The Role of Writing Quality in Effective Student Résumés

Abstract

While writing teachers view the résumé as a sophisticated rhetorical chal lenge, students tend to see it as a "technical specification"of their employment qualifications. This study investigated the reader's perspective by examining how writing features influence recruiters' assessments of résumés. Eighteen recruiters rated 72 résumés describing fictitious mechanical-engineering stu dents. Four résumé features were systematically varied: relevance of previous work experience, elaboration ofindependent coursework, stylistic quality, and mechanical correctness. The major result suggests that technical work experi ence is important but not sufficient: If the résumés of technically well- qualified applicants contained grammatical errors, recruiters rated these résumés lower than résumés listing less experience but containing more accu rate writing.1

The Resume Research Literature: Where Have We Been and Where Should We Go Next?

“…In fact, previous studies have demonstrated that resume and cover letter communication proficiency is at least as important as (Horn, 1988) if not more important than (Charney & Rayman, 1989) technical competence, relevant work experience, and qualifications. For example, resumes without errors but with less relevant work experience were rated more highly than resumes with errors but with highly relevant work experience by campus recruiters that typically employ mechanical engineers (Charney & Rayman, 1989).…”

“…In fact, previous studies have demonstrated that resume and cover letter communication proficiency is at least as important as (Horn, 1988) if not more important than (Charney & Rayman, 1989) technical competence, relevant work experience, and qualifications. For example, resumes without errors but with less relevant work experience were rated more highly than resumes with errors but with highly relevant work experience by campus recruiters that typically employ mechanical engineers (Charney & Rayman, 1989). In a subsequent study, Charney and colleagues (1992) demonstrated that undergraduate business students evaluating marketing resumes do not penalize or distinguish between error-laden compared with error-free resumes; conversely, they found that the undergraduate students did distinguish between error-free and error-laden resumes when evaluating engineering resumes, but not to the same extent as actual engineering recruiters.…”

“…Regarding the possible inclusion of class projects and relevant coursework, there have been conflicting findings based on applicant experience and the functional areas in which applicants are applying for jobs (Charney & Rayman, 1989;Charney, Rayman, & Ferreira-Buckley, 1992). Nevertheless, some research assessing business professionals has provided support for the inclusion of coursework compared with no coursework being listed (Thoms et al, 1999).…”

“…It is of the utmost importance to have correct and error-free grammar, spelling, word choice, and punctuation as well as overall neatness and professional appearance in resumes and cover letters (Burns et al, 2014;Charney & Rayman, 1989;Charney et al, 1992;Culwell-Block & Sellers, 1994;Horn, 1988;Hornsby & Smith, 1995;Mansfield, 1976;McDowell, 1987;Schramm & Dortch, 1991;Spinks & Wells, 1987, 1993Stephens et al, 1979;Wells et al, 1981). In fact, previous studies have demonstrated that resume and cover letter communication proficiency is at least as important as (Horn, 1988) if not more important than (Charney & Rayman, 1989) technical competence, relevant work experience, and qualifications.…”

Annual Review: Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development, 1989

“…An additional study by Steffy, Shaw, and Noe (1989) found that confidence or perceived self-efficacy regarding job search issues was a more consistent predictor of eventual outcome than were characteristics of the search itself. Charney and Rayman (1989) gave 18 recruiters 72 fictitious resumes in which relevance of previous work experience, elaboration of independent course work, stylistic quality, and mechanical correctness were systematically varied. The recruiters weighed writing quality, especially mechanics, in their judgments.…”