Category Archives: Project 3

online professional identity

Project 3 Online Professional Identity

traditional resume

Traditional Resume

In the traditional resume one of the first things noticed is the header at the top.  I choose to include the header this way because it includes all of my contact information without taking up too much space in the resume.  The next decision I made was to have a line divider between the different areas of the resume.  This decision was made because it shows the reader where one section begins and another ends without having a bunch of white space.  Then the last big decision I made was to make everything on the resume left aligned except for the dates.  I feel like the most important information should not be broken up with the dates which they occurred.

scannable resume

Scannable Resume

For the scannable resume I pretty much used the same traditional resume with a few changes.  One noticeable change was that I took out the line dividers.  With scannable resumes there should only be font included.  Another decision I made was to change the bullets to asterisks because they are more appropriate and allow for easier reading.  Another decision that was made is the type of font used.  I used Arial which is a Sans Serif font because I feel that this type of font is cleaner due to the lack of serifs.

video resume

For the video resume I did a few things that I believe fit perfectly with the purpose.  I choose to use some ‘classical’ background music to grab the viewers attention, but not distract them from the message in the video.  In the video I choose to rely heavily on text to do the talking for me.  Since I’m looking to secure a job in the Technical Writing field I felt like using text to ‘speak’ for me was appropriate since the majority of my work is spent communicating through text.  The final decision I decided to make was to make the video resume with photos that symbolized what the text was saying instead of the video just being another talking head.

experience map

Link to experience map

The experience map was an experience in itself.  The first major decision that I made for the experience map was what I decided to use to make the actual map.  I decided to use Google Maps because I had no idea that it was possible to make your own map.  The second decision that was made for the map was changing the colors of the ‘lines.’  I changed the colors of the lines to match the ‘pins’ they lead to in hopes that it would make the make the map clearer to read.  The final decision that I made was with the descriptions of the pins.  In the descriptions I included information about when I arrived at that specific pin and what I learned, or courses that I completed at that pin.

linkedin

Profile

While working on my Linkedin profile I started to see the importance of some parts of the profile and how other parts did not seem necessary.  One section I decided to work on was the skills and expertise section because if filled in people could find your profile by looking for people who have these skills, which could be important if an employer was looking for a specific skill.  Another section I filled out was education so potential employers would be aware of the degree and education I received.  The final decision I made was to include my past employment.  I decided to do this because I consider myself to be very hardworking and by including past employment it shows others that I have been employed and I’m able to hold down a job.

When it comes to video resumes it seems like people have differing views.  There’s one group of people urging people to get out there, use the technology available, and make them!  While others are saying they give the company to much to judge on, are often poorly made, and are more comedy then serious.  Therefore I’ve learned that there are few important things to remember when it comes to making a video resume:

• Look the part: Be sure to dress appropriately just like I was going on a regular interview
• Be sure to make it short and sweet: When recruiters read a resume they can flip through it at their own pace and the video should not be long either
• Make the video count: If you’re making a video resume it needs to discuss things that are not normally listed on your resume.  The recruiter needs to feel like they benefited from the video resume otherwise you could have just sent a paper resume.

What is the key “message” (or two) you want readers to glean from these resumes?  Obviously my main message behind my resume is that I want the readers to see me as a valuable addition to their company.  With any resume I produce I always have the main intent of convincing the reader that I’m the perfect match for the position.

What details do you need to include for the reader to understand your message?  It’s not necessarily a ‘detail,’ but one aspect I try to include in my resumes is confidence.  I want the reader to know that I know what I’m talking about.  Another detail that is included is professionalism.  It’s important for the first impression of yourself to be a good, rememberable one.  I proofread my resumes, and get others to proofread my resumes to make sure they are free of spelling and grammar errors and to also make sure that everyone is easy to read and understand.

What images and other content might you include (especially content you can not normally include in a regular resume)?  For the timeline/map and video I hope to be able to include content that will help me out in the long run with coming across as a desirable candidate.  In the timeline/map I will include ALL work experience, both related and unrelated, which is not normally included in a resume.  Most resumes only include most recent or the past work experience that is related.  Including all work experience gives the employer an idea of what I’ve done in the past and what I have been able to take away from my past positions.  Including this information in the timeline also gives the employer the chance to just ‘glance’ over the material instead of having flip from page to page.

online accounts:

Although it’s a short list, below are the online accounts that I can think of that are visible:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Myspace (I think there’s one out there somewhere)

after conducting a search:

As mentioned in the homework I was asked to search my name in two different search engines.  The first search engine that I used was Google and this is because Google is the “main” search engine as far as I’m concerned.  The second search engine I used was Bing.  Both searches produced results when I searched for “Meaghan Barnes,” but the results were not accurate.  Most of the results from both search engines were not related to me in any way.  The only search engine that did produce something was Google and it listed my Pinterest account as the second result.  Honestly I found these results to be comforting because it seems that I’ve done an “okay” job at keeping my life private when it comes to the internet.

When i grow up:

What do you want to do when you grow up?  When I was younger this question seemed so simple, but as I got older the question became much more complicated.  During my time in school I’ve been able to assess my strengths and weaknesses and also see what I enjoy doing.  Now that I’m a semester away from graduating I’ve finally decided what I want to be when I grow up.  I want to be a Technical Writer.

Technical writing, really?:

Although it’s not a very common profession the technical writing field fits best with my writing style.  Throughout my time in school I’ve discovered that I’m not a strong creative writer.  Instead I prefer to deal with straight facts and numbers to develop a piece which will inform the reader.  It really struck me that this was my style of writing when I was assigned my first argumentative piece during my sophomore year.  The assignment required research, articles, and use of quotes to argue a point.  While working on the assignment the information came together so smoothly and it was easy for me to take the information and put it into a piece which was easy for the average reader to follow and understand.  This assignment helped me realize that this type of writing was something that I enjoyed and could see myself working in a technical writing field in the future.