Elena Adkins

Résumés as Creative Non-Fiction

Crafting a Version of the Truth

Crafting a Visual Representation of Identity

Crafting a Version of Truth A résumé is an advertisement, a

persuasive document with a clear purpose and a specific audience

Start with your audience and purpose rather than a template

What does this process look like?

Tasks or Skills? Volunteer assistant

teacher for an ESL class

Assessed and solved problems on site and in a time-sensitive setting

Volunteered to teach ESL students, engaging on their level and remaining focused on individual needs and cultural backgrounds

Tasks or Skills? Ran training

sessions Prepared and

facilitated training sessions for new and current employees

Developed training activities focused on meeting company standards and expectations

Audience-Focused Organization Do you need…

An Objective? Your GPA? Work Experience? Activities? A Skills List? A Course List?

It depends on the story you want to tell.

Crafting a Visual Representation of Your Identity

Résumés and Design

Focusing a Résumé

Reading a Résumé

How will your audience read your résumé? Fast Skimming Looking for Specific Information

So…make it easy for them to read Craft groupings of information that are

logically based on what an employer want s to see

Consider different grouping options to determine the most effective

Crafting a Visual Identity When designing your résumé,

consider: Use of white space Use of fonts (size, weight, readability) Use of bullets Use of font alterations (bold, italics,

underline) Use of lines and borders

What did you notice?

What does all this mean for you? You are crafting a version of the truth about

yourself—your resume is an advertisement You have to consider who will be reading

your resume and how they’ll be reading it. Your resume needs to be a persuasive

argument developed for one reader/one job. You have a great deal of freedom within the

form; don’t limit yourself to a template. Just because you CAN do it doesn’t mean you

should; resumes are elegant and subtle.