4.29 Resumes, scoring portfolios, and plan for Presentations

Schedule for portfolio presentations:

May 6: Celena; Maria; Julia; Jo-sette; *Ivelouse - if there is time; *Alleli - if there is time.

May 13: Anyone left from May 6 + Heloiza; Britany P, Ally, and anyone not signed up.

If you were not in class, and would prefer to present on May 6 - be in touch.

Points for the portfolio
At the beginning of class we reviewed what to include in the portfolio, and decided how to distribute the 500 points credit allocated to the portfolio.  We came up with the following scale.

150 reflective introduction
100 resumes
50 cover letter
100 personal statment
20 for each short sample
30 for each long sample

Criteria for the resume, cover letter, personal statement and writing samples will be derived from the rhetorical contexts you describe in your reflective introduction.  Criteria for the reflective introduction are stated on the assignment sheet.  If you have additional questions - bring them to the attention of the class (somebody else probably wants to know, too!) or send me an email.

Resumes
We spent most of the class analyzing/providing feedback for resumes.  You had a lot to say to one another and you did a great job.  We gave feedback both in terms of visual design, and a contextual analysis of what your potential employers would be most interested in reading.

As we talked I noticed that sometimes we gave presenters conflicting feedback - and - sorry to say - that is just the way it is.  In the end, you will need to think carefully about the audience and purpose for your resume, and then you will need to make decisions about focus, organization and content that best serve that audience and purpose.  Remember that you are making visual decisions to take your reader's eye to the most important information, and that the most important information is "what your audience is looking for.

Criteria for portfolio presenations (see assignment sheet posted to the right).

For next class.
Come to class prepared to provide feedback to classmates on portolios.  While this can feel like a lot of "down time"  - keep in mind that it won't be that long before you use materials very much like what you have developed for this portfolio to represent your abilities and accomplishments to a potential employer.  Evaluating other applicants' portfolios and reflecting on your own materials can give you an edge.