that the writer has specific education, experience, or skills?
STYLE Are the cover letter and résumé CONCISE? If revision is needed, what sections, words, or phrases could be cut and why?
Are the cover letter and résumé COURTEOUS? Where in the cover letter does the writer use the “you” approach to focus on the employer’s needs and wants? If revision is needed, where can the writer better use the “you” approach to focus on the employer’s needs and wants? Where in the cover letter and résumé does the writer emphasize the positive? If revision is needed, what parts can the writer rephrase to be positive or neutral?
CORRECTNESS Does the résumé use parallelism in all lists? (For instance, bulleted lists of work experience should always begin with past tense verbs for previous jobs and present tense verbs for current jobs.)
Are there any spelling, grammar, punctuation, or mechanicserrors in either the cover letter or résumé?
ORGANIZATION Does the cover letter use the AIDA persuasive approach? Attention: Does the first paragraph grab the reader’s attention by indicating the job and primary reason(s) the writer should be hired (the main idea)?
Interest: How is interest in hiring the writer built or how can it be better built?
Desire: How is desire to hire the writer built or how can it be better built?
Action: What desired action is indicated or what desired action should be indicated (review the résumé, contact the writer for an interview, etc.)?
Does the résumé use an organization (chronological, functional, or combination) that is best suited to the writer’s experience and the potential employer’s likely expectations for a résumé? If revision is needed, what alternative organization strategy do you suggest and why?
FORMATTING AND DESIGN What design elements (white space, typography, etc.) does the résumé use that draw the reader’s attention in a positive way? What elements, if any, are distracting or unnecessary? What revisions, if any, do you recommend?
Does the cover letter use appropriate business letter formatting? If not, what changes need to be made so the cover letter uses appropriate formatting?
NOTE: These are the same standards by which your cover letter and résumé will be assessed when submitted for a grade! Review the provided rubric in the assignment instructions carefully.
For your peer review, reply to the writer’s post, copy/paste the above questions into your post, and answer each of the questions in your reply post. You are also encouraged to add comments and/or make revisions directly into the files provided by the writer! For example, any of the following answers would be an appropriate response to the question:
Question: Does the cover letter use appropriate business letter formatting? If not, what changes need to be made so the cover letter uses appropriate formatting?
Answer:
Yes, the cover letter uses appropriate business letter formatting.
Answer:
The cover letter needs to put the date above the recipient’s address and add a salutation or regarding/subject line.
Answer:
The cover letter format needs revision. See attached. <Attach the cover letter file with suggested revisions indicated in that file.>
Finally, whom would you hire? Look through all the cover letters and résumés within your group. Give 5 stars to those you would be most likely to interview for the job!
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