Re: Resumes for Technical Communicators

[Tim Giles <tgiles -at- GSVMS2 -dot- CC -dot- GASOU -dot- EDU>]

In message Thu, 9 Mar 1995 08:51:31 -0500,
  Herman Holtz <holtz -at- CLARK -dot- NET>  writes:

> One is to hold something back for the interview. You don't want to lead
> the reader to believe that the resume tells all; you want te reader to
> conclude that he/she needs to learn more, and that is accomplished by a
> personal chat. Ergo, the resume ought to have teasers--strong leads--to
> pique the reader's interest, with clear suggestions that there is more to
> be learned and is worth the effort to learn.

This issue came up on cover letters in one of my technical writing classes.
One student said his father, who is an engineer, prefered brief cover
letters.  I encourage my students to write about a full page, including room
for addresses and signature.  The purpose of the cover letter, I tell them,
is to provide detail on the resume.  For example, the resume might list
their senior project.  The cover letter could explain the project, problems
encountered, and how they were solved.  The cover letter should provide
additional bait, I think, beyond the resume, which I really can't see becoming
a biography without leaving the idea of format so far behind that it no
longer resembles a resume.

My experience with reading and evaluating cover letters for hiring
is for university teaching positions.I am often surprised how often people
applying for positions in English write cover letters that are ineffective
because the letter merely says what position the writer is interested in and
directs the reader to the resume.  Is this true in your professions?  Do you
managers out there prefer to see a detailed cover letter or a brief one?