In my senior year, I was able to reflect on a previous assignment and realize what I could have done better. In English 4320, the “Rhetorical Revision Project” helped me to revise an assignment from my business writing course. I chose to revise a resume to change it’s design, proximity, and rhetorical content to make it more effective in the workplace. This project helped me to explain my changes and understand whether the changes were effective. After completing the assignment, I realized my changes made the resume more appealing to the business culture giving me a better opportunity to gain employment with a company.
Rhetorical Revision Project
A resume is typically used to assess one’s value to a company. Many companies ask for them to partly decide if you someone will be a good candidate before even meeting them. It is a list of credentials that should represent one’s ability to fulfill the responsibilities designated by a company. In my rhetorical revision plan, I will explain how I changed the intended audience(s) and use of digital technologies to enhance the presentation of my resume.
The original assignment was a submission for a job search project in my Business writing class (English 3130). The original audiences were two groups. The first group was my business teacher, Yunye Yu. She assigned a rubric which based the quality of the resume on its alignment with her standards. These standards included our use of proximity and understanding of the qualifications throughout the piece. The other audience was the entity the application was designated for, The Home Depot. Their standards or qualifications were quite different. Home Depot was searching for a Department Supervisor who could train, coach, and lead customers in discussion about their products. In order for the resume to be sufficient for a with the Home Depot, the qualities listed in the resume should cover the basis of one who is a leader, listens , and is able to instruct others on how to properly use their products.
This difference in audience helped me to produce a more efficient resume. The revised piece held true to its original purpose, getting a job. However, in the revised resume, the audience shifted in terms of employment. The original resume was for a Department Supervisor at the Home Depot. The revised piece is a resume for an on-site promotional events position with Global Vision Concepts. The audience shifted in terms of field. It changed from a leadership, instructional role to one where I was developing content to appeal to customers. In order to appeal to the hiring department in the new promotional role, I made a change in vocabulary to match their markets. For example, the original resume stated, “Tasks included but are not limited to the efficient coordination and execution of employee management..”. In a leadership role, this would be appealing. However, the new role needed someone who can view sales projections and appeal to the future market. In the revised resume, I stated, “Initiated “game-plans” (marketing strategies) to improve customer satisfaction/sales..”. This terminology would appeal more to the new audience (Global Vision Concepts) because I foresaw a need for a new line of products and started a program to help develop sales, rather than instructed clients on a product(s) in the present tense.
In addition to a change in audience, I used digital technology to change the format of the resume in terms of font styles, layout, and color. The original resume was very plain in the sense of digital effects. The font style was universal throughout the resume (Calibri, size 10) despite underlining the names of the categories (Work History, Skills,.etc.). The layout was aligned with the left margin, except for the header containing my name and personal info, which was aligned with the center of the document. The color was black and white, making the document very formal, but ineffective. Employers find positive influences on their company from creative and well-informed resumes. After research of better examples, I decided to enhance the document by disrupting its formality. I changed the font styles from 10 to 14 on the names of the categories. In doing so, this made the larger font made it easier to read for my new audience. The position with Global Vision Concepts required a person that needs to make content for the promotion of events at various venues. Therefore, I changed the header to a separate part of the document. The border was based on a 1 inch width line colored in aquatic blue to accent my name at the top of the document. I highlighted each of the category names in the same color. Each category was also separated by a 0.25 inch width line to highlight the attributes of collegiate and work career. These changes in design helped me gain the promotions role with Global Vision Concepts in a leadership role.
Changes in the rhetorical and digital aspects of a resume can help anyone gain roles in design and marketing roles. However, I found that resumes in the business and litigation fields are more formal in their approach. Color can take away from the credentials or become a crutch for lack of experience. In conclusion, research your field of interest and see what high ranking leaders in that field think about resume design.